Kinda off topic, but I recently booked a flight for a last minute trip to Houston, Tx for The Warden to visit her sister. A non-stop round trip flight out of Memphis was $1100. Out of Little Rock (a two and a half hour drive) it was a little over $300. My boss had a similar, but more absurd situation. He was flying to Jamaica, and a flight out of Little Rock was $500 cheaper than flying out of Memphis, so he drove to Little Rock and got the flight. It had a two hour layover.....in Memphis.
I can think of no other industry in the world that has such naked disregard for the satisfaction of their customers. They know that no matter how many people are pissed off and no matter how pissed off they get, they will be selling out every flight. I wish the FedGov would quit subsidizing these cocksuckers and let the airlines that can't hack it die a much deserved death and let the ones that actually take care of their customers and give a satisfying product continue on profitably.
Of the 5 round trips I've been on this year, 10 total flights, I am 10 for 10 on the flights being delayed. I show up 15 minutes early to the airport now, and I always make my flight, usually I'm still hours early. I understand that a big part of it is that I'm in Dallas and we've somehow come into monsoon season for the first time in decades, but it's still frustrating.
The basic problem seems to be that some bad assumptions in the airlines' business model are finally catching up to them. The solution is two-fold, I think. First, the infrastructure needs to be improved: air traffic control, weather forecasting, etc. Second, ticket prices need to go up in order to fund the extra personnel the airlines need to handle the problems. You can't run an airline the way you run a Wal-Mart . . . the businesses are simply too different.
I agree that unfortunately the ticket prices are WAY too low to sustain the business. I know that some people are going to be put out, but damn, too many frickin' people fly around too much. I know that people like flying from LA to NYC for $399 round trip when they can get that price, but do they deserve it? I really don't think so.
Depends on how you define "conditions." Comfort? Service? On time? Dependable? All of that was much better. But if price is a "condition" for you, it was much less good. Prices were high, and there was little difference in price from one airline to another. Deregulation has brought some prices way down, and also brought in great differentiation between airlines. Between the cut-rate no-frills-and-you're-not-even-sure-you'll-have-a-plane companies and the really good service companies, the differences are enormous. As a general rule, European airlines tend to have higher prices but more dependable service than American companies. But that is only a general rule.
I've always wondered that... few days ago I look up Air France flights to Marocco. On one day, it's about €160.-. The day after that it's €600something for the same flight. Both prices were unthinkable like 10 years ago but WTF? What's the actual difference?
Really, the problem is that flights are too cheap. When flights are overbooked and things are understaffed, its a sign that they aren't earning enough money. Increase rates and you won't hopefully have half of the problems (or customers). Unfortunately, I'm sure the airline industry would find another way to bungle it.
Why not? You could visit Turkey, the Levant, Egypt, and Libya on the way. Or is it time for a Straight of Gibraltar tunnel?
Airline travel is not inelastic like the demand for gas seems to be. Right now if I want to go to Houston I could either drive 4 hours there and 4 hours back at the price of $75-$100 in gas, or I could get a $99 round trip flight and not worry about the drive. The flight time is an hour and I'd show up 30-45 minutes early and probably wind up spending an hour and half or so. In the end by flying I end up saving both time and money(assuming of course I just ride around town with my friends in their cars). If that price goes up to around 150 or so then flying will no longer even be an option for me; I wouldn't even consider it because the savings wouldn't be high enough.
The whole thing is screwed. First, airlines overbook their flights which pisses people the fuck off, for good cause. Then, when there is a problem there is no one there to help you, and no one who knows anything. You constantly get the run around and it takes massive self control to avoid going Vesuvius all over these ignorant assholes. The sitting out on the runway shit is outrageous sometimes. They should begin by having a ticket sale a contract. If you cancel there is a penalty or total loss of money in many cases. No overbooking should be allowed. One seat one ticket must be the rule and hefty fines if that rule is broken. Customer service must be #1. If a flight is canceled a whole shitload of competent nice people must be there to assist the passengers in a fast orderly manner. Info must be accurate and disseminated speedily and accurately. In general people understand "things happen." They get pissed off when they are treated like shit and have to pay for the privilege to boot. Lastly, and perhaps most effective, every Labor Day the CEO of the lowest rated airline should be shot on live TV on the White House lawn. Fuckers would clean up their act damn fast.
That's actually a good idea... I love the Mediterranean. Can think of worse things than going around it. But then, the hour I spent in a Tunisian commuter train on our graduation trip was quite enough. Never mind that later that day, we were conned like bloody beginners in Tunis' Medina (old town)
Yeah, but "deregulation" in the sense of the airline industry is a pretty relative thing. What other industry is so regulated, subsidized and bailed out so often? I reckon "slightly less regulated than the old Soviet Air" would be a better description.
True enough. I wish the gub'mint would get the fuck out entirely. United, Delta, American, and NW would all be gone.
Two things piss me off to the point of incoherence - health insurance, and air travel, not necessarily in that order.
Yeah, the one company that doesn't drive me up the wall to fly on would be gone. I'd be stuck with shit like Southwest, and I don't especially enjoy flying on the rough equivalent of a cattle drive. Say what you will about the eeeeeeevil government subsidies, at least United is trying to improve their service that collapsed due to complacency.
So the taxpayers get to pay for their bad business decisions. How you conjure that to be right? And if the only viable, profitable airline model is Southwest, so what?
Yes, airline bailouts must end. I'm sure the little fuckers who run the airlines would call themselves capitalists and free market supporters, but every time they run into financial trouble they go running to Uncle Sam for a handout. And why the hell do we do it over and over again for the airlines, but not for any other industry I can think of? Fuck 'em. Free market should mean free fucking market, for better or worse. You start business on your own, and you go out of business on your own.
And I think a few airlines going out of business would teach the lesson of minding how you treat paying customers rather elegantly. Put the fear of god into the rest of the bastards.
Kind of the same way other folks rationalize subsidizing GM and Ford, farmers and the health insurance industry? Not to mention the S&Ls, if you remember back that far.
Put another way - you get what you pay for. You want to pay $399 - then don't expect to get dinner, smile and first class service. And don't expect the airline to fall all over itself to help you if you're not willing to pay for. You want that first class service, then start forking over the $$$$
