I think the point is to bully people with anime profile pics

Declining the customer’s reasonable request disproportionately affects them. The corporation is a big boy too, and can eat whatever associated cost of accommodating (paying the customer off, resetting the “clock” the pilot is on by opening the door). In some cases, there’s no impact to any other customer (such as making up the lost time once you’re in the air and can cruise faster). These random occurrences are built into the price. If it happens too often then the corporation needs to track their own data better and not issue tickets with unreasonably timed or otherwise risky connections, because to not do so will enable their competitors to one-up them. Free market, amirite?