The Shameful Open Secret Behind Southwest’s Failure

But it wasn't only the software, it was the nature of their fulfillment model. Flying direct routes comes with pros and cons. We just saw the cons. Loads of traveler time wasted.

The irony is, the hub & spoke model also wastes travelers' time. It requires transfers and so on. That time adds up. Yes, it has been normalized, but it's still there.

Before we toss SW's model under the bus, someone should calculate the costs of the hub & spoke model to travelers.

> This is why we can’t just keep turning the operation of more and more of our infrastructure and our lives to antiquated software and self-interested executives. Technical debt is real debt. It will eventually be paid by someone. And unless we take steps to hold companies and executives accountable for preventable — and foreseeable — failures, it will be we the public that keep paying.