Ever noticed how airlines will charge you $120 to choose a seat but can't figure out how to do the most obvious things to make a flight pleasant? A recent Delta flight had me wondering about CX priorities...

Have you ever promised yourself you'll work on a flight, and then… do absolutely nothing? Yeah, me too. Recently I was "working" on a flight, looking for something to watch.

It turned out none of the movies or TV shows appeared to have subtitles. None of them. Not even the ones in French, Spanish or Mandarin. Despite there being a 'subtitles' option available on screen.

What an fantastic CX and accessibility fail.

As I dug deeper into this puzzle, I discovered French films were only available dubbed, no subtitles in any language. This wasn't just an annoyance - it completely excluded deaf passengers and those who prefer watching international films in their original language.

As a fix, I used my "work-related" in-flight WiFi to log in to SubtitleCat, downloaded the subtitles, and watched along from a text file on my phone notes. Stylish. Not exactly the seamless experience you expect when paying hundreds of dollars for a flight.

While airlines like to charge me $119.99 to choose a seat, they don't seem to be as interested in making the experience better for all passengers.

Is there an obvious reason for this that I'm missing?

P.S. The $119.99 was for an exit row seat in economy, NYC to Madrid. The Fall Guy, indeed.