As I read the article I came to suspect what he admitted at the end, that he was misusing the airline as part of a psychological dependency, as a way of coping with loss. Sad all around: AA did the normal sociopathic corporate crap, and he also was not supported by society in order to heal properly.
> I’m not saying Dad was a saint. Just that his AAirpass was about more than solipsistic travel. It allowed him to build relationships. And it allowed other people to access the world like he did. That’s what Dad’s AAirpass and ultra-elite flying status yielded for him: lifelong bonds.<p>giving access to the world like he had? it did no such thing.<p>the pass was $250k in the early 80s. that is a tremendous amount of money for a 37 year old in current year.<p>this was an individual, a family, so far removed from commoners that the parents had it in the contract to fly on separate planes, one after the other. lest both parents be lost in an accident.<p>what a luxury, to be able to even pause to consider such contingency planning. let alone to have the means to pursue it.<p>while the airline was wrong, this is no sob story.