Am I the only one who thinks the world was a better place when airline travel was luxurious and expensive … and done infrequently?
“Am I the only one who thinks the world was a better place when airline travel was luxurious and expensive … and done infrequently?”
Probably not. I’m sure a few people would agree with you. But not many.
Lounge access, high loyalty status, Global Entry/TSA pre and biz/first class makes flying a lot easier. I generally think its a good thing for costs to be lower for consumers, including airfare, though. I don’t mind paying more at this point of my career/life to get a better experience, and I frequently do.
Air travel was better when travelers behaved and the airlines did their level best to treat you well.
Once the price went down and people found the money for it, decorum went away, you paid charges for better service, and rules and regulations multiplied.
People need to learn to behave again, for starters, and that may take a generation’s worth of effort.
If I ran an airline, all seats aboard all craft would be comfortable. There would be fewer seats per craft and the price of a ticket would rise. Passengers would sign waivers regarding their behavior with the purchase of a ticket. I would emphasise hospitality to passengers but most air crews would be burly, MMA-trained dudes with the ability to roll up a bad passenger in packing tape, put away your awkward carry-on, and render first aid and CPR. There would be one or two (or maybe three) pretty stewardess to answer your questions and take your request. And your order would served by one of the burley dudes.
That last paragraph was largely in jest. There’s no way the FAA nor FTC would let me operate like that.