Andrew, you mopped the floor with this post. Every airline seems to have major customer service issues. Food issues. Wifi and entertainment issues. Baggage issues. I’ve flown the best of times (Concorde from NY to Paris once, was first child in Indiana to fly out of Indianapolis when I was in first grade) and worst of times (passenger having a baby 5 feet behind my seat, to microwaved dinners served frozen because the oven fizzled.) The category of worst could go on for pages but you know that.
It could be better. So much better.
I know air travel is a massive operation. I find the best quality on Sun Country out of Minneapolis. However they are a small, tourist based company.
Quality control? Consistency? I have flown internationally four times in 2022. Seven times nationally.
Checked luggage never made it to me internationally until 2-3 days into the trip. Filing the lost luggage often took 2-3-4 hours. I don’t pretend to have the answers but do the airlines care? We continue to fly, they continue to F-up.
Consumers are rats in their maze.
All I can say is if the planes malfunctioned as often as the day to day operations, well we’d all be dead.
Great rant- sorry that was your experience, though! I have to share our "best worst air travel experience"--Phoenix to Newark. I'm by the window, hubby has the middle seat, older woman next to him. A few minutes in, hubby looks down and spies a crate at his neighbor's feet. It's a cat. He hates cats. Oh crap, I think. The woman must notice the pained look on hubby's face because she starts telling him ALL about her cat. She then picks up the crate and plops it on her lap, opens the door, and POOF! Wads of fluffy cat hair flying around our heads. A nearby flight attendant spies the hair wads floating around; ironically, she takes pity on Kitty and makes it her VIP; in fact, she rushes through coffee service, hustling down the aisle chanting "Coffee, coffee, coffee" faster than anyone can raise a hand. Afterward, she scurries back over and proceeds to engage with VIP Kitty and its owner, to the apparent neglect of the human passengers. When we think it can't get more surreal, she comes around with a paper cup of water, thrusts it into my husband's hand and says, "Here! Hold this for kitty!" He looks over at me, incredulous, as he holds out his hand with the cup, stoically, until they are ready to help VIP Kitty quench its thirst. Years later, we laugh about it, sort of.
Ok you crack me up. I hate to fly which is probably why I divorced my pilot husband of over 20 years. (There’s got to be some correlation there somewhere.) The last time I flew, I just remember the back of the seat in front of me resembling the back of an ironing board… just about the same size… With a tiny little metal tray that flipped down, just about the size for the iron to rest on. Silly me… That was the tray on which I was supposed to eat whatever crap they served. I actually laughed out loud over the thought of it....
My flight home from Miami was exactly the same. I am familiar with that airline and agree with everything in your post. Loved the festival - and true about paying people. As a frequent traveler also, I find service is a crap shoot depending on the mood of the crew. Thank you for sharing
Food CAN be tasty on a plane ! Maybe they need to ask the flight attendants. My stew friends are always telling me stories of how they take the meals and sass them up a bit for themselves. I’ve heard some tasty stories.
Choosing to take a flight right now is like the Wild West. We try to get through it and be patrons. Nothing works. It’s like any other big volume corporation you deal with. Their employees all try to do the best with what they have.
I’d still be at 100% if I got that full can of coke once in a while.
The seats are torture. I'm 6'-3", all legs (36" inseam). I can't always get Economy+ on United. I can survive in an aisle seat by slumping into the aisle and trying to dodge the carts. My knees block the seat in front of me from reclining.
I gave up on airline food long ago. Eat before you get on the plane if you can. Tortas Frontera by Rick Bayless at O'Hare is amazing.
Circa 1996, living in Dubai. In Islamabad, Pakistan for work. Finished one day early but my flight home on Pakistan International Airlines wasn't until the next day. Managed to get a seat on AeroAsia airlines, based out of Karachi (now defunct). They had a flight to Dubai same day with a stop in Peshawar (less than a one hour flight from Islamabad). It was all terrifying. The plane was an old Romanian airliner literally held together in places with duct tape. The plane shook the whole flight. There was a piped-in prayer before takeoff. Turned out we needed it.
I'm not religious or a nervous flyer, but I had white knuckles that day. Oh, and the the food was a big pot of brown gloopy awfulness (normally I love Pakistani food), and no alcohol to boot. And I was in first class. Thought about kissing the ground in Dubai but didn't want the funny looks.
Small airline has smaller seats and wanted to charge $5 for a print out pass, charges for carry on as well as checked bags.... Nickel and dining EVERYTHING. It flies out of our of the way airports....at the end of the day the hassle is just not worth the savings.
HOT meals on an airline were a regular thing once upon a time, and you did not have to fly a great distance to get one.
All this a la carte for Nothing really served is for the Birds - but pray they don't Strike!
The industry is a Shadow of itself unless you fly Lufthansa or other.
Worst flights - moving through storms and having Lightening through the plane, and coming back from a National convention JUST DAYS before the HOLIDAY with families bringing All the kiddies. The loudest, most chaotic flight, with toys rolling down the aisles, and flight attendants scrambling to try to get some assemblence of Order.
Andrew, you should SEND your valuable orderly note of specifics UP the Ladder - and Up farther after that! You are SO RIGHT on All Counts. Your thoughts are known to represent thousands upon thousands MORE who think the Same!
Analytically-Written as a More Frequent Than-Most-Flyer, You could do more that just a little to Voice Concern AND Consternation for the Masses !
Be it written in Fervor on your flight, or at the Insomnia Hour of 3:00 a.m., it is a Call to Share. Don't want to send to the Top of the Airline? Send it to the WALL STREET JOURNAL ! You deserve a Consumer Award or More for that literary
conveyance of Heartfelt consideration for All experiencing the Fiasco!
My Major City is Still trying to recoup from Covid. Flights have increased, but are not Back to normal. Airlines Are Suffering too, they say....
You Had to feel better after Getting that Written ! Good For You!
Well I read all the comments.Oh my,I haven't flown in years.Have a son in Florida,all these comments are depressing.Needless to say I'm rethinking my trip and possible modes of ways to get there.
Andrew, you mopped the floor with this post. Every airline seems to have major customer service issues. Food issues. Wifi and entertainment issues. Baggage issues. I’ve flown the best of times (Concorde from NY to Paris once, was first child in Indiana to fly out of Indianapolis when I was in first grade) and worst of times (passenger having a baby 5 feet behind my seat, to microwaved dinners served frozen because the oven fizzled.) The category of worst could go on for pages but you know that.
It could be better. So much better.
I know air travel is a massive operation. I find the best quality on Sun Country out of Minneapolis. However they are a small, tourist based company.
Quality control? Consistency? I have flown internationally four times in 2022. Seven times nationally.
Checked luggage never made it to me internationally until 2-3 days into the trip. Filing the lost luggage often took 2-3-4 hours. I don’t pretend to have the answers but do the airlines care? We continue to fly, they continue to F-up.
Consumers are rats in their maze.
All I can say is if the planes malfunctioned as often as the day to day operations, well we’d all be dead.
Great rant- sorry that was your experience, though! I have to share our "best worst air travel experience"--Phoenix to Newark. I'm by the window, hubby has the middle seat, older woman next to him. A few minutes in, hubby looks down and spies a crate at his neighbor's feet. It's a cat. He hates cats. Oh crap, I think. The woman must notice the pained look on hubby's face because she starts telling him ALL about her cat. She then picks up the crate and plops it on her lap, opens the door, and POOF! Wads of fluffy cat hair flying around our heads. A nearby flight attendant spies the hair wads floating around; ironically, she takes pity on Kitty and makes it her VIP; in fact, she rushes through coffee service, hustling down the aisle chanting "Coffee, coffee, coffee" faster than anyone can raise a hand. Afterward, she scurries back over and proceeds to engage with VIP Kitty and its owner, to the apparent neglect of the human passengers. When we think it can't get more surreal, she comes around with a paper cup of water, thrusts it into my husband's hand and says, "Here! Hold this for kitty!" He looks over at me, incredulous, as he holds out his hand with the cup, stoically, until they are ready to help VIP Kitty quench its thirst. Years later, we laugh about it, sort of.
Ok you crack me up. I hate to fly which is probably why I divorced my pilot husband of over 20 years. (There’s got to be some correlation there somewhere.) The last time I flew, I just remember the back of the seat in front of me resembling the back of an ironing board… just about the same size… With a tiny little metal tray that flipped down, just about the size for the iron to rest on. Silly me… That was the tray on which I was supposed to eat whatever crap they served. I actually laughed out loud over the thought of it....
My flight home from Miami was exactly the same. I am familiar with that airline and agree with everything in your post. Loved the festival - and true about paying people. As a frequent traveler also, I find service is a crap shoot depending on the mood of the crew. Thank you for sharing
Greed. That's all it is, plain and simple. And American corporations are full of it.
Food CAN be tasty on a plane ! Maybe they need to ask the flight attendants. My stew friends are always telling me stories of how they take the meals and sass them up a bit for themselves. I’ve heard some tasty stories.
Choosing to take a flight right now is like the Wild West. We try to get through it and be patrons. Nothing works. It’s like any other big volume corporation you deal with. Their employees all try to do the best with what they have.
I’d still be at 100% if I got that full can of coke once in a while.
The seats are torture. I'm 6'-3", all legs (36" inseam). I can't always get Economy+ on United. I can survive in an aisle seat by slumping into the aisle and trying to dodge the carts. My knees block the seat in front of me from reclining.
I gave up on airline food long ago. Eat before you get on the plane if you can. Tortas Frontera by Rick Bayless at O'Hare is amazing.
Circa 1996, living in Dubai. In Islamabad, Pakistan for work. Finished one day early but my flight home on Pakistan International Airlines wasn't until the next day. Managed to get a seat on AeroAsia airlines, based out of Karachi (now defunct). They had a flight to Dubai same day with a stop in Peshawar (less than a one hour flight from Islamabad). It was all terrifying. The plane was an old Romanian airliner literally held together in places with duct tape. The plane shook the whole flight. There was a piped-in prayer before takeoff. Turned out we needed it.
I'm not religious or a nervous flyer, but I had white knuckles that day. Oh, and the the food was a big pot of brown gloopy awfulness (normally I love Pakistani food), and no alcohol to boot. And I was in first class. Thought about kissing the ground in Dubai but didn't want the funny looks.
Small airline has smaller seats and wanted to charge $5 for a print out pass, charges for carry on as well as checked bags.... Nickel and dining EVERYTHING. It flies out of our of the way airports....at the end of the day the hassle is just not worth the savings.
Perfectly stated-and sadly, all true.
HOT meals on an airline were a regular thing once upon a time, and you did not have to fly a great distance to get one.
All this a la carte for Nothing really served is for the Birds - but pray they don't Strike!
The industry is a Shadow of itself unless you fly Lufthansa or other.
Worst flights - moving through storms and having Lightening through the plane, and coming back from a National convention JUST DAYS before the HOLIDAY with families bringing All the kiddies. The loudest, most chaotic flight, with toys rolling down the aisles, and flight attendants scrambling to try to get some assemblence of Order.
Andrew, you should SEND your valuable orderly note of specifics UP the Ladder - and Up farther after that! You are SO RIGHT on All Counts. Your thoughts are known to represent thousands upon thousands MORE who think the Same!
Analytically-Written as a More Frequent Than-Most-Flyer, You could do more that just a little to Voice Concern AND Consternation for the Masses !
Be it written in Fervor on your flight, or at the Insomnia Hour of 3:00 a.m., it is a Call to Share. Don't want to send to the Top of the Airline? Send it to the WALL STREET JOURNAL ! You deserve a Consumer Award or More for that literary
conveyance of Heartfelt consideration for All experiencing the Fiasco!
My Major City is Still trying to recoup from Covid. Flights have increased, but are not Back to normal. Airlines Are Suffering too, they say....
You Had to feel better after Getting that Written ! Good For You!
Well I read all the comments.Oh my,I haven't flown in years.Have a son in Florida,all these comments are depressing.Needless to say I'm rethinking my trip and possible modes of ways to get there.