What would YOU do if you were an airline CEO?

Forbes recently reported what any of us who travel regularly already know: customer satisfaction with the airline industry just hit its lowest level in three years. But rather than add to the digital pile-on in the blogosphere with another illustration of the horror that airline travel has become, let's think about this from an airline CEO's perspective.

You're facing an explosion in fuel costs that is draining cash flow, and you know if things don't change and you don't do something you're going to fly right into bankruptcy. So you start cutting capacity and focusing on your most profitable routes...but you know this is going to make travelers even more miserable as planes are consistently packed to the overhead bins with people, and it's tough to get from "here to there" anymore if it's not a major route. You also start adding fees wherever you can on the theory that "every little bit helps"...again knowing this angers customers even more. It looks like you've got a business where the only way to make a buck--or just not lose too many of them--is to throw any notion of "a branded customer experience" out the window.

What would you do? And note, the answer "I'd do what Southwest is doing" doesn't fly [sorry], because you have to have some kind of differentiation. And, frankly, several of the big guys will say they tried that anyway (United's TED, Rest In Peace).

I'll weigh in with my idea later; for now, I'd like to hear from you.