According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the father of frequent flyer programs, Rolfe Shellenberger, former project manager of American Airlines’ AAdvantage program, said that airlines today are “stingy and greedy” in handling frequent flyer programs. He lists the scarcity of award seats, hefty mileage requirements for awards, an array of booking fees and shorter mileage life as reasons for his ire. “Why deprive [program members] of something they had every reason to expect would be valuable to them in the future?” he asked.