What Made US Airways Reinstate Their Mileage Minimum and Bonuses for Elites?

(MoneyWatch)  We've seen several airlines recently realize that they've cut too much from their frequent flier programs, and they've reverted to their old rules. With all those changes, I find the most recent move by US Airways to be the most interesting because of the amount of time that elapsed before they reverted.

In May, US Airways removed the 500 mile earning minimum per flight and stated that only actual miles flown would be earned. In August, US Airways told elite members that they would stop earning bonus miles when they flew (a common feature for most elite members in airline programs). Both of these were not only reinstated on November 20, but retroactive credit was given as well. That's a big move.

Delta recently went back on its efforts to sell better seat assignments onboard after less than a month of the program being in effect. United took a matter of days to back off on charging for meals in its coach cabin on transatlantic flights. And Continental only took a couple weeks to back off its 500 mile minimum elimination. Since this is becoming a more common occurrence, why is it that the US Airways move interest me?

While most of these other airlines backed off very quickly once they received a massive amount of negative feedback, US Airways took the negative feedback and stuck with their program. It's only now, months later, that they're going back on it. Yes, they may very well have made the change because they're following everyone else, but it also could have been that there was a noticeable change in booking patterns for the airline. If not, they wouldn't have bothered to switch back once all the negative press had already been behind them. It's very interesting to think that passengers may actually be taking decisive action here. Are they finally willing to stand up for what they want?