Letters to the Editor
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Flying today IS Hell (Unless you snag first class!)
As worded in the title. I can recall flying before the age of deregulation - in the 1960s. It was a delight. I would regularly fly, for example, from Miami to New Orleans and back on Eastern Airlines. You had only TWO seats on each side of the aisle (which was at least 50% wider than what passes for an aisle now) and there was plenty of leg room. At no time did someone leaning back in their front seat cause problems for you - as it does now.
Stewardesses brought snacks - and drinks- about every ten mins. If the flight was a longer one, e.g. Miami to LA, you could expect to be served a proper meal. While airline meals have always had a bad rap, at least those from the 1960s were properly heated and had some distinct taste (you could tell the chicken cacciatori from the pork chops) and it made what is served now in first class seem like fine cuisine compared to dog food.
Best meal I ever had? A three course meal on a Pan Am flight carrying us (Peace corps volunteers) from Philadelphia to Barbados in June, 1971.
It's a pity what air travel has now become - the new "Greyhound" bus of the skies.
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Reclining Seat Complainers
For those of you who are out there demanding the disabling of reclining seat mechanisms, some of us who are suffering from back problems need to recline to relieve stress on the lower back. I find that the only way to stop the pain in the lower back is to recline. The distance between rows should be increased, and it is stupid and selfish to get pissed off at the people in front of you just because they are reclining their chairs. You should be angry with the airlines, but don't assume people don't have a reason to need to recline their chair.
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The Hell That Is Flying
I'm short, so I also have problems with the seats. Like others have mentioned, they're too high off the floor so I can't put my feet flat which puts a lot of pressure on my back. The seat shape is horrible and provides zero lumbar support, so I stuff a sweater or the crappy pillow they give you behind my lower back. I put my backpack under the seat and subtly pull it out after we've taken off so that I can use it for a footrest, otherwise my back's in agony for the duration of the flight. I can't imagine how tall people deal with it if it's this brutal for me. I don't ever pick the exit rows, bulkhead rows, or Economy Plus (I fly United as I have a lot of miles with them) because I'd feel guilty if someone tall needed the seat.
Having said that, I arm myself for battle with the plane when I fly. I bring one of those doughnut-shaped blowup neck rest things so I can avoid problems with the seat headrests and can sleep if needed. I always bring earplugs to wear when I'm not using my IPod. A long book is always a necessity. I have an eyeshade so I can sleep, even during daytime flights. I bring easily-consumed snacks for all flights, especially those under four hours where we won't be fed and suck it up and buy the bottle of water to bring on board. My backpack always has my makeup bag in it with makeup remover cloths, hand and face moisturizer, my toothbrush/toothpaste, and fragrance-free handwipes. I also recommend getting tomato juice, if you like it. Hardly anyone ever asks for it so they give you the entire can. I'm nice to everyone at the airport, no matter what - TSA, gate staff, flight attendants - and it makes a huge difference.
However, I'd happily pay an extra $50 or even $100 if they'd rip out those awful seats and replace them with something actual humans would want to sit in, especially for flights four hours or longer. In the grand scheme of things, it isn't going to make or break whether I take a trip.
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NWA Airbus 330
i recently visited my parents in Hawaii, and dreaded having to fly Northwest. It's usually a cramped 757 with surly attendants. However, I was pleasantly surprised flying back on the A-330. I have an 8 and 4 year old with me, and load up on video for our sony PSP, and plenty of games for the nintendo DS. The A330 had the linux-driven on demand audio and video system. My boys are seasoned travelers, and they have always been quiet and polite, but video system added an extra measure of sanity to the flight. And I think the flight attendants were much nicer because of it. i look forward to new and creative ways to make travel less painful.
i would gladly pay extra for comfort, but buying tickets is such a lottery. It's possible to pay twice as much for the exact same seat. I wish for a saner system, where the airlines can make some money, and where customers can travel with some dignity.
btw, i enjoyed the audio portion.... they had a great playlist of new alternative music. that really made my trip.
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Quit your whingeing, you don't have a choice
American domestic carriers like to tell us "thank you for your business, we know you have a choice", but few of us really do. If domestic trips require a flight, our selection the carrier is by routing, price, schedule to meet our (or our company's) budget and location. Often there is only a single carrier on the route we need. The relative comforts of the seating arrangements are nowhere in these considerations.
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Don't know how they'll fix this.
I'm six-foot-two, and when I sit down my shoulders overlap my seat by a couple of inches on either side. I know that my annual cross-country flight is going to be hellish. I suppose the only way to correct this is to somehow get enough money to fly first class. Unlikely.
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you get what you settle for...
Patrick & Fellow Readers,
5'8", 145# - agree legroom far more important than flippy foot rest: that's what carryons for. LOVE to travel, and dangit! - still love to fly too. Always have, since that glossy spring day in '66 when I boarded my first (?PSA 737?) from "Orange County" to Sacramento, around my 3rd birthday. I am not rich, but recently (and gleefully, because I could) put down ~50% of my vacation's full cost to fly Bus Cl LAX-BKI (Kota Kinabalu), rather than endure a transPac in barnyard animal class/steerage. Yup, my forty-odd hours in Malaysia Airlines "lay flat" seat, eating copious & delectable gourmet cuisine while sipping endless, "on demand" French champagne may have cost MORE than I paid for 2 weeks lodging at some of the world's premiere diving destinations, but it was worth every freaking penny. And I'll do it again as soon as I can budget the outlay...
Another thing - with all requisite empathy for that "lone parent's" vitriolic post, by the time i was 10 I too had flown over 100,000 miles - and upon NO occasion ever behaved like the "problem children" frequently reviled in this string. Never mind a "kiddie section" - let's dispatch all those miscreants (with their insolently incapable handlers) on their own entire FLIGHTS for goodness' sake. Given that, hows about some kind of "TSA junior adult permit" for those well-behaved young ones who've demonstrated competency in not having to be the squalling center of an entire airplane's attention for 7 hours?
Last, I cannot agree heartily enough with just about every one of readers suggestions put forth on how to best ensure YOUR OWN comfort. Yes, ultimately, most of us will be wedged there into airline's barnyard animal torture cubes - that's why "economy" has like 20 times as many seats as Bus Cl & 1st put together. BYO water (versus the nasty and inevitable dehydration, whatever one pays at the "security-approved" kiosk shops is a pittance), spesh kadota fig scooby snacks, neck pillows/memory foam cylinders, HABAs (Health and Beauty Aids), earplugs & entertainments...if you've spent hundreds to thousands of dollars on the ticket, assembling a $25 fanny pack'd airplane CAREkit is not merely simple & sensible, it's ALWAYS there when you need it.
Failing that, drop the (fill in cardinal number)-thousand bucks for the "upper" class seat & rejoice in your exquisite moment of the High Life.