And they all pretty much had the same airfares.

Yep, there was Y and F class.
Then, there was Y, B and F class (Coach, Business, First)
Then there was M, R, X, W, N, T14, you name it, discount fares from Y (coach) and they were all different amounts, depending upon the day of the week, days until travel, etc.

I like Southwest Airlines' commercials:

"Flight Attendant"

"Coins"

Hahah, good, make a marketing advantage of it ... and make all your competitors look like the dickheads they are.

Those are awesome.

Their prices have gone up, but it's fairly simple to know what you're going to pay.

Source
And this is after cutting flights, charging extra for bags etc...
They're struggling alright. Yikes.

This is why I got out of the airline business

And this is why I'm not up in arms about charging for baggage. This isn't the oil companies, shattering profit records and still looking for new ways to bleed our wallets. This is an industry that's barely hanging on trying to find any way they can to remain profitable.

Delta just DOUBLED its 2nd bag fee - now $50. And check out this little gem:

Now that is insane.

My mom, in her infinite wisdom packed 1 big suit case for her trip to Canada this year. She normally packs 2, and since she has so many miles she is one of the customers who doesn't have to pay for the first checked bag on AA. Except she went over the weight limit and ended up paying $50.