The airlines have become just cattle cars with wings and treat passengers with contemp. There is no more customer service or even common sense left. Perhaps someday some airline will figure it out and give good service, treat passengers well and not try to nickel and dime their customers with ridiculous fees for things that should be included in the fare.
Alot of the Asian airlines have that figured out
Passenger service declines are directly related to decline in competition.
Next flight was with three other family members on Delta. Rude and incompetent ground staff (curbside bag check - $25 a bag - failed to give my wife the document she needed to get through security and get a seat assignment at the gate), a boarding procedure that put 5% in group 1, another 5% in group 2, and the rest of the herd (including us) stretching out in the last group. Still would have had to pay an extra $30 to get a pre-assigned seat, which despite the condescending lecture from the Delta gate jockey (tempted to reply "listen b****, I've been flying worldwide for forty years and never been treated so badly by even the likes of Aeroflot and Syrian Arab Airways, but didn't want to get arrested by eager airport security) was never prompted to choose as an option when I booked the reservation.
This story about Coulter's treatment by them just confirmed once more that Delta is the s***pit of American carriers and will never be an option I'd ever choose again.
We retired to Spain last year and it looked like we were going to have to pay a fortune in air fare just to get there. It turned out that I had enough Sky miles on My AMEX Delta card to get 2 one-way tickets from Atlanta to Paris to Rome to Malaga for free. It took 2 days to get there but you couldn't beat the price. When we got to Atlanta the gate agent informed me I couldn't fly one way unless I had a return ticket. I almost had heart failure and tried over and over to explain that I wasn't coming back. The gate agent kept asking me "Are you going anywhere besides Spain?" I said no, and started to explain that we had bought a home but he said again, "Are you SURE you aren't going anywhere besides Spain?" The third or fourth time he said this I finally figured it out and said we were going to France after Spain and he let us go. Turns out they can't prove you don't have a return ticket if you are going to another country.
We were very early because it was an international flight so again, thanks to my Skymiles card, we got to sit in the first class lounge for $25 each, well worth it. Instead of schlepping around in the main terminal we sat in comfort and munched out on a complimentary buffet with drinks.
When we got to Paris it was still considered part of one flight so we went to the Air France First Class Lounge, again willing to pay another $25 each because we had a long layover. They said that they never heard of that program. I protested and they said they would check but when they couldn't get in touch with Delta they let us stay for free. Later I found out they were right, Delta only honored that program on their own lounges, not partners. I wasn't intentionally trying to scam them but it worked out well. We had a hotel in Rome because we were arriving late then flew to Malaga early the next morning.
So thanks to Delta we got helped with our one way tickets, first class lounge and free flights. I cancelled my card shortly after because I have no intention of ever flying with Delta again but when the chips were down they came through.
Cattle cars with 70 year old flight attendants on just about every major American air carrier. Fly in the CONUS all your life and then book a first class flight overseas on Cathay Pacific or Air China- you’ll see the difference immediately
I’ll still fly with them since everybody else is about as awful as flying CCCP Air.
IMHO though, the public subjects themselves to cattle status by the way they behave and dress while flying. I recall flying as a child when everybody smoked in the cabin and respect still meant something to people who flew.
Having to transport freaks, pedophiles, and welfare queens who wear their pajamas on flights makes the decision to become an airborne cattle car all the easier.