Future iterations will allow you to act as their chair as well
George Griffiths flew from New York to Los Angeles for just $50, first class. He was willing to help Delta feed the egos of its elite fliers, and they discounted his ticket.
“I was a footstool for a passenger in first class,” George told us. “So, I spent most of the flight in a fetal position cramped up against the bulkhead. Just like flying economy, but a lot cheaper.”
Griffith’s assigned passenger, hedge fund manager Sam Ringwald, joked that it was a new experience for him too. “I’m used to walking all over the little people, today I just got to put my feet up on one.”
Back in the 90s Delta tried a similar program—‘Demean for Discounts’—but it was quickly canceled after complaints from human rights advocates.
A Delta spokesperson said this program was similar but with one key difference. “In the 90s our elite fliers were picking the acts of servitude and economy passengers were forced to comply. The courts found that unconstitutional. So, we’ve switched it to the economy passengers picking for themselves how they are willing to be undignified, and that’s freedom of choice.”
Griffiths has degraded himself in other ways for flight discounts and is grateful he gets to choose. He’s helped put everyone’s luggage in the hold, helped put people’s shoes on after the TSA screening and listened to an entrepreneur for an entire flight and agreed with him that his ideas will change the world.
“If I don’t want to do a certain thing for the discount, I pick something else. I once volunteered to sit next to a disgruntled passenger with a history of verbal abuse. If I was okay with that, I’d just be a flight attendant.”
