(though things could always be worse. pardon the vanity)
Posted on 03/10/2008 7:00:24 AM PDT by martin_fierro
I JUST FLEW IN FROM BUFFALO (and boy, did it ever suck!)
(not Buffalo; the flight)
Why is commercial air travel in this country such a miserable experience anymore? Seems that every aspect of it has lost any enjoyment. It's gotten to the point that I avoid traveling altogether.
While booking flights online has never been easier, flights cost more, take longer, include more tightly-scheduled stops and come with significantly diminished levels of customer service.
No detail with which to nickle-and-dime the passenger appears to be too small, too petty.
Even the boarding process has lost the semblance of order it once had. Time was, boarding took place in the following sequence: 1) those requiring help being seated 2) First Class 3) Coach class, boarding rear aisles first. Somewhere along the line this practie morphed into: 1) those requiring help being seated and First Class; and then 2) Coach class, boarding willy-nilly, however the hell you want.
Some possible explanations for the marked declne in air travel quality:
I'm not calling for a return to some Golden Age of Air Travel (cue the late 40s/early 50s newsreel footage of suited travelers being given hot towels by impeccably-attired stewardesses flight attendants). Those days are long gone. But is this really the best that the American airline industry can do?
Maybe these hassles are only apparent to the infrequent flyer (me). Maybe the more regular business traveler just becomes inured to all this crap and accepts it.
I'd like to hear FReepers' thoughts on this. Who's got the magic bullet to cure the U.S. airline industry of its malaise?
(though things could always be worse. pardon the vanity)
You Who.
Frontier isn’t too bad
I try to book all my connecting flights through Atlanta International because they seem to be one of the only airports that still maintains smoking lounges. Though probably for not much longer.
I've long had a theory about why the airlines suck, and why deregulation didn't work.and still doesn't. It's because we didn't have true deregulation. Fixed airfares were eliminated, and airlines, especially start-ups (remember People's Express??) were free to exploit market niches. However, the problem is that gate space at airports is limited, and tightly controlled by complicated bidding and lease processes, and the airlines that hold the rights, even if the capacity is underused..can't be forced to give them up. Thus, new start-ups, who would normally be eager to enter the market, withotu onerous union contracts, and compete on price AND service, can't get in.
What airline is this? Delta, AirTran and Spirit all board back to front. (after #1 and #2)
Was the boarding of coach class the only thing that “sucked” about your flight? Just curious. Were there any other issues?
Customer service, the keystone of corporate success, is nearly non-existant in all industries.
My business gets more customers every year because we not only service them but respect them as well.
Amazing how far you can get by using the words "sir" and "ma'am." And giving Lindt chocolates to receptionists when you visit a company doesn't hurt either.
People can say what they will about Wal-Mart, but how many companies have a person at the door welcoming you to their store when you walk through their doors?
‘twas Northwest/KLM.
Still better (for me) than United/USAir, but not exactly enjoyable.
Nobody wants that. Nobody.
The masses buy the cheapest, most direct, flight they can find. Companies also push for this when employees book their travel.
When I order through the computer travel agency my company has set up, there is an automatic message that pops up saying “You have not selected the lowest airfare. Please fill in the reason.” If the reason is not a more direct flight or arrival or departure time it is tough to explain it to my manager.
Top notch service costs airlines money. If customers continually show they don’t care about it. Airlines will keep reducing it.
Flights cost more, take longer, include more tightly-scheduled stops and come with significantly diminished levels of customer service.
That’s OK, Buffalo does suck....
Thanks for attending during the Martin Fierro Annual Snowstorm — see you next year!
People would rather have cheap airfare than service.
Unreasonable passenger expectations?
From your list, the above two I see as what makes flying less than fun.
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