美国国家公共电台 NPR With A Hurricane Approaching Florida, Airline Algorithms Show No Sympathy

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

When crisis strikes, leaders often call for sacrifice. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and in these days before Hurricane Irma churns ashore¹, we've seen innumerable Americans volunteer, sacrifice and even risk their lives to help others. It might be too easy to contrast that generous spirit with the strict practices of major air carriers, but airlines make it pretty much irresistible².

When Florida's governor Rick Scott advised people who may be in the path of Hurricane Irma to leave now, it posed a challenge for those who tried to fly out of airports in Southern Florida. Many found the price of a single seat to fly - say, just from Miami to New York - could cost more than $3,000. For a family of four, that's as much as their annual budget for groceries. Complaints burst on to social media platforms.

A man named Joseph Pep Nodarse tweeted at an airline - totally unacceptable, a $358 flight from Miami to NYC went up to $3,578. Why should expect anything decent from these airlines? Followed by three question marks and an expletive in front of rats in all caps. State laws prohibit price gouging³ during a state of emergency. Air carriers are regulated by federal agencies.

But were the airlines price gouging with those ticket prices? I'm not sure if the answer is no or no more than usual. Seth Kaplan, managing partner at Airline Weekly, explained to several news organizations that algorithms in the software of major airlines monitor supply and demand, then lower or raise prices accordingly within seconds. This is what happens when thousands of people want to leave a place all at once, he told The Verge⁴. When people want to, or in this case, need to leave immediately, prices can rise alarmingly.

By the way, I've become convinced that algorithms must be a Latin phrase for don't blame us, it's the software. JetBlue capped the cost of their tickets out of South Florida at $99 this week. And by the end of the week, American matched them. Delta⁵ has also overridden⁶ the algorithms and use their human powers to manually lower their fares out of Florida to $399.

I wonder how a passenger who paid $3,000 for a seat on Wednesday feels about seeing that seat sell on Friday for $399? But I'm glad that when people hit by hurricanes were asked to make sacrifices for neighbors and strangers, most Americans didn't respond with, sorry, the algorithms won't let me.

(SOUNDBITE OF HARUKA NAKAMURA'S "ARNE")

1 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

2 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

3 gouging   

n.刨削[槽]v.凿( gouge的现在分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…

参考例句：

• Banks and credit-card companies have been accused of gouging their customers. 银行和信用卡公司被指控欺诈顾客。 来自辞典例句
• If back-gouging is applied, grinding to bright metal is required. 如果采用火焰气刨，则应将其打磨至可见光亮的金属表面。 来自互联网

4 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

5 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

6 overridden   

越控( override的过去分词 )； （以权力）否决； 优先于； 比…更重要

参考例句：

• The chairman's veto was overridden by the committee. 主席的否决被委员会推翻了。
• Property '{0}' is not declarable, and cannot be overridden. 属性“{0}”是不可声明的，不能被重写。