Blogging from the Left Coast today, after flying 'cross country yesterday. When you travel as much as I do, you can't help feeling the impact of the lamentable state of the travel industry, particularly the airlines. So, yesterday my flight was on an airline whose name I will not mention, except to say that its initials are "Delta."
Because I am on an extended trip, everything I need won't fit in one bag. So I am checking two. I am informed at the curbside check-in, that it now costs $25 to check an second bag. Also, there will be an "administrative fee" of $3 on each bag. Also, the news (accompanied by a significant look) that this does not include gratuities.
So, I check in, now lighter $35 ($25 for the second bag, plus $6 for the two bags, plus a $2 tip on each bag). They hand me my two boarding passes (one to Atlanta, the second to the west coast), plus the baggage claim ticket. I ask for one of those little pocket envelopes in which to put this stuff, only to be told that the airline no longer offers those. Seeing the look on my face, the skycap explains that the little envelopes contained language about how passengers were allowed to check two bags each, etc. Language that is now out-dated and could be used against the airline by angry passengers. Printing new ones would be too expensive.
Finally, after going through security, and the rest of it, I arrive at the gate. The flight is scheduled for 11:55 a.m. The electronic sign behind the gate attendant says "Departure time, 12:30. On time." I approach the gate agent and ask if the flight is leaving at 12:30 or is leaving "on time" for by the rules of logic it cannot be both. She smiles at me and tells me that she had nothing to do with what it says on the sign and isn't in control of that.
Eventually, I get on the plane. Sitting next to me is a rather thin lady who is obviously freezing in the plane's air conditioning. She asks the flight attendant for a blanket. The flight attendant says "No blankets. We asked for some but they didn't give us any." Which begs several questions, the main one being who is "they"??? Would that be Delta? And don't you work for them?
Such is the sorry state of travel today. According to folks who know, there are two explanations. The most immediate one is that the soaring price of fuel is forcing the airlines to nickel and dime us to extinction. The second reason is more important though. And that is that the American public, by its buying habits has told the airline industry that there is only one basis on which they will buy an airline ticket and that is, by price. Therefore all airlines must compete to offer the lowest possible price. Therefore, bare bones transportation, no amenities, and crappy service. We have met the enemy, according to these folks, and it is us.
Flying first class is not much of a solution. It's the same crap with a wider seat. I wish it were not so. It turns traveling into a soul-deadening experience, and a sad perspective on American capitalism and free markets.
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