Boycott Flying

I love to travel - but I hate flying. Once upon a time, being at an airport or on a plane used to excite me. Just the thought of going somewhere was enough to make any inconveniences worth it. Not anymore. Flying has become a serious hassle over the years. Post 9-11, the ridiculous amount of security put in place at most airports requires you to be at the aiport well before your flight if you do not want to stress over missing your flight. There are times when you get lucky and you manage to get to the gate within 30 minutes of entering the airport. It's not always the case, particularly on weekends or evenings. Standing in those mile long security lines, I've seen way too many people fret over their flight that has already begun boarding.

Then there's the whole "no liquid" thing. Talk about inconvenience. I don't want to have to go out and buy a travel bottle for every freakin' liquid I want to take on board. Even then, with the 10 bottle restriction, I am just barely going to be able to get my shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, deodorant, body lotion, face lotion, sun block, foundation, and mascara in my carry-on. Oh, and since I can't bring a water bottle in, I pretty much have to suck it up and buy one in the terminal. Or wait for the flight attendant to bring you some. Oh wait. Some airlines are now going to start charging you for drinks on board.

In an effort to recoup fuel costs, airlines have started penny pinching. They've already started charging for second checked bags. They've also gotten rid of snacks on board longer domestic flights (but you can buy them for $5). Now there's talks of charging for the first checked bag and for drinks on board. Am I the only one who thinks the cabin air is dehydrating and that passengers should be allowed to at least get water on board? Besides, how much are they really going to save by these methods? Why don't they just bump up the ticket cost another $50 or whatever for these expected costs? I don't think a $50 difference is going to be a deciding factor in whether to buy a ticket or not. However, if you start tacking on additional costs for this and that, you're going to get a lot of peeved customers. I'm sure the airline customer service reps already have their handful with passengers complaining of delayed flights. Why add more reasons for customers to be pissed?

Let's talk about that first checked luggage. What's going to happen if you start charging passengers to check their bags? Bingo - they carry on. So what does that do? Makes a delayed flight even more delayed because passengers are spending more time trying to cram stuff in the overhead bins or flight attendants have to check bags when the overhead bins become full. I don't know much about flight dynamics, but should I also be worried about the weight distribution on the plane from a disproportionate # of bags in the cabin to the checked luggage compartment?

The final blow to us passengers after all the above is increased air fare. A friend of mine going to Japan had to pay $1500 to go - $800 for the ticket, and 700 !@#$% dollars in fuel surcharge. Yeah, ok - we have to pay for fuel. Still, given all this crap, there are more people flying today than ever before. Have you ever seen what the air traffic over US looks like on any given day? It looks something like this:

The planes are also fuller than ever. Remember those days when you used to get a full row of seats to yourself? I can't even remember the last time I had even a single empty seat near me. These days, I'm so unlucky to be surrounded by snoring jerks or some tall guy behind me complaining about me putting my seat back. (I just don't see why I have to be uncomfortable so the person behind me can be comfortable. Sitting on long flights kills my back. Stop your fucking whining and get a business class if you're too damn tall to fit in the seat. Otherwise, take it up with the airline - not me.)

Today I saw an interesting presentation on how the US airline industry earned an impressive NEGATIVE 14 billion in revenues over the last however many years. In addition to managing costs, some of the greatest challenges they face today is managing the air traffic. If the # of flights continue to increase as expected, air traffic control as it is today would not be able to handle the volume. So now I wonder, why don't the airlines charge more for the tickets than they have already? It's a simple supply & demand economics. Increase prices to reduce demand to supply. The people who really need to fly will pay the premium, while the people who really don't need to fly will think twice. I for one have already started to think twice and am going to boycott flying after I make my trip to Boston on Labor Day weekend (I bought my flight a while back.)

I'm sure there's some logic to keeping airline ticket prices (somewhat) low. Still, I think raising its prices more might do the industry some good. First, you get less people flying so you can cut the routes that really aren't profitable and also avert the future hazard of too many flights in air. What's even better would be the reduction of people at popular tourist destinations. Travel has gotten too easy so tourism picked up. I'm kind of sick of going places where there are tourists everywhere. Anyways, with increased ticket revenues, your bottom line might actually be in the black so you can start restoring some basic services to make customers happy, making them more inclined to fly again despite the higher ticket prices. Or, with the increased revenues, you might invest it on a new fleet of planes that are more fuel-efficient and more comfortable for those annoying big & tall people. Possibilities are endless.

Anyhow, to end this on a positive note for the airlines, I will commend their safety record. There were no air traffic related fatalities in the US in 2007. Or some similar statistic like that. Bottom line is that flying in the US has been pretty safe. Then again... nothing lasts forever. (Woops... so much for the optimism.)