I've often wondered if we wouldn't be better off in the long run if a significant chunk of the airlines went out of business. It would suck for a while, but it would really open up the market for innovation and new ideas.
Today, Techdirt wonders the same thing.
. . . people seem to take for granted what cheap and readily available air travel allows. It touches on so many different businesses that it's hard to fathom how deep the eventual impact would be if air travel needs to be significantly curtailed in the future.
The whole flying experience is pretty unpleasant these days. And a lot of that is TSA's fault, and I'm hoping that maybe a new President might come in and remind TSA that the enemy is actually people trying to hijack or blow up planes, not people with unfortunate names, liquids, and underwire bras.
But a lot of it is the airlines' fault, too. The incessant nickel-and-dime charges are pretty annoying. Customer service is often lacking, like when I was told they would hold our connecting flight, even though I knew I would miss it, and we ended up staying at a hotel at the airport in Milwaukee instead of Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for the night.
Some new airline innovation would be really nice. But in order to get there, it may take a few years of transportation (and shipping) misery first.
As an aside - could someone please comment on a post? Any post? The total number of comments for the site right now is 666, and that's just bad karma.
I fly to various Asian
I fly to various Asian countries a couple times a year, and I am amazed at how well passengers are treated on Asian Carriers vs. US carriers, even in ‘coach’.
For example, on a recent flight from NY to Hong Kong, I was late arriving in NY for my flight to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Not only did the airline hold the flight, but they had someone watching for me at the security line to guide me through the airport to the appropriate gate.
Of course I wouldn't expect any airline to hold a flight indefinitely, but it is nice to know that there are at least some airlines out there that value their customers.
Yeah, I don't expect the
Yeah, I don't expect the airlines to hold a flight for anyone more than a few minutes - it's not really fair to the passengers already on the plane.
But when I say, "I'm pretty sure we're missing our connection, should we try to fly out again tomorrow?" and then I'm told, "No, they'll hold the flight, don't worry", and then they don't hold the flight, that pisses me off.
And yes, international flights tend to be much nicer than domestic ones.
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