What happened? Why did air travel go from a glamorous experience to nearly hellish? (jet)
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In the 1930s-1970s air travel was a glamorous experience. You had plenty of leg room, free alcoholic drinks, attractive stewardesses in pleasing uniforms, hassle free boarding experiences, deluxe luxurious accommodations, steak and lobster meals, and comfortable seating.
Since the 80s the industry has consisted of sardine can-like seating, hellish boarding procedures with cavity searches, free peanuts if you're lucky, and frumpy airline staff who look and act like they escaped from a prison chain gang.
It makes me sick.
Gotta love the elitists complaining about the rest of the world that earns less than them suddenly gaining access to what used to be an experience strictly for the rich and privileged.
In the 1930s-1970s air travel was a glamorous experience. You had plenty of leg room, free alcoholic drinks, attractive stewardesses in pleasing uniforms, hassle free boarding experiences, deluxe luxurious accommodations, steak and lobster meals, and comfortable seating.
Since the 80s the industry has consisted of sardine can-like seating, hellish boarding procedures with cavity searches, free peanuts if you're lucky, and frumpy airline staff who look and act like they escaped from a prison chain gang.
It makes me sick.
In the 1930s-1970s air travel was a glamorous experience. You had plenty of leg room, free alcoholic drinks, attractive stewardesses in pleasing uniforms, hassle free boarding experiences, deluxe luxurious accommodations, steak and lobster meals, and comfortable seating.
Since the 80s the industry has consisted of sardine can-like seating, hellish boarding procedures with cavity searches, free peanuts if you're lucky, and frumpy airline staff who look and act like they escaped from a prison chain gang.
It makes me sick.
It started back in the late 70's with "Peoples Express" discount airlines. Travelers who could only afford Greyhound buses now suddenly could afford a cattle like experience "flying" People Express.
Then all the airlines jumped into the cheap seats game and now this is what we are left with.
Smaller seats, less leg room, no food service and bus people on planes.
Research the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Fares used to be set by the feds. After the Act, it's been a race to the bottom.
Recreational flyers complain about airlines not providing services, but they will switch carriers for a $5 fare difference in a heartbeat. That means ticket price is everything for those types of travelers, and service doesn't matter. Carriers like WN (Southwest) and others wouldn't have existed pre-deregulation in their current form.
This is exactly the point I was going to make.
I'd also add that the majors have two very distinct tiers of service. Their elite frequent flyer business travelers receive a very different level of service than the unwashed masses flying to the mouse ears theme park. It's totally rational behavior on the part of the airlines. The unwashed masses only care about cheapest fare and will suffer through just about anything. The business traveler paying the expensive short notice fares will pick somebody else if you stuff them in a 29" seat pitch middle seat in the back of the bus. I had some years as US Airways Chairman's Preferred doing 100K miles with them and a bunch of years doing 50K+ as a United Premier Exec. Even the Southwest A-List Preferred makes their flights more bearable with early boarding and the VIP security line.
At the moment, I have no status on any of the airlines. It's awful. I tend to fly Southwest because with TSA Pre and $15 for priority boarding, I at least know I'm not going to get stuck with a middle seat and an hour TSA security line is unlikely. When I have to do a transcontinental or transatlantic business flight, I fling whatever money it takes at out of my own pocket to make sure I get an aisle seat.
You're missing the whole point. Lower prices and lower-class fliers became the norm after deregulation, and jamming more people into a plane and offering fewer niceties wasn't so much an effort to make more money as it was to offer cheaper tickets.
Before deregulation, the high percentage of fliers were for business travel and personal travel of the upper middle-class. With plane travel coming down in price to that of busses, we got the flipflop, teeshirt crowd with their screaming, food-throwing brats.
We got what we wanted -- Walmart Airlines.
You got that right!
Last edited by Jeo123; 07-22-2016 at 11:24 AM..
Reason: Tag Fix
I have to agree with a lot of posters. Flying is awful for the most part if you're not in business class or first class. People complain a lot, but they'd complain more if they couldn't find a cheap fare (though at this point the airlines could make things slightly nicer for everyone and still offer the same fares). I, of course, want to find a good deal, but don't necessarily go for the absolute cheapest fare. I'll never do Delta's basic economy. And, I'll pay a little extra, but not a lot, for a considerably "better" (for me) seat.
I fly 4-6 times per year. As much as I dread it, things usually go fairly smoothly.
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