Letters to the Editor
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Smaller planes, crazy rules, delays
What you've said makes sense. Except for 1 overseas flight, I don't think I've flown on a 747 since the 1980s- and I fly several times a year. It's all cramped 727s or DC 9s, I believe. Air travel makes me furious. Between the shoe-Nazis and the" blue-glove people", waving my forgotten mascara, or lip gloss in the air, informing me, "This is a liquid!" after I tried so hard to get all those never-dangerous items stored "properly"-- I'm convinced I'm going to die at O'Hare, after going a round with those idiots. I'm going to stroke out and collapse in front of a Northwest gate in the step-child terminal,(2) dying on that flithy floor because I got so mad.
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Congrats Patrick
Glad to hear you're flying again, and keep up the good work in your column.
We've experienced all the same tribulations flying that you describe. Luckily when my husband's flight was completely canceled do to "weather delays" and he left 24 hours later, we didn't have our kids with us.
These kind of delays are awful for everyone, but they are nothing but sheer hell for families traveling with kids. Kids are difficult at the best of times, but any three-year-old, trapped in an airport for unholy numbers of hours, then sitting on the tarmac for another hour, many times over past nap and bedtime, turns into a monster beyond belief.
I'd love rail service, if it was efficient, fast, and clean. Unfortunately Amtrak doesn't fill that bill. I'd love to see your column address rail travel vs. air travel in various parts of the country.
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Airport revenues
Might another reason for the rise in delays be the business model for airports? I am not sure about this but isn't the airport revenue structure such that they keep all revenues. That is the case for the San Francisco International Airport.
Each airport is a profit center to itself with a monopoly on air traffic in its locale.
More planes mean more landing fees and other taxes. So airports have a strong incentive to encourage more flights and no incentive to reduce delays.
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Why fly?
People hate flying and with good reason. Planes are cramped. Security measures are frustrating and even embarrassing. Passengers are treated worse that the cargo, which often goes un-x-rayed or inspected. Flying used to be exciting and fun. Now it's a schlep. Taking the bus is better. That's why even with $3 gas people are driving everywhere. So far this summer, I've seen cars from Illinois, Montana and Alaska - Alaska! - on the local streets of Westchester County, just north of NYC.
Besides fixing the air traffic control system and putting a cap on the number of planes allowed in the air, we should fix our national rail system. Amtrak should buy the rails they use for their most popular routes (they lease now) so they can be better maintained. And we should build the mag-lev trains for fast travel between major cities. If people could get from NY to Los Angeles in less than 24 hours by rail they would do it.
But the airlines have invested a lot of money in Congress to prevent such things from happening. Congress should be giving more money to Amtrak, not trying to kill it.
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Regional Jets
I fly to Bakersfield, CA a few times a year. The airport is serviced by only a few cities (LA, SF, Houston, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake). The last time I chose a flight after work and spend nearly 2 hours waiting on the runway at Newark. By the time I landed they said the flight already took off. It did not, though, because my bag was sent to Bakersfield (that was the last flight to that city). But anyway, I missed my flight. The airline didn't care. They gave me one of those reduced-hotel numbers and they had no hotels. That's right no hotels for me in Las Vegas. I was able to find a couple rooms but they were $200+. I just stayed in the airport bar and got drunk.
For next time, and all future flights, I am just going to have to take an earlier flight. If I miss a connection I can hopefully get one later in the day. I am just expecting it at this time. Flying is so wretched nowadays and that is sad.
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Nostalgia
Just completed a vacation trip to Seattle WA from Shreveport, LA via American out of DFW. I haven't flown in some time, so the differences in air travel between now and, say, 30- or 40- years ago, were glaringly obvious. I must admit, though, other than a 2-hour, on-ramp delay at DFW for a severe thunderstorm, the flights were noneventful. Boy, the glamour is sure gone, though. I vividly recall taking a Capital Airlines flight on a Vickers Viscount turboprop in 1960. What a gorgeous airplane! The windows were huge oval affairs which gave an unimpeded view of the ground - and the extremely long, Rolls Royce turboprops which protruded from the wings like - forgive the poetic excess - four erect phalluses. Compared to this airplane, the American 757 (?) was like someone's dowdy old aunt Bea. No doubt, a far superior aircraft. But the magic was gone. . . .
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"Customer Service"
"Ten hours, a day later. That's customer service from American Airlines."
About two weeks ago, my wife, son and I went to La Guardia for an American Airlines flight to Chicago. We arrived at 5:30am for a 7:30 flight. The flight was canceled. We waited in a line that snaked around the entire terminal from 5:30 until 10:30 before we got to speak to an AA clerk. 5 hours in line just to speak with someone about booking a new flight. La Guardia is so crowded that people could not get their luggage in the door. It makes bus terminals look posh. It felt like I imagine the Soviet Union was, maybe worse. The sooner American Airlines goes out of business, the better. The next day, after much time spent on the phone with AA, we got our tickets transfered to Air China (our destination) and went to JFK terminal 1. Beautiful, airy terminal, easy parking, no hassle check-in - the exact opposite of the experience at La Guardia. I have never had a problem at JFK.
As for the Dreamliner - the name is stupid. The plane doesn't look nearly as shark-like as the "artist's impressions" did. It looks like any other plane, with a sharper nose. Let's hope the plastic tail doesn't break off.
Congratulations on your new job. I sincerely hope it pays more than $17,000 per year. That's not a salary, that's an insult.