2020 airline pax travel with morons

[n2230b]

What Happened to US Airline Travel in 2020????:

It is now an !Insufferable exercise in man’s ability to withstand pain!!

Which see:

The poor single mother with three toddlers occupies the wrong seats then argues with the rightful pax ticket holder delaying boarding up 15 extra min.
The idiot directly in front of you rips ass, (blatantly farts outloud) a physically tangible acid cloud that envelops your entire being, (Oh Lord....my mouth was open and everything...).
Every sixth dude thinks the pantsbelt goes around the torso BELOW the gluteus maximus thereby rubbing your elbow directly with his HANES as he passes by.
A Non-english speaking grandmother allows her 3 yr old grandchildren to run in the aisle while taxiing. (Law suit next....ticket prices up to follow!!)
Overstuffed-oversize carry ons are violently shoehorned into oversized overhead compartments while you cringe underneath.
Five hundred pound “big Daddy” T-shirt-acute coronary syndrome waiting to happen“ guy obstructs 9/10 of the adjacent seats and aisles because its politically unsustainable for the airline to charge him-her for two seats.....thereby screwing everybody else.
Flight attendants literally hide in their galleys the entire flight, pulling their curtains shut and doing NOTHING AT ALL the whole flight, (because they are afraid of covid 19 or are simply embarrassed by what their occupation has morphed in to).
You can’t find anything decent to eat at any terminal & you can’t bring your own food so you must eat “day old/pre-prepared pita-tortilla-stale sourdough tuna salad slam” or stand in a 30 person line for, you guessed it, airport big mac or just let your belly rumble.
Late departure-late arrival situation creates critical connection cluster f—k, prompting overhead announcement to “please allow pax with connections to get off first”...and predictably; everyone ahead of you takes their time evacuating the aircraft as if they own it.
The ambient temp in the coach cabin is maintained at 90 degrees Fahrenheit to save what?,,,,, eurodollars?, yen? fiat money?...what??? WHAT!!????
Flight attendants hand you little bags with a pediatric water bottle and mini-pretzels, whether you want-it or not! Makes you feel bad for the trees.

Where is the outrage!!!

Tickets are at historically low prices!! + Stimulus Money!!

Ergo!!!!!...I can Fly!....! CAN FLY!!....I CAANNN FLYYYYY!!!!!!

MY immediate family is a major, (as in MAJOR Airline) CHIEF PILOT and he tells me:

“This is a differnt DEMOGRAPHIC for sure”

Where is this leading?

 

[kayoh190]

Cocaine is one hell of a drug.

 

[Radar Contact]

Where is this leading?

The second golden era of general aviation...

 

[SoonerAviator]

So . . . mostly like flying pre-Covid, then?

 

[murphey]

Consider Amtrak. Same price, very slow, but there are places to stretch out such as the observation car, bathrooms are larger, seats are larger. If you want to spring for a room, shut the door and there's no one to bother you. Feel free to bring your own food. Seats go flat and become a reasonably comfortable bed.

I've got a wedding in New York next June. From Denver, it's 18 hours to Chicago, 6 hr layover, and I forget how long to Buffalo. Unless I'm willing to fly the cherokee (3 days each way and very tiring and possible weather), it's my choice of travel these days.

 

[falconkidding]

In my 2 years of flying around i've not run into any major issues, met some nice people only missed one flight out of probably 100. Granted i'm also super patient and easygoing. Today I finished work at 1250 and no flight home till 8, grabbed some chick fil a went over to terminal A, napped, talked for about 2 hours to a nice filipino lady who was terrified of flying. Talked with a few gate agents about the old CoEx days, took a lap of the airport, browsed the internet, finally boarded my flight home. Made the FA laugh, ate a candy bar and Dr Pepper. Enjoyed some light chop and a full moon. Landed helped an elderly lady open the overhead and grabbed her bag for her. Deplaned asked the ramper if they were hiring talked with her for about 10 minutes walked 15 min to my car enjoying the roar of a 737s TRs on the other side of the fence. Overall a good day made some people smile, got a few thankyous learned some stuff, maybe lined up some work and made it home.

I could also view that day as My airline is closing sep 30th and these inefficient flight schedules cause me to be home less and I get stuck with a ton of airport appreciation time, and these covid rules means everythings closed, my only commute option is a 145 thats hot on the ground freezing in the air, passengers are nosey as hell and won't leave you alone these idiots can't read signs to save their life, the new boarding procedures turn into a cluster, these elderly decrepit pax can't even handle their own bags, theres no service, it was longer than expected flight due to wx. Economy parking is so far away with no shuttle that I have to walk a mile to get to my car listening to deafening airplane noise thinking how i'm going from airline pilot to maybe a ramper making 12 dollars an hour cause I haven't heard back from the 40 flying jobs i've applied to since april.

Both these experiences are my day today just separated by attitude. Look for the bad you'll find it, look for the good and even "bad" times can be fun.

 

[bflynn]

Hmm, not seen any of this on my carrier. Kids can sit almost anywhere they want and we just work around it.

Anyone who won’t pull up his pants can’t board. I mean they physically are unable to do it, the pants around the thigh don’t permit them. Women who wear their pants this way are welcomed and assisted to board.

Bring whatever you want to eat if your own food and drink, but no alcohol. The airlines stows all the luggage, passengers just drop it off and get it back after the flight.

I see no flight attendants hiding in the galley, it just never happens.

Ok, I will admit to high cabin temps prior to the fan being turned on, but once that happens and we get up, it’s very comfortable.

Why would you fly any other way?

 

[wayne]

I've got a wedding in New York next June. From Denver, it's 18 hours to Chicago, 6 hr layover, and I forget how long to Buffalo. Unless I'm willing to fly the cherokee (3 days each way and very tiring and possible weather), it's my choice of travel these days.

I knew Cherokees were slow, but 3 days? It's a bit over 1200 nm by not going over Lake Michigan. Are you taxiing it there?

 

[wayne]

So . . . mostly like flying pre-Covid, then?

Pretty much. The regular Walmart-shopper flying.

The second golden era of general aviation...

It is for me.

We're planning trips this fall with the traveling in the the Cirrus. We were supposed to fly to Europe (commercial) in May, but COVID. Before that I think was a commercial flight to Milwaukee in July 2019 for a memorial service for my FIL. Mostly I've been flying private.

We flew to Charlotte a few weeks ago to visit our youngest daughter. Friends asked why, saying it's only a 3.5 - 4 hour drive; our oldest and her fiance drove up the next weekend and it took them over 5 hours due to construction and accidents. Because we can and it's only a 1.5 hour flight.

I'm enjoying the fact that my wife is now preferring to go private.

 

[Van Johnston]

Herb kelleher always said Southwest Airlines’ competition was Greyhound and Continental Trailways, not American or Braniff.

If I ran an airline I would take out all overhead storage bins, and not charge for checked baggage, and devise some system for bags to be in baggage claim before passengers.

 

[murphey]

I knew Cherokees were slow, but 3 days? It's a bit over 1200 nm by not going over Lake Michigan. Are you taxiing it there?

Rule never to be broken....5 hrs, maybe 6, when flying by myself. Just did the numbers....train is cheaper than the cherokee and about the same amount of time.

 

[GRG55]

Rule never to be broken....5 hrs, maybe 6, when flying by myself. Just did the numbers....train is cheaper than the cherokee and about the same amount of time.

My rule as well!
With a little help from the wind you are probably 2 days eastbound. Could be 3 to 6 days westbound.
(I'm thinking back to my first two 2400 nm round-trip flights to OSH in my '61 Cherokee 160. Homeward bound over the Dakotas there were moments I was wondering if we would ever get there against the wind)

 

[Greg Bockelman]

and devise some system for bags to be in baggage claim before passengers.

I think the only way that can happen for everyone is to run a conveyor belt directly from the airplane to baggage claim. Might be possible, but probably a logistical nightmare.

Best chance of baggage being at claim before you get there is to have a seat in the last row of a 737-900.

 

[Tantalum]

Didn't Denver at some point have some state of the art baggage conveyor belt system that was ultimately not used?

PS - I always appreciate a good rant

gratuitous Lycoming/Continental suck..oh and high wings suck too.

 

[wayne]

Didn't Denver at some point have some state of the art baggage conveyor belt system that was ultimately not used?

At first it was called "the samsonite skeet shoot".

They had to move the bags manually for a bit, but got it worked out.

 

[overdrive148]

Didn't Denver at some point have some state of the art baggage conveyor belt system that was ultimately not used?

PS - I always appreciate a good rant

gratuitous Lycoming/Continental suck..oh and high wings suck too.

Yeah, at the grand opening. And it didn't work AND it was still there in the tunnels when I worked at DEN. Talk about creepy - new equipment without wear or tear but also old and dusty.

 

[Tantalum]

Yeah, at the grand opening. And it didn't work AND it was still there in the tunnels when I worked at DEN. Talk about creepy - new equipment without wear or tear but also old and dusty.

Denver has a couple "interesting" elements to it..

 

[Everskyward]

My one post-Covid airline experience was better than pre-Covid. Less people, no line at TSA, boarding was fast, all four flights were on time. The only drawback was that I was expecting to be able to buy food in the concourse at LAX during a layover but nothing was open.

 

[flyingron]

The overhead bin is the bane of air travel. Back when there was just a hat shelf up there and whatever you brought had to fit under the seat, you could get on and off the plane in reasonable amounts of time. If it it were up to me, I'd charge for overhead bin space and let people check bags for free.

 

[Archer Jack]

I knew Cherokees were slow, but 3 days? It's a bit over 1200 nm by not going over Lake Michigan. Are you taxiing it there?

 

[Van Johnston]

I think the only way that can happen for everyone is to run a conveyor belt directly from the airplane to baggage claim. Might be possible, but probably a logistical nightmare.

Best chance of baggage being at claim before you get there is to have a seat in the last row of a 737-900.

Actually, this might be a good application of AI. Each bag goes on buggy that only holds one bag. Buggy knows where bad owner is sitting, and loads baggage hold in same order. After landing, ramp pulled up to baggage door with ground level exit. Buggies roll off and proceed direct to baggage claim without having to wait for whole cart to be filled up.

 

[Matthew]

Could be worse, could be 29E:

https://lettersofnote.com/2011/03/04/seat-29e/

 

[IK04]

I haven't been on a commercial flight since the faux plague began and I might wait a few years until I do it again. My travel funds have been turned off since February, so I have no choice. I don't mind the 900+ mile drive to and from my workplace and airports are such a ****show nowadays that it is much less stressful...

 

[Groundpounder]

The OP must have been on Spirit. Pony up for first class on one of the big 3 and you'll have a much better experience.

 

[Timbeck2]

Sounds like every commercial flight I've ever been on. Traveling with people you don't know sucks.

 

[Tantalum]

Pony up for first class on one of the big 3 and you'll have a much better experience

You're still subject to a similar experience though. The seat is more comfortable and you get to have some ego stroking when you get on "first" - which really? How is that even a perk? I want to spend the least amount of time in the plane possible. Why getting to spend an extra 25 minutes in the seat is a perk is beyond me

But outside of a bigger seat you'll still be subject to almost every other grievance the OP stated.

 

[Groundpounder]

You're still subject to a similar experience though. The seat is more comfortable and you get to have some ego stroking when you get on "first" - which really? How is that even a perk? I want to spend the least amount of time in the plane possible. Why getting to spend an extra 25 minutes in the seat is a perk is beyond me

But outside of a bigger seat you'll still be subject to almost every other grievance the OP stated.

you can board any time you want, if you want to be last on the airplane that is your choice.

most people traveling with kids don’t buy first class tickets.

you’ll run into farts on any mode of public transport

Amtrak sucks everywhere except the northeast corridor.

 

[Tantalum]

you can board any time you want, if you want to be last on the airplane that is your choice.

most people traveling with kids don’t buy first class tickets.

you’ll run into farts on any mode of public transport

Amtrak sucks everywhere except the northeast corridor.

Unfortunately this is true. The problem is, outside of a handful of the most vocal people the vast majority of travelers still go to Orbitz, or Priceline, or Kayak, and just shop low to high for ticket prices.. and then complain when the service sucks, the layovers are long and illogical, etc. And for the handful of people who have their carrier of choice, like Delta (which seems to be the only airline that still cares about the passenger experience and doesn't have an outright hostile and adversarial relationship with their customer, like United's Munoz promoted) those carriers are still largely building a product around the least common denominator.. the family who sits on Kayak looking for the absolute cheapest fare

There have been efforts to change this.. but unfortunately they're just not viable as a business model

 

[Larry in TN]

Airlines have (increasingly larger) overhead bins because their best customers don't want to check bags.

Airlines have checked bag fees because their best customers either do not check bags or have status and are exempt. That revenue comes primarily from the infrequent travelers who have generally paid the least for their tickets.

The vast majority of airline passengers are civil, many are polite and even friendly. If they weren't, there'd be thousands of these YouTube confrontation videos posted everyday.

Air travel is what you make of it and the more you do it the easier it becomes.

 

[Seanaldinho]

You're still subject to a similar experience though. The seat is more comfortable and you get to have some ego stroking when you get on "first" - which really? How is that even a perk? I want to spend the least amount of time in the plane possible. Why getting to spend an extra 25 minutes in the seat is a perk is beyond me

But outside of a bigger seat you'll still be subject to almost every other grievance the OP stated.

Sitting there for 25 minutes, you can put down a couple extra free drinks.

I don't buy domestic first, but was getting upgraded regularly enough to appreciate the difference in seat and tray size that helps get some work done.

Internationally, the food, lay flat seat, and privacy you get with a modern "pod" style business or first seat is significant but only when work is paying or there's an upgrade. Several grand difference is too much for me, but some people will say the extra hours of decent sleep is worth the cost. I'm young enough and dumb enough that even without being able to sleep I am still able to function long enough to get where I'm going.

 

[Half Fast]

The overhead bin is the bane of air travel. Back when there was just a hat shelf up there and whatever you brought had to fit under the seat, you could get on and off the plane in reasonable amounts of time. If it it were up to me, I'd charge for overhead bin space and let people check bags for free.

Lost and damaged checked luggage is the bane of air travel that necessitates the overhead bin.

 

[Groundpounder]

Threads like this give me an even greater sense of job security.

 

[flyingron]

Lost and damaged checked luggage is the bane of air travel that necessitates the overhead bin.

You know, I've flown more than most people, and to every continent (save Antarctica). I've had delayed bags three times. Two of the times I was coming home and they showed up in a few hours. Once I was travelling and had to wait a couple of days (damned incompetent American Airlines). I regularly checked bags up until they started charging. I still check bags when its free (travelling something other than coach, on SWA, or on an airline where I get the bag perk).

 

[EdFred]

Sitting there for 25 minutes, you can put down a couple extra free drinks.

I try to make up the price difference in drinks between plus and first.

Though in plus you get drinks too.

 

[Seanaldinho]

I try to make up the price difference in drinks between plus and first.

Though in plus you get drinks too.

That is the strategy.

Sadly though, not on United except on long hauls where beer and wine are included. Hub locations forced me to switch from Delta... but hoping to switch back after normal travel resumes eventually.

 

[Hang 4]

Lost and damaged checked luggage is the bane of air travel that necessitates the overhead bin.

I used to fly by that rule. Last couple years of weekly passenger flights, I started checking bags with Delta. Never lost a bag and 98% of the time, the "yellow tagged" bags came out first. I would say it was about 50/50, depending on the gate, whether I beat the bags or they beat me. Changed my whole approach to flying from needing to beat the rush to get an overhead bin, to chilling out in the gate while all the crazies fought over that and I put my computer bag under the seat in front of me. The only time that was a hassle was when I had the first row of first class where there was no underseat storage, but always found an OK solution once I got on. Really made flying way less stressful.

 

[Half Fast]

I used to fly by that rule. Last couple years of weekly passenger flights, I started checking bags with Delta. Never lost a bag and 98% of the time, the "yellow tagged" bags came out first. I would say it was about 50/50, depending on the gate, whether I beat the bags or they beat me. Changed my whole approach to flying from needing to beat the rush to get an overhead bin, to chilling out in the gate while all the crazies fought over that and I put my computer bag under the seat in front of me. The only time that was a hassle was when I had the first row of first class where there was no underseat storage, but always found an OK solution once I got on. Really made flying way less stressful.

I had bags damaged a couple of times, though never lost, before I gave up checking. But I've been on several trips with coworkers whose bags were lost. Recovered a few days later, but by then the business trip was over and we were trying to get home. It seems more of a problem on non-direct flights, especially when there's a flight delay, gate change, flight change, etc.

In any case, for a 4 or 5 day business trip I see no need to check luggage. A small roll-aboard and a briefcase is all I need. I have priority boarding on AA and no problems stowing a carry-on. Plus it saves a little time to bypass the luggage carousel and go straight to the rental car. Avis Preferred usually emails me the car location, so I go directly from the plane to the car.

I'll check if I need to have an oversize bag with me, like a dive bag. In those instances, my carry-on will have a change of clothes plus my meds and toiletries.

 

[EdFred]

Yeah, not checking baggage. Airlines misplaced mine multiple times. I went to Africa for two weeks with carry-on only because of that. Can only imagine where it would have ended up had I checked it.

MDW => DTW = AMS => JNB is just asking for trouble. Plus I was then JNB => NBO => JRO, and then nowhere near the airport for 11 days.

 

[smv]

Flew to LA for a week long non-stop cruise to Vancouver. Ten days after we returned home, our bags arrived. It was quite the entertaining cruise to wear only what we were carrying and what we could purcchase in the gift shops.

 

[GaryM]

When I was in college, flying home at Christmas, the airlines (usually United) lost my luggage four years in a row. It always turned up a few days later. My family just got used to exchanging gifts around Dec 27, when my suitcase arrived.

Years later, on a corporate SCUBA club trip to Cayman Brac, no one's luggage made the connecting flight. As we were all avid divers unwilling to miss a day of the spectacular Cayman diving, we made a pact that everyone would dive in their underwear, after which we'd never speak of it again. Thankfully, the luggage showed up shortly before the boat left for the first day of diving.