Airline incompetence...

[Sandy G]

Went to Tri-City Airport last night to pick up my pal John, the town veterinarian. He'd been in Orlando attending a vet's meeting & getting some required continuing education. Anyhow, he was supposed to get in at 9.30. He'd called & said it would be 10.30. At 10.45, he calls me on my cell & says they're taking 'em back to the terminal-he was in Atlanta-'cause of nosewheel troubles. OK, then they're gonna leave at 11.30. They FINALLY get in at 12.47, I finally hit the hay at about 2.30 this morning. The people at the airport told me this was std operating procedure from American Spirit Airlines, a Delta "partner". The Mighty Valdez was bigger than the puddlejumper John finally came rollin' in on. We hear all the time about how the airlines are in such trouble, how they're all losing money ass over teakettle, I have no doubt about that, if this is typical of the service they give. There's always a legal-eagle excuse-weather, mechanical troubles, blah, blah, blah, but surely they could have done better than this.

 

[tentoze]

Airplanes are my second home lately. It's never pleasant, just a question of how hateful it will get. Coming to Europe 2 weeks ago, I sat on the plane at the gate in JFK for THREE hours before taking off. Dreadful.

 

[TWantiques]

I have flown once since 9/11 and a security guard (not military) with a huge rifle and side arm made me take off my shoes so they could search 'em. Haven't flown since and trying to keep it that way.

A life's lesson:

Never fly an airline that is having financial problems.

Terry

 

[tentoze]

Never fly an airline that is having financial problems.

Terry

These days, that would severely limit your options, like maybe to Southwest and JetBlue. I'd rather flap my own arms than get on a Southwest plane.

 

[Sandy G]

Well, an' that's another thing-I've had ONE traffic ticket in my life. I pay my taxes, I've voted in every election save one, basically I'm Mr Solid Citizen. I DESPISE like hell being treated like a common criminal, being searched, assume I'm guilty until they decide otherwise, all that nonsense when I need to fly somewhere. You go to these airports-a lot of the "guards" look like they couldn't find their ass w/directions-much less a terrorist.

 

[tgunner]

American Spirit, or just plain Spirit? We have plain Spirt airlines at the local Atlantic City "International" Airport, and they are quite nice. Their planes are all new Airbus A320's, and their prices are usually very good. Since they are one of the only airlines at ACY, it's very relaxed there. Southwest seems nice, but their 737's are fairly new. JetBlue used to oopertate Douglass DC-9's, which are VERY old, these were integrated after they bought ValuJet from Florida when it went bankrupt a year or so after one of the DC-9's crashed. I believ that they are using the A320's now too. That is very good news. I enjoy flying, but I have to have a window seat, otherwise I get sick.

 

[Charles]

Airlines

The last time I flew, they pulled my shoes too. Worse than that, they grabbed my mother (who looks percisely like the front row, Methodist Church, 67 yr old granny she is) for arguring with security. They made all of us get back (like we were members of a cell), I thought they were going to back room her for a while.

The part I really loved was the sign they had, which informed everyone as what they could not board the airplane with. At the bottom of the list, below firearms, knives, etc, they also listed "nuclear devices". I left shaking my head, wondering how this counrty will ever survive.

Charles

 

[tentoze]

Well, all you shoe-gripers take heart, EVERYONE has to take off their shoes in all US airports these days. I like it- at least it's consistent from one to another, which it certainly wasn't before.

 

[Markw]

thanks to 9/11, there are some things you just have to get used to.

Heightened security, for one. Every airport I've flown into/out of since then has the X-reay machine, guards and the semi-stripping to avoid setting off the metal (or whatever) detectors. I just wear boots that slip on and off.

And, mechanical problems and their related delays always have been, and always will, be a problem we all have to deal with. Would you rather they sent you into the air in an airplane of questional realibility?

But, did you notice this holiday season they hung mistletoe over the baggage check in scales? This was so you could kiss your luggage good-bye.

 

[ojTHEd]

When they ask me to take off my shoes, I inform them that I'll be glad to and that they shouldn't expect me to put them back on until I land where I'm going. And, I don't. I leave them off the entire flight.

 

[Sandy G]

Tri-Cities was the last stop for the plane last night-and there were only 5,6 people on it-so who cares if a couple of hillbillies don't get to bed when they want? John said he really thought about driving there-it would have taken 11 hours to drive-as it was, it took the airline 8 to get him home-w/all manner of hate & discontent. I still think that airline smacked of being run by Larry, Moe or Curley, if you know what I mean. I told one of the cops last night the airline should be named "Freddy Fudpucker World Airways-We Been Flyin' The World Since it Was Square..." The cop got a kick outta that...

 

[Billfort]

I have taken a dozen or so flights a year now for quite some time and agree, service and schedule reliability have gone down-hill since almost all the airlines I use got into financial trouble.

That being said though, I really don't have a problem with a flight being delayed because they have found a mechanical problem. Sure, the big question is why the hell didn't they know the problem existed before pushing the thing up to the gate but the nose wheel isn't working properly? go right ahead and deal with that, I'll read the paper or head back to the bar for another round.

Same with security - I have no problem with these guys treating everybody like a criminal and potential threat as I get to spend a few hours with them in an aluminum coffin doing 500mph at 30,000ft. Check my shoes, toss my deodorant stick, hell, even suspect the fluids in my baby's supply bag - as long as you do it consistently and with everybody.

I think recent history speaks for itself and going overboard with this stuff is just fine with me.

 

[Sandy G]

But WE as the flying public shouldn't put up with lousy service, incompetent bureaucrats...Shame on us for letting it get that way. And dammit, call me provincial, I STILL believe in the concept that we are innocent until proven guilty..no matter what some beady-eyed TSA mole says.

 

[Billfort]

The concept of innocent until proven guilty is a great thing Sandy but in this case, proven guilty can happen after a plane is blown out of the sky.

When I strap into that seat, I like that everybody in there was treated as a potential threat.

 

[tentoze]

The security inconveniences I have absolutely no problem with, even though I am skeptical of their efficacies. Security screening leaving S. Korea a few months ago was much more comprehensive than anything I've been through in the states. Hell, it was leaving Costa Rica 5 years ago than it is in the US today.

Face it- flying isn't fun these days. Period.

 

[Billfort]

Yeah, I had the same experience in HK and the Philippines - WAY better security - at least on the surface and at the passenger level.

This held true for Mickey Mouse little jungle airstrips and even jumping onto a banca to be boated out to Boracay island. I'm sure things are a lot scarier behind the scenes and the mechanical state of some of the airplanes I was on looked a little - questionable - but they sure did a nice job of passenger security.

 

[RichPA]

I also don't mind the security, as long as it is consistent. Kind of annoys me when my artificial shoulder sets off the detector and I get searched and sometimes interrogated, but security is something I agree is important.

Lousy customer service, long delays, filthy planes, etc. make flying so unpleasant to me that the security stuff barely registers.

 

[Charles]

Airlines

I remember when I was a kid, my buddy & myself rode an Arkamo (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri) bus to Springfield, Mo. At the time, I was shocked. Blue bus with an orange interior, we were the only two on board, & it stopped every 30 miles.

Looking back, I'd take Arkamo over the airlines any time. You get there just as fast, you have the bus to yourself, & they stop every 30 miles so you can buy more beer. Besides, blue on orange is kind of chic..

Charles

 

[wajobu]

Don't get me started on airline security and customer service, delays, etc. I travel internationally a couple of times a year and the same domestically. I almost always get pulled out of the line for something (and I follow the rules to a T). In Denver last year, I had a security bloke insist repeatedly that I had metal on or in my person. After many polite responses from me and in front of my family and the crowd waiting in line, I announced, "...you want me to drop trow here?, fine--let's get this over with..." A supervisor came over and I was cleared for take-off without unbuckling my belt. Sheesh.

Yeah, and I'm the guy that always gets stopped and asked for directions or asked to take a picture of someone and their travelling companions in some foreign land on the steps of some basilica.

 

[riffer]

I bill all my clients full time for travel now that the system has become so bad. Chicago-Toronto was about 4 1/2 hrs door-door before 911. Since then, I have spent as much as 10 1/2 hrs flying, on what takes about 9 1/2 hrs to drive.

On my own time - I only go where I can drive.