Fasten Belts for 8 Hours on Tarmac

U.S. President George W. Bush said last week, "We've got a problem. We understand there's a problem. And we're going to address the problem.''

That sounded promising. It's never too late to pull yourself together, and there's no shortage of problems for Bush to address: health care, which is ruining the economy; the Iraq war, which is ruining the Middle East; global warming, which is ruining the planet.

With his pronouncement, Bush set his sights on a slightly less-urgent priority -- flight delays, which, while bothersome, seldom ruin more than your day. Yet they seem perfectly suited to Bush's attention. Like Mussolini and Italy's trains, Bush is vowing to get U.S. airlines to run on time.

What brought about this uncharacteristic burst of regulatory fervor? It may be that Bush, whose top concern is terrorism, heard that when it comes to taking hostages on airplanes, by far the worst evildoers are the airlines themselves.

According to Department of Transportation figures, 50,000 flights had tarmac delays of at least one hour during the first seven months of 2007. Passengers on 44 of those flights endured delays of at least five hours. In December, 67 American Airlines planes sat on runways for three hours or more. With 27 percent of all flights delayed or canceled, this is the worst performance since the federal government began keeping track in 1995.

To continue reading, click here.

Comments

[Bozwellian]

Used to BE that air travel was an ENJOYABLE experience,these days RARELY,as far as delays, little sympathy for those that rant about such IF ARE weather/mechanical delays but mattering of holding folks "hostage" on runways due to CONGESTION is something that could be delt with.Each airport DOES have the ability to RESTRICT/CONSTRICT the NUMBER of SLOTS/FLIGHTS:if THEY stop allowing the CLUSTERING of SAME TIME, that would go a long way toward easing the SCHEDULED CONGESTION !! Each airport KNOWS its capacity, should schedule accordingly &yeah, weather will likely throw a wrench into the mix / foul the schedule but there is little excuse for a plane full of PEOPLE to be stuck endlessing in a HOLD on a runway for endless hours. Cram people together like that ,you are bound to feel cramped/irritated &more and more so than ever when you realize you barely have foot space in your assigned seating/etc nor are there any amenities to help whyle away the time so spent . With security issues, you are NOT permitted to bring your OWN picnic basket & those amenities available for purchase in the boarding area, well that expense can add up as well to an already outrageously priced bit of traveling. Used to BE, those amenities were offered to take the "passengers/guests" minds off the flying aspect, was an acknowledged factoring a goodly majority of folks were UNEASY at best being crammed into a silver tube , thrust thru the clouds had great anxieties over such/etc- amenities were a diversion,­"cocktails­" were used for sedating (not admittedly, but GET REAL! talk to industry oldtimers ) Customer service USED to be taken seriously,these days hard to service the customer,little incentive as well for many have had their "benefits/ wages/etc CUT to help the profitabilties, then get notice the upper echelonics getting BONUSES beyond comprehension ,consider it all a ripple effect nor going to get any better anytime soon ! These days prefer to find alternatives as not really inclined to endorse this as the only way to fly,take it or leave approach !

[sparkandy]

Honestly, if airline passengers are just hanging around waiting for the government to fix this, nothing will ever change. Do you have any idea how much money American Airlines, for instance, has? They're the biggest airline in the world and the upper management and board of directors and so forth, make more money in one day than the rest of us will in a year. And greasing a few of the palms of our lawmakers is viewed as a cost of running a business - maybe it's even tax deductible. So asking the government to fix the problem is ridiculous.
The best way to get the airlines to do what's right is to hit them where it hurts - in the pocketbook. If all airline passengers, of even just one major airline, boycotted flying for just one day, it would throw all of them into a panic. Maybe it would be enough to make them see the power of the consumer and for once try to do right by them.
Airlines talk about their great customer service, but that's not why they exist. When you get great customer service(I recently had that experience from AA in Chicago) it's not the airline that causes it. It's the people who are on the front lines who just happen to be nice helpful people and give great customer service as individuals because that's what kind of people they are. The fat cats at the airlines have nothng to do with it. As far as they're concerned, once they have your money, you're of less interest to them than the bug splatters on their fancy cars. The same attitude the government has toward its citizens.
If airline passengers want any change, they'll have to take action themselves. Throwing little temper fits at the gate won't work, yelling at res agents on the phone won't work, writing to the consumer realtions department won't work. The only thing that will get their attention is to attack them in their most vulnerable spot - the bottom line.

[OckhamsElectricRazor]

Read his lips: No New Taxes means...
No new infrastructure
No new services
No new protection from exploitation
No new healthcare