In a desperate money grab, American Airlines will begin charging passengers $100 to stand by for earlier flights. As a seasoned business traveler, and somebody who has a pretty good knowledge of how the airline industry works, I can tell you that this is a bad business decision. First of all, American Airlines is taking away convenience from travelers. Air travel is already inconvenient enough, and airlines have cut everything from meals to baggage allowances. The flying public can only take so much, and this won't do much to return fliers to the skies. Frequent fliers will be impacted most, as they fly stand-by more often. These passengers may end up defecting to other airlines if they don't follow AMR's lead.

The other, not so obvious impact, is that this will prevent the airline gate agents from consolidating flights. Why force a passenger to wait around the airport for their flight when you can put them on a flight that is departing immediately, and then sell their vacated seat later on? By trying to squeeze $100 out of a passenger trying to get to his destination an hour earlier, you risk sacrificing $1000 or more that you could get by selling their seat at the last minute. Once an airplane leaves the gate, the opportunity to sell those empty seats disappears.