Thursday, June 05, 2008

Frequent Fliers Unite!

Speaking of flying, Little Miss Attila has a good post on the current state of the airline industry, what they need to do to fix it, and what you can do now. 

The point (and, as Ellen Degeneres would say, I do have one) is that the American flying industry is at a crisis point. Quality had fallen to a certain level prior to 9/11 in the name of cutting costs; just at the point when the market might have corrected that, eleven Islamofascists took out the World Trade Center—and made an attempt on the Capitol Building and the White House on the same day (once of which ended up in the side of the more-distinctive Pentagon building, and one of which ended up on a field in Pennsylvania).

After that, the airline industry hid behind the skirts of the FAA/TSA/Homeland Security, and vice versa. The entire industry began to act like a branch of the Federal government, complete with the “fuck you” undertone one sees in the worst Post Offices, the worst public schools, and the worst (that is, the most publicly subsidized) healthcare providers.

[...]

In the meantime, figure out which airlines treat you the best, and stay loyal to them, whenever feasible. Figure out which airports have the stupidest, slowest, and surliest security staffers, and avoid them—sending letters to them to make sure they know why you’re doing it. If you have particularly egregious experience with a particular airline—send a note regretfully stating that you won’t be using them any more, and then blog about (in a way that will make it findable to the average curious person, such as using the phrase “XXXX Airline Sucks”).

Try not the patronize the worst offenders—both in terms of airports, and in terms of airlines. They need to get the message.

Indeed.

(8) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1747 hrs
Off-Duty

  1. Thank you!

    I just don’t want to see that sector fold—and NOT just because I live in California!

    Posted by Attila Girl on June 06, 2008 at 0031 hrs


  2. Good advice.  I suggest the same treatment for car dealers, restaurant chains and political parties.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 06, 2008 at 0803 hrs


  3. Flying will never be safe, as long as you have to drive to the airport.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 06, 2008 at 1018 hrs


  4. Many years ago, it was more of a privilidge to fly.  Now, it’s like a flying a bus.  The airlines wanted everyone to fly and then decided to cut costs and service at the same time.  The quality suffered.  If they raise fares, then they can raise their income and increase their service.  Just food for thought.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 06, 2008 at 2134 hrs


  5. But how to account for the fact that Virgin America offers so much more, but still keeps its prices low?

    Posted by Attila Girl on June 06, 2008 at 2137 hrs


  6. I don’t know about Virgin American, but Southwest is anti-union, and Alligient, which is located in Vegas, a right ot work state has minimal union involvement.  Maybe we start with that.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 07, 2008 at 0125 hrs


  7. Exactly how is Southwest anti-union?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 07, 2008 at 0656 hrs


  8. BVBigBro, I said it wrong, they are not anti-union, they have a good working relationship with their unions, unlike American or United and Northwest, where they will threaten to strike at a drtop of a hat.  At Northwest, United,American etc.., the unions think they are in charge while at Southwest, management and workers work hard equally.  That is what I meant, sorry.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 07, 2008 at 1108 hrs


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