United States Airlines Compete With Aeroflot- And Win

At the height of the Cold War, Americans indulged in self congratulations when comparing our airline industry to the Soviet's Aeroflot. The rickety communist propelled travel provided images of a sweaty, husky commissar boarding an oversold but underfueled airplane, burdened with packages and a bottle of carry-on borscht.

As he worked his way into the seat, storing his chickens in the overhead compartment and his goats under the seat in front of him, he settled in next to an equally husky and sweaty peasant with a crying, soiled child -one  under each arm. If they were lucky, they would arrive at the scheduled destination city, and perhaps within twenty-four hours.

We won the Cold War. And to show for it, we now all fly Aeroflot. Thanks to misguided deregulation, inadequately staffed air traffic controllers, underfunded airport development, computers that are relatives of HAL, and helter-skelter competition to downsize and outsource, we now have an airline industry that we all love to hate. And deservedly so.

Flying is not only unsafe and miserable, but is is costing Americans billions of dollars every year. Again we have record number of delays with on-time arrivals dipping to 69.8%.

A few years ago when the airline industry put the squeeze on travel agents, I assumed it was to cut costs and to increase profits. I was wrong. There was a more sinister motive.

It was the foreshadowing of their own outsourcing. As they phased out the knowledgeable reservation agents, union paid and protected, they knew the American traveler would not tolerate speaking to someone who does not know the location of Chicago or did not have a clue to think of looking at Oakland or San Jose as an alternative destination for the San Francisco Bay area traveler.

Unless you are a 1-K or million mile traveler, like your seat, the process of making the reservation is strictly third-class. Those of us skilled at self-booking know that the computerized records we access are limited, lack flexibility and do not allow us to view all of the options let alone do comparisons.

The airlines are fortunate that all of them provide the same horrid service. There are no alternatives. You might be better off switching planes in Minneapolis (Stay out of the men's room.) rather than Chicago and you know to avoid checking luggage whenever possible.

But until one of the airlines decides that safe, quality service is a better option, the descent into mediocrity will continue.

Welcome to Aeroflot, tighten your seat belt tightly across your lap, and if you are lucky you may not spend the rest of the day on the tarmac.

Comments

[bcheck]

http://consumerist.com/consumer/travel/spirit-air-ceo-learns-the-dangers-of-hitting-reply-all-when-callously-responding-to-consumer-complaints-292298.php

See above - a comment from the Spirit Airlines CEO about a complaint.

He may be being callous, but I agree. The state of air travel is our own fault - we look for the cheapest flights possible, and expect the best possible service. It's consumer demand for crappy flights.

You get what you pay for, in my opinion - and I'm not complaining about it: I'd gladly save myself a couple hundred bucks even if I knew it meant getting on a 1+1 prop plane (hell, you get the luxury of both the window seat and the aisle seat!) and no bag of pretzels.

[Free Market Neocon 4 Jesus]

Hey, Free Markets work you commie. I mean just look at Citibank, GM, Amtrak!

Get a life. We don't want government interfering with our business!

Well, maybe just a little when we start to lose money.