Comments on: More on flying the friendly skies

By: shinypenny

shinypenny — Wed, 20 Oct 2004 16:05:06 +0000

I was on my way through Frankfurt, from Moscow to NY City, just a few days after the recent bombings of Russian Airliners… Ah, that’s what that second security screening is there for. I just flew through Frankfurt and they’ve taken the sign down. Actually that didn’t really bother me as much as being met at the gate in Detroit by four armed Customs police and everyone having to show our passports before we could deplane. Shouldn’t they be getting the bad guys ~~before~~ they get on the plane instead of after?

By: Cranky Observer

Cranky Observer — Wed, 20 Oct 2004 01:11:29 +0000

> The business about holding the > flight for connecting passengers > always puzzles me. I don’t mind > being delayed a little for people > who are running late, generally > through no fault of their own. > > But this practice is not uniform, > and of course I always end up on > the short end The dispatchers and schedulers run some fairly sophisticated algorithms to decide when to hold and when not. I suspect that two important factors are affect on profitability of a flight/station due to compensation that must be paid, and probability that holding one plane will cause a cascading effect that could continue into the next day. > At which point everyone with > connecting flights, children, > first class tickets, business > class tickets, smart suits, just > a vaguely business-like air about > them, etc. were transferred to > other flights/airlines. They don't even try to hide that. Your chances of getting an upgrade or a standby requiring an upgrade are strongly affected by (besides the total miles in your frequent flyer account) your dress and demeanor. Talk to a gate agent for a while during a down time and they will give you some hints. It can get unpleasant though - I was stuck in Detroit once due to snow; they gave me a hotel, meal, and cab voucher and then denied the single mother behind me any compensation. Luckily I was still there so I gave her my voucher, but I thought that more than a bit unfair. Cranky

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 17:45:50 +0000

Doug- you’re right that security in Russian airports (or at least sheremtevo- the only one I can speak about personally) ranges from a joke to bad. But, the extra screaning in Germany was imposed on all passangers taking any flight to the US at that time, regardless of where they’d come from. I think it was that that was annoying everyone.

By: Matt Weiner

Matt Weiner — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 17:31:57 +0000

We’re talking about a business that would have gone bankrupt several times by now if it weren’t for government bailouts. FWIW, aren’t we talking about a business that has gone bankrupt twice?

By: Matt McGrattan

Matt McGrattan — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 17:03:54 +0000

[Rambling anecdote alert] One time I flew back from Prague a bit fell off the plane—at least I assume it did. You could see all these guys in overalls standing around the plane (which was right outside) poking a part that was lying in an oily heap under the wing. So they had to fly in a part from some depot in Germany causing a 3hr delay. At which point everyone with connecting flights, children, first class tickets, business class tickets, smart suits, just a vaguely business-like air about them, etc. were transferred to other flights/airlines. It was pretty amusing to watch the naked transparency of the airline’s priorities. When the plane eventually left the only people on it were students and Czech girls on the way to London to work as au pairs… So, I suspect sometimes whether the connecting flight waits for you depends on who you are and how much you paid for your ticket.

By: Bernard Yomtov

Bernard Yomtov — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 16:17:18 +0000

The business about holding the flight for connecting passengers always puzzles me. I don’t mind being delayed a little for people who are running late, generally through no fault of their own. But this practice is not uniform, and of course I always end up on the short end – delayed to wait for others, but missing connections because a flight did not wait for me.

By: billyfrombelfast

billyfrombelfast — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 16:11:47 +0000

I had a similar experience (flight crew getting delayed from another location, ensuing bad tempered staff and passengers) flying on American a while back. It was also one of the latest flights that night. And wasn’t helped by the operations manager trying to get more flight crew from somewhere else, but screaming NO, NOT THEM - NOBODY ON OVERTIME down his walkie-talkie. I think we were delayed by 2 or so hours. I have resolved never to fly within the States on any airline but Jet Blue. In my experience, they are consistently comfortable, friendly, efficient and have a can-do attitude. I don’t care if this means Long Beach instead of LAX and so forth.

By: jif

jif — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 15:39:05 +0000

I lived for a number of years in a small town serviced only by US airways, and I can tell you that they are consistently terrible. They are also in chapter 11 for the second time in (I believe) a year, and their flgiht attendents are set to have their pay cut back to 1982 levels. I had to fly them recently back to the small town for a visit and was trapped in the cabin of the tiny airplane for an hour while the flight attendent gave an impassioned and memorized political speech to the front row, telling them (and due to the size of the craft, all of us) that if Kerry wins the election she’ll lose her job, and that Bush winning the election was the only thing that could save her job. The question of how exactly the first president to have a net job loss since Herbert Hoover was going to save her job (and whether or not a job that pays 1982 wages is worth saving) was not raised. Combined with the lateness of departure on the two flights I had to take that day it did little to raise my esteem for US Airways.

By: digamma

digamma — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 14:59:40 +0000

Have you every heard people carp about how they wish their government was run as efficiently as a business? If one started a library of stories about the negligence, rudeness, and ineptness of American businesses one might finally put an end to that bias. We’re talking about a business that would have gone bankrupt several times by now if it weren’t for government bailouts.

By: Alex R

Alex R — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 14:44:03 +0000

Kieran hit the nail on the head. When I saw the “backwards name tags” detail, I though, “hmm, I’ll bet this was US Airways…” US Airways employees are definitely not happy right now, and are already staging impromptu job actions, according to a story I heard on NPR yesterday. Oh, and that 21% pay cut was not negotiated—it was imposed unilaterally by the airline after the bankruptcy court judge gave them permission do so.

By: Matt Weiner

Matt Weiner — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 14:03:39 +0000

The first campus visit I did here (UW-Milwaukee), I think three people touted Midwest Airlines as a reason to live in the city. I’m glad to see that they fly to Pittsburgh now. But I’m very distressed that Dan Simon beat me to that joke.

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 13:05:22 +0000

Matt, I flew out of Nizhni Novgorod and Moscow that week, too. In Nizhni security was a joke, and it wasn’t much better at Sheremetyevo. According to media reports, it cost the bombers less than $50 in bribes to get on the planes at Domodedovo. That extra search in Frankfurt may have been annoying, but it may also have been a good idea.

By: jet

jet — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 13:02:40 +0000

Flying across the ocean is tomfoolery best reserved for when you have time to be picky about your flight. Flying in the US is best done in a plane you’ve bought or built. Buying a plane that appreciates at about the rate of inflation isn’t a bad deal if you fly a lot. Building a plane is a great way to make a good chunk of equity. Most kit planes double or triple (several quadruple) in value over the amount invested the day they are certified by the FAA. I no longer “enjoy” the opportunity to complain about flying commercial. And life is good.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 12:41:44 +0000

I was on my way through Frankfurt, from Moscow to NY City, just a few days after the recent bombings of Russian Airliners. Everyone in transit had to go through a new, very annoying security screening again before getting on to any plane going to the US. It was easy to see that the German airport staff was annoyed about it as the passangers were. They’d put up a very large and easy to see sign noting that this additional delay was demanded by the US authorities and that they were doing it only for this reasons. It seemed to do a good job of deflecting everyone’s annoyance.

By: Matt McGrattan

Matt McGrattan — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 10:42:45 +0000

I’ve not had any particularly bad experiences while flying (unless you count the food on Czech Airlines) but I have had the over-bearing and hostile security check while going through Amsterdam. I was singled out for a serious body search i.e. shoes taken off, lining of them taken out and examined, hand luggage picked over, lengthy body search etc. None of which I particularly minded about and I initially went through the thing with good humour. The good humour evaporated though as the Dutch security guy doing it was so incredibly rude that if it had been almost any other situation I’d have been prepared to take strenuous efforts to complain to his bosses. If it had been any informal situation and he wasn’t armed he’d also have been pretty likely to get a smack in the mouth. I don’t say this lightly but when someone is man-handling you and talking to you like you are a piece of crap without even a minimal pretence at politeness the hackles raise. As it was I didn’t fancy being dragged off to some Dutch holding cell and missing my flight so I meekly complied like a good little boy.