I Hate Travel
Well, not really. I don't hate travel; I hate travel hassles.
So, many of you know that I was in Chicago over the weekend for Northwestern University's Homecoming Weekend (Go 'Cats!) which was a great time. But the travel to and fro was sorry... I flew from Newark Liberty International Airport to Chicago O'Hare International on American Airlines, and the experience was interesting. Some of you also know that I have an issue with heavier-than-air flight, too. Yes, I am acrophobic, and I often say that if the Creator wanted us to fly, we'd have been given wings. I continue to believe this, even after years of flying for business back in the good old days of consulting.
At any rate, I have hella gripes with the state of air travel in this country.
8. Restrictions on Using Electronic Devices Onboard - Will my MacBook being on 20 minutes into the flight really cause the plane's avionics to go haywire, leading to the deaths of hundreds? No. So please, stop sweating the passengers.
7. Inconsiderate Passengers - The dude in front of me rather abruptly reclined his seatback right into my knees, and then continued to fidget, causing the seatback to periodically infringe on my limited legroom. I wanted to smack him. Be considerate of the other cattle in coach along with you.
6. Legroom, please? - Can't Boeing or Airbus devote some more effort to aircraft ergonomics? Sure, when you fly coach you don't expect luxury, but damn you don't expect your knees to be in your sternum either! Three to five more inches per row can't make that big a difference in production costs, can it?
5. Scheduling Snafus and Delays - Yes, some are unavoidable, but others are caused by inadequate technology. Newark, LaGuardia, and Kennedy have delays simply because of antiquated air traffic control systems. Flying public to FAA: Get your 'ish together! Upgrade, perhaps? Like consumers upgrade every couple of years with their computers, so should you. Going 10 years without a major upgrade is plain stupid.
4. Overselling Flights - What the hell is this?? Airlines cause near riots among passengers on some routes, and inconvenience other travelers with this garbage. They purposely overbook "to make sure a flight is full," as I was told by one gate agent. Then, they offer $300-$400 travel vouchers to entice passengers -- who booked a particular time for a reason, I'd think -- to change flights. As they say over the loudspeakers, "if you have flexible travel plans, please take this voucher..." That strikes me as pretty wasteful for the airlines. And, do most travelers really have flexible travel plans?
3. Last-Minute Fares - If one needs to make a last minute change in travel plans, that often requires either flying standby, or better, changing a flight. Well, the airlines want to charge you crazy amounts to do so. My thing is, if I have a purchased ticket, and I need to move my flight (within reason), and you have available seats on another flight on short notice, why not just let me have that seat, to increase your load factor on that flight? But no, American wanted to charge me $350 extra to fly confirmed (rather than standby) on a later flight. Really? If there are available seats, just give one up.
2. Small Planes on Popular Routes - So, can someone explain to me why I was flying on a McDonnell Douglass Super 80 -- the Ford Escort of airplanes -- on the very popular (and I'm sure, profitable) New York to Chicago (and return) route? No wonder flights are uncomfortable and full to the brim! It's like squeezing 10 clowns into a subcompact car. You can do it, but why would you want to? I would think there would be increased goodwill -- and maybe even more profit -- if airlines used wide-body planes on well-traveled routes like that.
And the Number One Gripe:
1. No Meals on Flights -- For real? I give you a hard-earned $200, and all you give me during the flight is an 8oz plastic cup of orange juice? And then, you want to charge me $3 for a bag of Doritos that costs $.99 at my local bodega?? GTFOOH...
No wonder the big airlines are having problems.
So, many of you know that I was in Chicago over the weekend for Northwestern University's Homecoming Weekend (Go 'Cats!) which was a great time. But the travel to and fro was sorry... I flew from Newark Liberty International Airport to Chicago O'Hare International on American Airlines, and the experience was interesting. Some of you also know that I have an issue with heavier-than-air flight, too. Yes, I am acrophobic, and I often say that if the Creator wanted us to fly, we'd have been given wings. I continue to believe this, even after years of flying for business back in the good old days of consulting.
At any rate, I have hella gripes with the state of air travel in this country.
8. Restrictions on Using Electronic Devices Onboard - Will my MacBook being on 20 minutes into the flight really cause the plane's avionics to go haywire, leading to the deaths of hundreds? No. So please, stop sweating the passengers.
7. Inconsiderate Passengers - The dude in front of me rather abruptly reclined his seatback right into my knees, and then continued to fidget, causing the seatback to periodically infringe on my limited legroom. I wanted to smack him. Be considerate of the other cattle in coach along with you.
6. Legroom, please? - Can't Boeing or Airbus devote some more effort to aircraft ergonomics? Sure, when you fly coach you don't expect luxury, but damn you don't expect your knees to be in your sternum either! Three to five more inches per row can't make that big a difference in production costs, can it?
5. Scheduling Snafus and Delays - Yes, some are unavoidable, but others are caused by inadequate technology. Newark, LaGuardia, and Kennedy have delays simply because of antiquated air traffic control systems. Flying public to FAA: Get your 'ish together! Upgrade, perhaps? Like consumers upgrade every couple of years with their computers, so should you. Going 10 years without a major upgrade is plain stupid.
4. Overselling Flights - What the hell is this?? Airlines cause near riots among passengers on some routes, and inconvenience other travelers with this garbage. They purposely overbook "to make sure a flight is full," as I was told by one gate agent. Then, they offer $300-$400 travel vouchers to entice passengers -- who booked a particular time for a reason, I'd think -- to change flights. As they say over the loudspeakers, "if you have flexible travel plans, please take this voucher..." That strikes me as pretty wasteful for the airlines. And, do most travelers really have flexible travel plans?
3. Last-Minute Fares - If one needs to make a last minute change in travel plans, that often requires either flying standby, or better, changing a flight. Well, the airlines want to charge you crazy amounts to do so. My thing is, if I have a purchased ticket, and I need to move my flight (within reason), and you have available seats on another flight on short notice, why not just let me have that seat, to increase your load factor on that flight? But no, American wanted to charge me $350 extra to fly confirmed (rather than standby) on a later flight. Really? If there are available seats, just give one up.
2. Small Planes on Popular Routes - So, can someone explain to me why I was flying on a McDonnell Douglass Super 80 -- the Ford Escort of airplanes -- on the very popular (and I'm sure, profitable) New York to Chicago (and return) route? No wonder flights are uncomfortable and full to the brim! It's like squeezing 10 clowns into a subcompact car. You can do it, but why would you want to? I would think there would be increased goodwill -- and maybe even more profit -- if airlines used wide-body planes on well-traveled routes like that.
And the Number One Gripe:
1. No Meals on Flights -- For real? I give you a hard-earned $200, and all you give me during the flight is an 8oz plastic cup of orange juice? And then, you want to charge me $3 for a bag of Doritos that costs $.99 at my local bodega?? GTFOOH...
No wonder the big airlines are having problems.
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LOL!!!! My sentiments exactly! But you know what? We're the fools for putting up with this mess! If we're not careful, they'll be asking us to bring our own chairs, toilet paper and a 5-gallon can of fuel for the plane.
On a recent trip to Atlanta, I was on board (American, full flight as usual), and there were no blankets. NO BLANKETS!!! And the cabin was cold as Haagen-Daas! I felt bad for the other passengers who were stunned to hear that there were no blankets. Over the years I've learned to bring my own blanket because I got the silent treatment (when I asked for a blanket to warm my nearly-frozen body) from a flight attendant on a trip to St. Louis. All of this to say that we get what we pay for...flying is becoming the Greyhound bus ride of the 21st century.
LOL @Greyhound bus ride of the 21st century.
So true... And the big boys wonder why Southwest and JetBlue are eating their lunch? Well how about you don't feel like a POS flying on one of those carriers.
I save special scorn for the FAA though. At the slightest hint of rain, travel schedules for the eastern half of the nation are shot to hell. WTF?
Is that what my tax dollars gets me from the nation's keepers of the sky?