Posted on 10/03/2007 8:19:52 PM PDT by Flavius
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With one in four domestic flights arriving late this year, the airline industry is hearing from passengers and the government that patience is wearing thin.
Aviation officials are considering forcing carriers to shrink their flight schedules or to pay more to fly during peak travel periods, though the traveling public could end up with higher fares as a result.
(Excerpt) Read more at biz.yahoo.com ...
I guess you are. For a year I had a FL railpass, since I was working in Tampa and my family was still living in Jacksonville. This is a 4 to 5 hour drive if you don’t hit traffic, but since the pass cost $200 for a year, it was a very cheap way to get home on weekends, especially since I could work on the train for the 6 hours it (supposedly) took.
I finally had to give it up. The train was almost always late, generally anywhere from 1 to 6 hours for a 200 mile trip. Once I barely made it back into work on time Monday morning, when the train should have arrived at 8 pm the night before.
Especially frustrating is pulling onto a siding so a long, slow freight train can exert its priority over a train carrying hundreds of actual people.
Sounds like you were on a shorter "weekender" type of train. The train (SW Chief) that I took wasn't like that...very few stops. I get on in KC at about 10:30 at night; once it leaves the metro we absolutely FLY across Kansas...it goes slower once the mountains come along.
There are usually three or four passenger cars (a couple of sleepers...a couple with just seats), the bar car, the luggage cars. Then, behind those cars were MANY U.S. Mail cars...I had no idea that Amtrak carried that much for the USPS.
The folks who work on the cross country trains are really great people...I talked to many who have worked for Amtrak for 20 or more years. On this particular route, they would leave LA...travel to Chicago...have a day or so layover...then back to LA.
The food was always really good, white tablecloth and all. But, you might end up with it in your lap if you hit the wrong bump...LOL. The scenery is really great.
These longer cross country routes are kind of cool; I'm a bit of a history buff...and they seem to have a bit of the feel of train trips from years ago.
I'll go again (assuming Amtrak is still around)...and will take the family next time. I would love to take the route that goes from MN to Washington State.
In an honest and simple one word answer...Yes!
(I knew)
Would you be interested in thoroughly educating yourself regarding all the other known potential scenarios that state sponsored terrorists regularly plan and train to implement?
Probably not.
That does not mean the threats are not real and present dangers. It just means you don’t deal with them everyday, so you can pretend they don’t exist.
The section I traveled was part of a NYC to Miami route. That’s not exactly cross-country, but then it’s not a commuter train either.
The major problem at the time was track needing maintenance, which slowed the train to sometimes 20 mph, with of course extended construction delays in addition. It’s possible they’ve largely fixed these problems.
I guess service varies widely by route. Although our two routes hardly constitute a statistically significant sample. :)
I wonder how these guys expect folks to get to east Asia without flying? Tramp steamer for a month?
Erm... What is the Amtrak schedule between NY and Glasgow, Scotland? :)
I've requested this before, but nobody has ever come up with anything.
Personally, when landing at the DC airport, I would sometimes wonder what would stop somebody from diving a small plane loaded with explosives into the White House.
But the airliner cruise missile never crossed my mind.
That’s why they call it a surprise attack.
Because the airport security screeners we have to wait on line for are there to provide the illusion of security. It's the only thing I can think of considering how arbitrary the guidelines are.
Read your own previous posts on this thread.
Shockingly, it seems even “you” also already knew civilian airplanes could be used as a weapon!
So your point is ...what?
Havn’t ridden a plane for ten years and never plan to again!
I practice the flight free life style and enjoy seeing the country from my comfortable old Lincoln Towncar.
I fly a good bit and the last three trips on Northwest have been so very uncomfortable. I can put up with poor service OR uncomfortable seats. But on the long flights over the Pacific the combination is intolerable.
I am shopping for a new carrier and/or will upgrade out of coach. At age 52 I really would enjoy laying flat to get some rest on a 13+ hour flight.
Yes, but those are *my* Jaguars that I actually own. :P
well flying should always be last resort
when i do go overseas it will be with a boat
but your right frequent long distance flying is unavoidable
as someone mentioned, airlines are pinching pennies to stay afloat. so what comforts me the most is that savings include turning off air filtration systems, and this is awesome, because we can transform disease with lighting speed
on the plus side, at least will breed enough immunity into frequent fliers that survive potential pandemic
Nice cars! I’ve always liked Jags, especially the E-Type which was decades ahead of its time.
Yeah, it would be much better for America to bankrupt an entire important industry based on hyper-emotionalized juries looking to ensure the largest-ever punitive damages. <s/
My point is that, as far as I’ve been able to tell, absolutely nobody published a warning prior to 9/11 that airliners could be hijacked and flown into buildings as missiles. So, IMHO, attempts to claim that this was readily foreseeable are just not true. Nobody saw it coming, or at least nobody published such a warning.
Obviously this was our failure in imagination.
For those who are convinced that they personally saw it coming, I’d appreciate it if they would just use their great insight to publish the location and type of the next attack so we can head it off.
Well that took all of 5 minutes on Google to find.
As to how,when, and where the next Islamic terrorist attack in the USA will occur...
There is plenty of speculation, and several plots have already been discovered and derailed prior to implementation.
Do you really need all the possibilities “published”?
Why?
What do you currently do to prepare and protect yourself against all possible terrorist threats?
Do you don a kevlar vest everyday? Why not?
You already know terrorists use sniper tactics.
Do you avoid crowded areas? Why not?
You already know terrorists blow themselves up in public.
Do you let your child attend school? Why?
Terrorists target children in school settings, as Beslam reminded people.
I can continue, ad nauseum.
I am no longer “in the loop”, and have not been, for several decades now.
Heck, I can't even read the things I myself "published", many years ago. But consider this my attempt to meet your stated need for "published" potential threats. Murderous Islamic terrorists groups, sponcored by Iran, Syria, North Korea and wealthy individuals in Islamic nations such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Yemen and let us not forget the non-nation of Palestine, want to kill you in any way possible. Don't underestimate China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba and... WTH, to save time and space, every despotic and corrupt third world hellhole nation.
Welcome to the real world! Have a nice day!
I agree WRT the longer cross country distances. But there are other choice routes. Another notion: A single transcontinental high speed route, NY to LA, only faster than any other railroad in the world. Faster than jet. Nuclear and magnetic technologies pressed into service. Maybe no rails, but a tube similar to pneumatic.
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