I’m sitting in the Fort Lauderdale airport watching my flight for Seattle via Charlotte board without me. It was scheduled to depart at 2:55PM ET, it is now 3:45, and there are still about 25 people waiting to board. There’s no way this flight leaves the gate less than an hour late, which makes it highly unlikely we could catch our 6:10PM connection… the last flight from Charlotte to Seattle tonight. So we’ve rebooked through Phoenix, scheduled to arrive in Seattle a couple hours late, after having spent an extra couple hours in the airport at FLL.
Flying sucks. It totally sucks.
Last year it took us a whole extra day to make it home from our annual pilgrimage to visit grandma in Florida, while this October a nonstop flight to Philadelphia turned into an all day ordeal as our plane turned back to Seattle an hour into the flight due to leaky toilets, only to have us reboard the same plane with the same leaky toilets hours later.
And talking to my fellow travelers, my experiences are far from the worst, let alone unique.
Of course, mechanical failures and bad weather happen, but back when I was my daughter’s age—you know, back in the good old days of regulation—the airlines would respond by booking you on the next available flight out, regardless of carrier.
It’s time for a passenger bill of rights that guarantees the same.
So it’s deregulation and NOT demand vs costs?
How do you know this?
BTW: How would you propose to regulate yourself into a pleasant flying experience?
Back in the good old days when people didn’t rely on the government to be their daddy.
Change.
By the way… you don’t have to fly and increase the size of your carbon footprint.
Did you buy carbon offsets for your flight?
All three trolls on the payroll from some Republican think tank have now weighed in.
It used to be much more expensive to fly. In the name of profits and competition, we have cut out all the fat in flying, like customer service and all the things that made flying pleasant. If all flying was, I donnno, 3 times more expensive, but you got those things, is that an acceptable trade off?
No mention on this blog about the protest in seattle?
One of the best lines…
That’s not the liberal way. Both cheap and all the benefits.
If only the government was in charge of the airlines, the cost of flying could be partially subsidized by property taxes and taxes on the rich. You know the rich I’m talking about, the people successful in life to own their home.
It could be worse. You could have been flying to Buffalo on a Continental commuter plane last week, so be thankful you were in Florida instead.
And notice how these things never seem to happen on non-American airlines…….
@ 4
“Republican think tank” is n oxymoron. Maybe “Republican talking point regurgitator” is more apt.
Goldy you pansy ass SOB–
You would have made one hell of a pioneer Goldy..you spoiled bastard.
Growing up in the wealthy Jewish Philly ‘burbs made you a real marshmellow, didn’t it?
No wonder you want go, government handouts to support all of life’s basics….if you complain about something minor like this, obviously competing in the world business arena must blow your l’il Pinhead.
Hey Puddy…growing up in the tenements of Philly, do you have any comments on the mindset of the wealthy Philly Jews??
Have a hunk of cheese with yer wine Goldy!
The silver spoon is so far up your ass, it’s coming outta yer mouth.
Cynical
I guess you no longer see any gain in hiding your racism, huh? Thanks for the honesty.
You were flying US Airways, huh? (The Phoenix and Charlotte give it away).
Fire them. Seriously. They’re a horrible airline. I did years ago for Alaska, Virgin America and Southwest (with occasional jaunts elsewhere when I have no reasonable alternative- it helps that you can stick miles on a lot of US airlines into an Alaska mileage account) and things have been much better.
Blew John@4(get it) and his asswipe mr loquaciousness king@9:
@4That’s your standard answer. @9What a moron.
Airlines have cut back due to the price of jet fuel and fewer flyers. You look at airlines who have the highest on-time record and at a good price.
back in the good old days…
you couldn’t fly to Florida for a couple hundred bucks.
Cynical@10:
Some have the silver spoon while others have plastic.
Some people are whiners and other make do.
I learned a lot growing up in a tenement. Cockroaches are hard to kill.
Speaking of flying…
Why did obama have to fly to denver to sign the stimulus bill, besides the photo op with the snow covered mountains and to increase the size of his carbon footprint.
Strange how democrats pointed out the CEOs of the automakers shouldn’t be flying yet democrats fly without a thought of the cost.
Oh yeah, that also includes the democrats flying Sherrod Brown in from a funeral on a government airplane so he could vote on bill… the same bill that sat on obama’s desk for days waiting to be flown across the country.
Ahhh yes I see another king of loquaciousness@11 appears, one who throws crap at someone and then runs when called on it.
How do you know this fool@11? I went to school with many Jewish boys and girls at university and they had a silver spoon. How about a new 924 Porsche when you are freshman? How about a new Firebird Trans Am when you are freshman?
All Cynical did was ask why he’s whining…
Looks like Obama may be pulling a Clinton. It’s from Boeing…
Looks like some friends of HA are on trial in England. Hey it’s the HA faithful loons who want Gitmo closed…
If they succeeded, those flying on those planes would have sucked at those altitudes.
That explains why goldy is liberal.
His life experience was one of privilege that he never earned, a life that was given to him.
He views anyone with any wealth as he views himself.
More than ten years ago, as airlines were struggling to deal with the economic impacts of deregulation, the then-CEO of American Airlines complained: “If I could sell spots sitting on a wing of the aircraft, there would be people lining up to buy that seat if it would save them ten bucks.”
Competition is not inherently good or evil. It does, however, have consequences which can be desirable or undesirable, depending upon the value system we place upon them. Likewise, deregulation is not inherently good or evil, but it does have consequences.
The most common consequence of regulation is that it places a “floor” in the marketplace beyond which certain standards are not allowed to fall, and by doing so raises the prices. The type and amount of regulation have a varying degree of finanacial impact.
With respect to airlines, we all want regulation to ensure that airlines will only use airworthy aircraft for commercial traffic. But we have found those regulations are not sufficient. If an airline is starved for profit long enough, it will, inevitably, be tempted to cut corners.
Those cuts will not be enough to create an immediate crisis, but they will increase the risk level to the point that, eventually, an “incident” will occur. Hopefully it’s something mundane which merely disrupts your travel plans. But it might be considerably more dramatic. For example, we are all tempted not to change the belts on our car engines as often as recommended, being fully aware that most belts can last quite a bit longer than the maintenance schedule suggests. But if a belt brakes on a car, the worst that can happen is you pull over to the side with a disabled engine. An aircraft in flight has little ability to “pull over to the shoulder” for a few quick repairs.
So it is in the interest of all of us to make sure that airlines have sufficient profit so that they are never in a position to have to choose between flying unairworthy aircraft or go under.
And while we are at it, we need to assign takeoff/landing slots at all major airports. The idea that airlines can pick their own time of departure/arrival in a crowded environment makes no sense. I’m not aware of any other industrialized country in the world that does it the way we do. So we have some airports where over half their daily flights are scheduled to depart within a half hour of each other in the morning, and likewise arrive within a half hour of each other in the evening. Of course, the majority of those flights are ALWAYS late in departure and arrival, because the airports can’t handle that many airplanes departing or arriving at the same time.
Goldy,
Looks at the ticket cost back in the days of regulation and extrapolate that to 2009 dollars.
I know that when I took a standby flight round trip to London in 1978, the cost was comparable dollar to dollar to nowadays coach without correcting for inflation….AND I got stuck in the UK for two weeks extra due to a strike (I got bumped due to being a standby fare).
The way things are going for obama regarding finding a cabinet that isn’t a tax cheat or under federal investigation, obama will need a second term just to fill his cabinet.
NEWS broke last week that Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, lived rent- free for years in the home of Rep. Rosa De Lauro (D-Conn.) – and failed to disclose the gift, as congressional ethics rules mandate. But this is only the tip of Emanuel’s previously undislosed ethics problems
Change.
Take the criminals off the payroll of lobbyists and put them in the white house.
Since it’s becoming obvious that all the trolls don’t get enough allowance to actually fly unassisted….
Goldy, from my experiences of flying to the Southeast, Charlotte is a lousy connection. Atlanta isn’t paradise by any means, but because so many flights there do have to wait for connecting flights from other locations, there is at least a mentality there of “getting everybody home”.
(There’s always Memphis, Dallas, Houston and sometimes even Minneapolis as your alternate connection points to and from the region for Seattle, but I don’t have as much experience with them regarding delayed connecting flights.)
My two bits…
I have successfully ignored the conservative trolls, skipping over their comments. They never say anything constructive anyway.
So what do you think of my question? Would you still fly if regulations made flying 3x more expensive, but you also had customer service, safety and an actual pleasant experience.
The cost would make me really have to have a compelling need to fly, but when I did, I would appreciate the restored safety and customer service.
Left wing moron@25: Certain overseas airports charge airlines for leaving late or arriving late if for anything but weather. Maybe this needs to be the norm in the US.
But being the fool you are blew john, keep blowing hot air…
I thought that with obama winning the election the world was going to embrace us. That once again the children in iraq could fly kites like in the michael moore movie. That unicorns would once again fly without fear.
The protestors held placards in a demonstration against the upcoming visit by Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton, who is on her first mission overseas as President Barack Obama’s chief diplomat.
Change.
Not so much.
rhp6033: I remember Goldy writing about this on HuffPo last year…
Palamedes@24:
You can barely navigate around here unassisted.
Stupid
Seattle, the place so nice to live in they institute “surcharges” to pay rebates.
The Seattle City Council is expected Tuesday to approve a surcharge on city water customers to help cover the cost of a $22 million court-ordered rebate to water customers.
Even when liberals give something back, they have to take more to pay for it.
Priceless.
Except the cost of paying for your own rebate.
You probably paid for it on pricline.com.
WELL you get what you pay for.
Only obama gets to decide who goes where… and you’ll like it or else.
“You can’t take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime,” said President Obama during Monday’s town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana.
Taxpayer dime?
He noted that Vegas is a year-round conference draw, with a major Federal Emergency Management Agency continuity-of-operations gathering set to attract some 220 people in mid-May.
It’s good to see that taxpayer dimes are good enough for government employees. Maybe obama should give them taxpayer quarters for use in the slot machines.
In case you misread something… It’s not us trolls complaining about flying.
Gee Goldy, now that they’re outsourcing baggage handling and maintenance, you’re supposed to be grateful if the plane doesn’t land nose-first at 1,000 mph.
Reading the trolls posting here you’d think they won the election. I guess the nearer they get to extinction, the louder they scream.
Well, no duh. Flying US Airways is your first mistake.
Why didn’t you link to the actual Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights? They’ve got a form letter you can send your congress person et al. Kate Hanni rocks & it’s about damn time for it.
Well, it’s only a matter of time before all the American carriers go tits-up anyway, so maybe we’ll see better service after they’re gone….
25. Blue John spews:
Blue John–
You repeatedly show what a naive, stupid bastard you are. Seriously. You have your head in the klouds…or more like, in some dark, dank place also called your ass.
You dream of a $200,000 house and government handouts. Wake Up! Wise Up! Grow Up!
PS–Stop whining and start producing.
Ain’t no free rides in this economy.
But their are still many opportunities to better yourself.
In your case BJ, you are soooooo pathetic their is only 2 ways you can go. Stay in your current morase…or improve your standard of living.
Puddy @ 28–
Your memory is unbelievable!
I think that’s why you run these KLOWNS around in circles. You have total recall cuz of no drink and no drugs.
These KLOWNS burn up memory brain cells they so desperately need.
You are like a big cat playin’ with l’il mouseys!
We’re being patriotic… we are dissenting.
Imagine signing a contract without reading it. That’s what the democrat controlled congress and the president did.
The democrats make those that sign their name for a payday advance loan look smart.
blue john has complained many times about homeowners. Obviously he doesn’t make good choices in life. He should work harder and spend less time online whining. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he has children or is soon to have children, putting himself further into debt for the next 18 years.
I NEVER understood why someone would rent, you end up with nothing except the bitterness knowing your rent went to buying property for someone else. Let me take a moment to thank the people that rent from me.
@25 “I have successfully ignored the conservative trolls, skipping over their comments. They never say anything constructive anyway.”
They’re like fucking weeds in the garden. Unfortunately on HA, in the comment section there’s more chaff than wheat.
That’s why we know you as slingshit. You only look for the left wing shit to eat!
Keep munching…
Cynical,
God provides the recall. I usually catalog it somewhere in bubble memory and it comes back, including the last tablespoon!
Cynical, Another memory test for the libtards.
I thought Hillary told us some time ago:
“I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you’re not patriotic. We should stand up and say, we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration.”
Well, we’s jus followin dat Secy of State boss. Obama thought she wuza smart lady.
Puddy–
Another stellar recall.
The KLOWNS really struggle with your fabulous memory.
Again, drug and alcohol memory lapses…and a bad seed.
Your are so right puddy, This is funny stuff.