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While it certainly helps to reflect upon the miracle of flight as a way of putting things in perspective, the fact remains that flying is a horrible experience. Even first and business are nothing like they used to be. Among the many reasons for this decline - 9/11, CEO's who care about nothing but profits and completely disregard the importance of treating employees with respect, aging fleets of aircraft, the ever present specter of terrorism.
Also, American Airlines is American Airlines in name only. It's US Airways all the way, unfortunately.
Signed,
A retired flight attendant who remembers the good old days........
who now travels by RV😊
Wow wait, pull the handbrake. Flying is horrible?? I mean it has its hustles but far from horrible. And business class is superb, ok maybe not as great as a night at the Royal Suite at the Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, but beats driving.
As someone who has spent mot of my life in areas where the airports are outstations, I can say I'm glad to see the gradual phase-out of the turboprops in many areas in favor of regional jets. Actually like the RJ 700 & 900s, and even the Embraer 135 I can't fully stand up in is still a big improvement over the old Saab turboprops that always seemed to leave me partly deaf for a few hours after a flight.
Also- no more smoking sections like in the Golden Age of Flight. There were still smoking areas on international flights through the 80s, and talk about nasty cabin air quality.
I never understood why the US doesn't have a couple of airlines in the top ten best airlines ranking. I mean the US is a superpower, pioneer in aviation and yet we have AA, Delta, United etc etc all crap airlines by developed countries standards. KLM, Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa, SAS etc etc are all better airlines than what we have in the US. Why is that?
Note the only two European airlines to make that list are 14: Air France, and 10: Lufthansa
Everywhere else you see time and time again the dominance of Asian, Middle Eastern/Gulf carriers, and Turkish Airlines, and of course Qantas. So we ask ourselves why no American carriers make these coveted (but subjective) lists.
All that funding allows these airlines to purchase modern and very up to date fleets. They also have plenty of money to throw around in order to hire pilots, flight crew and other employees even if that means importing them from around the world.
As for the "front office staff" these airlines can get away with things USA carriers long have given up. Airline hostesses and hosts are hired largely based upon looks and willingness to "serve" and promote the specific carrier's image. Uniforms are what they are; men are men and women are women. In short it is like they all sat down and studied a text book on Pan Am and are trying to go one better than that great airline.
Oh and don't forget many of these Gulf/UAE airlines among others have age limit cutoff for cabin crew. Thirty is the most common number, so you won't be welcomed aboard and served by some harridan who has been flying for thirty years and several carriers and is bitter about the whole deal.
Prior to deregulation airlines basically had to compete on service since rates were set elsewhere. Once the game changed it has been a slow race to the bottom ever since. Flying some USA carriers is like going to a clip joint.
Depends on if you have status with those, but without any status I do not think that Southwest should be behind the big 3. With status and lounge access, frequent upgrades, a couple of booze vouchers per year and free baggage allowance it is a whole different story.
While it certainly helps to reflect upon the miracle of flight as a way of putting things in perspective, the fact remains that flying is a horrible experience. Even first and business are nothing like they used to be. Among the many reasons for this decline - 9/11, CEO's who care about nothing but profits and completely disregard the importance of treating employees with respect, aging fleets of aircraft, the ever present specter of terrorism.
Also, American Airlines is American Airlines in name only. It's US Airways all the way, unfortunately.
Signed,
A retired flight attendant who remembers the good old days........
who now travels by RV😊
The CEO serves at the whim of the Board of Directors which has a fiduciary duty to the shareholders to maximize profit. Why would that CEO not be focused on profit if ignoring that would be contrary to why he was hired and the goals of those who pay him?
Given the choice in the past I always chose US Airways over American for service, comfort and pricing.
I never understood why the US doesn't have a couple of airlines in the top ten best airlines ranking. I mean the US is a superpower, pioneer in aviation and yet we have AA, Delta, United etc etc all crap airlines by developed countries standards. KLM, Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa, SAS etc etc are all better airlines than what we have in the US. Why is that?
Because most of our air travel is cheap domestic travel, where the customer cares a lot about price and gets off the plane almost as soon as they get on. Most other countries' air travel business is dominated by high priced international travel, usually paid for by employers.
As long as the plane lands safely, I don't need any additional service on a flight.
I guess you don't take 100+ flights a year, some of them 10 hours long. I do. (Most, thankfully, are short flights but I know people who fly back and forth to Europe every couple of weeks.)
I mean, how many people, historically, have taken vacations requiring 1,000 miles of travel from point A to point B? Not many, definitely not many outside the 1%ers.
Almost everyone, including my unemployable brother-in-law. Are you really a social science professor?
Because there is no competition, no need to improve or anything. All the other international airlines, LATAM, Avianca, Copa, etc, they offer free food, free alcohol, free checked bags, free carryon, etc. Usually really good entertainment too, especially Avianca and LATAM. In comparison the American carriers make you feel like you owe them something the moment you walk in the airport, ****ing bull****
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