January 19, 2010
Here are the top three reasons why I hate flying:
Reason #3…
It scares me.
This is a fact. I didn’t used to be afraid of flying but I became that way on a single flight. Although this falls outside of the eight or so year timeframe (it happened in the early Seventies), it has stuck with me since.
I was traveling back to West Point from Raleigh and somewhere over Virginia, we encountered clear air turbulence… what is commonly referred to as “hitting an air pocket.” I usually do as I am told aboard airplanes and was seated with my seatbelt loosely fastened about me even though the seatbelt sign was turned off. I noticed that my seatbelt was gradually tightening and, as I looked down at the buckle, my attention was drawn across the aisle to a woman with her baby in her lap who were slowly rising out of their seat, but were still in a sitting position.
Suddenly they shot up to the ceiling between the overhead bins and paused there briefly, stretched out face down like Peter Pan and company. Then just as suddenly they were both lying face first on the cabin floor and my seatbelt was loose again. The baby started to cry and the passengers beside them were helping them up just as the flight attendants arrived. No one was seriously hurt, the airplane was still flying and, after an announcement from the flight deck commenting on and explaining the situation, we continued on to New York in noticeable silence.
I never flew again in anything remotely resembling a relaxed state, nor with any degree of anticipation as I did with my first ever flight. I did fly again, though, and have gradually gotten to where I can tolerate it fairly easily. To say that I “hate” to fly because of that event is probably less accurate than to say that I simply don’t enjoy it any more, but I’m going to say that I hate flying because of it anyway. At the very least, that experience turned me into a bona fide white-knuckle flyer.
Reason #2…
TSA
Anybody who has boarded an airplane in the United States since 2001 knows what those three letters mean… and the reaction to seeing or hearing them, almost without exception, includes some form of groaning or shuddering.
You have probably heard the expression, “Do something, even if it’s wrong.”
Well, after four airplanes of U.S. registry get hijacked in a single morning and all occupants of all four of them plus thousands of others on the ground wind up dead… something must be done. And the U.S. Government did something for sure. They created the Transportation Security Administration. And, boy has it ever turned out to be wrong. This new federal agency was created one week and one day after the 9/11 attacks and due to a complete lack of forethought, it has done little more than create a whole new set of “Do something…” situations. TSA has earned a less than stellar reputation for a variety of reasons, many of which are listed here.
Among my own gripes about TSA are that I absolutely cannot stand to have to remove any of my clothing just to prove that I am not carrying anything that will disrupt a flight. I mentioned in my other blog that I have never been too keen on technology, but that doesn't mean that I don't have high expectations regarding technological advances.
A few years before the first flight I ever took, Sputnik 1 was launched into earth orbit and the space race went into overdrive. I have no sources to cite, since this is only my opinion, but I can’t help but believe it was only a short while later (probably by the time I took my first flight) that the US at least had on the drawing board, if not in pre-production, satellites that could read the license plates of cars parked in front of the Kremlin. I suspect the Soviets concurrently had satellites with similar capabilities to use against us. I would certainly expect in the fifty years that have elapsed since, that someone could have developed a device that can detect explosives in a pair of shoes while they remain on the owner’s feet. I am very glad that the dolt who tried to bomb an airplane that way didn’t opt to use a jock strap instead.
Otherwise, my complaint list would end with the fact that I haven’t found the TSA folks to be overly cordial. With due respect to the few TSA employees who are conscientious and caring, I make the following observation: Overall, I find the TSA employees to be surly toward and disdainful of the people whom they are supposedly serving and protecting. Their existence serves only as an attempt to make us believe that we are more safe because of their actions (described as 'security theater' in the above link). The reality to me is that they only serve to make an already unpleasant experience worse. They are the hair on the wart.
Note: I drafted the above part of this post between late November and mid-December. On Christmas day, there was an attempted bombing of a US airliner inbound to Detroit from Amsterdam.
The suspect had concealed plastic explosives in his underwear. Not exactly a jock strap, but very close. Fortunately, TSA did not immediately implement a plan to have all passengers remove their underwear for inspection. Instead, there will be a surge in the procurement and use of full body scanners, which is a controversial issue due to privacy concerns as well as a possible conflict of interest (what else is new?) situation, but I feel it is at least better than the interim quick fix that was applied. Among other restrictions, passengers aboard arriving international flights may not do anything other than sit in their seats for the last hour of the flight… no trips to the potty, no laptops or other devices, no blankets (not a problem on United), no fetching anything from the overhead bins. This temporary fix is yet another example of TSA’s commitment to doing something even though it’s wrong.
And the #1 reason why I hate flying…
The airlines have managed to make it an absolutely miserable experience.
In my previous entry, I mentioned that flying, from my point of view in terms of customer service, was generally satisfactory and continued to be, up until about eight years ago. I will use September 11, 2001 as the turning point in my enjoyment of air travel. Doubtless, the industry had been suffering economic woes for a variety of reasons from long before that date and has since. However, the overall business attitude beginning after 9/11 seems to have shifted away from customer service to maximizing income through any means possible, except for charging realistic fares.
One of those means was to curtail amenities. It started with stretching out a can of Coke to serve two and sometimes three passengers. Then it went to cutting down on food service to not serving food at all. It got to the point that you couldn’t find a seat that didn’t have a grease stain on it from where prior passengers had set down their pizza box or Taco Bell bag. Other amenities are being reduced as well. On our trip in 2008, we flew from Honolulu to Chicago… 8 hours… overnight… and there were not enough blankets and pillows available because it’s cheaper for them to provide only a fraction of what might actually be needed.
They also have significantly reduced the amount of space between the seats. I am a large person but I still can fit my rear end into the seat and get the seatbelt around me. However, I have difficulty fitting my legs into the severely reduced space made available for them. If the person in front of me reclines their seat, it causes me physical pain. Granted, I could do something about my girth so that the seat-back tray is more usable, but no matter what I do, I cannot change the size of my skeleton. Unless they stop reducing the width of the seats and the space between the rows, it’s not going to get any better for me.
And then there’s the issue of added fees, most notably for checked bags. Imagine making a reservation at a hotel… any hotel will do, but for the sake of this post, let’s say it’s something like a Sheraton or a Marriott. Those are the type places where I would expect a level of service to be provided that could be classified at least as “above average.” I would equate those types of hotels to the current major airlines… not the type of businesses that would be described using words like “discount” or “cheap.” Now, imagine checking in to that hotel to discover that if you want linens for the bed or towels for the bathroom you will need to pay an additional fee. That is how I view the airlines’ recent decision to impose checked baggage fees. It just exudes a sense of cheapness. (Ironically it’s the actual cheap hotels that offer free Internet access, but I digress.) The past few times I have flown, if I wasn’t among the first third to board, there was no more space in the overhead bins. I fully expect that there will soon be a charge for using the overhead bins. If not, there probably will be an additional fee for carry-on bags. Pay toilets are a not-too-far-fetched possibility either. I don’t really feel that the airlines value me as a customer as much as I sense that they regard me as a source of as much additional revenue as they can squeeze out of me. As far as I know, none of these extra charges are being applied to the classes of service above economy. Yet.
At this juncture I would like to point out that I freely admit to being a cheapskate when it comes to paying airfares. Only twice have I ever paid full-fare economy and never have I paid anything higher than that. I am fully aware that many of the amenities that I am bemoaning the loss of are available at higher fare structures. I also admit to being stubborn. I choose not to purchase a higher-class fare, partially because I’d rather spend the money saved on other things… like hotels and beer (and maybe some food) after I arrive at my destination. Also there are several levels of service that I simply cannot afford. Mostly, though, it’s because I contend that the airlines were previously able to provide those amenities to those of us in steerage and I think that they should be able to do it still. And they should do it.
Earlier I slammed the airlines for not charging realistic fares. That probably seems a bit contradictory considering the above paragraph in which I admitted to being cheap. I made that confession on the basis that, as a cheapskate, I would seek the lowest possible fare… not that I think that fares need to be lowered. On the contrary, I believe that fares should probably be raised in order to provide the maximum level of service per class as well as operate the equipment and pay all the personnel involved a decent wage. When I was traveling to Europe regularly, which was between 35 and 25 years ago, the average cost for an economy class ticket was around $500. A quick Internet search of four airlines’ websites puts the average fare today at around $780. That’s not much of an increase over that amount of time. It also looks like a pretty good deal… until you consider that you’ll be spending eight hours in an airplane that has you jammed next to your fellow passengers in all directions with little or no service being provided by someone who doesn’t really have any interest in providing what little service there is. Personally, I'd rather pay a much higher fare in exchange for a return to a higher level of service provided by outwardly happier employees.
A recent survey I heard of done by one of the country’s larger airlines asked customers if they would rather buy a ticket for $100 with a $35 fee for a checked bag or a $125 ticket with no baggage fee. Considering that most people who fly take along at least one suitcase, it’s a little strange that the majority of the responses to that question were for the lower fare even though the overall cost would be higher. So the airlines charge the lower fare. This works very well for them, though, as when they ask their workers for concessions, they are able to tell them that revenues (based on fares collected) are such that the concessions are desperately needed. Funny how they seem to be able to pay the executives handsome compensation packages regardless. Maybe that’s where the baggage fees go. Or else it’s how they can afford to repaint their entire fleet when they go bankrupt.
It has gotten to the point that I would really rather not fly anywhere. However, I will fly again. I have Zeb’s Odyssey XIV coming up in less than two years and, since he has his eye on the west coast, there will be little choice but to go by air. With any luck, by then there will have been a magical transformation back to the way things were a quarter century ago, but I won’t be holding my breath. No matter what, I will be searching for the lowest possible fare. I only hope it’s enough.
