What's with the airlines? It's crazy

I didn't experience the Jet Blue debacle sitting on the tarmac 11 hours and I didn't get abandoned in Wyoming like some others but I have had a string of problems.

First, in February I was on a flight from Minneapolis to Kansas City scheduled for 1 hour and 5 minutes. After 30 minutes in the air somewhere over Iowa they announced they were turning around and going back to Minneapolis because of an electrical problem. Why didn't they just finish the flight and get me there on time?

In March I scheduled a connecting flight from Minneapolis to San Antonio via Memphis. This time they had a generator problem before taking off with a 1-1/2 hour delay. Guess what? I did not make my connection in Memphis. The next flight to San Antonio would arrive after my return flight to Minneapolis. So scrub that. I got lucky. I could have been stranded in Memphis for several hours but the next gate over was boarding a flight to Minneapolis. I made it with 2 minutes to spare. That flight was delayed 45 minutes because they were waiting for the flight crew on the flight that brought me to Memphis. Scrub that day. A trip to Memphis and back with a little less than a 30 minute stay. I didn't have enough time for a trip to the restroom.

Wednesday I wanted to return to Minneapolis from Philadelphia. When I got to the airport the board said my flight was cancelled. So I used the kiosk and found they expertly rebooked me with a connecting flight through Detroit that was leaving Philladelphia at 6:00 PM almost 2 hours later than my original flight. That flight did not leave until 7:30 PM and of course I missed my connection to Minneapolis in Detroit. So I mentioned that to the counter attendant and she said the next and last flight out at 10:30 was full and snottily asked who booked my flight implying they were stupid to plan that connecting flight. I blew up! I let her know loudly that it was Northworst Airlines itself that booked that connection after cancelling my original flight and if I did not get on that last flight I was going to raise a royal he11 with everyone. Miraculously she quickly found me a seat. Of course that flight was late too. Instead of being home for dinner I got to my house about 2:00 AM in the morning.

Flying is no fun anymore. My first ever commercial flight was on a comfortable four prop Constellation when they had young, very cute "stewardesses" and served you full dinners with drinks. Times have changed. I'm not a tall guy but my knees hit the seat back and my nose hits the reclined seat in front of me so I have to recline in self-defense. They've even eliminated the tiny bag of pretzels.

Everybody has horror stories about flying! I've been delayed for up to 18 hours. But the MOST horrific was last January, flying to Anchorage. About 45 mins. before scheduled arrival in ANC the pilot comes on and says, "Due to the volcanic ash spewing from Mt. Redoubt we will be landing in Fairbanks." Fairbanks??? It was 35 below zero there! The entire plane was coming from Palm Springs....so light clothes, sandals, an occasional fleece or sweatshirt. I was handing out fleece and warm-ish clothing from my luggage to fellow passengers. It was a COLD nightmare! So we all went to some goony hotel and hunkered down for the night. Next morning, thoughts of flying to ANC were in our heads, but NOOOOOOO, the plane was FROZEN, the heating system was FROZEN, everything was FROZEN. Worst flying experience I've ever had and I fly a LOT!!

Davy,

You triggered a couple of memories for me with your 'saga'. First, My first 'Adult' flight was a TWA Super Connie from Boston to LAX (1960) While there were lots of Jets making direct flights by then, I was leaving Ft Devens for S E Asia with a leave in L A enroute, so I was in no hurry and selected the overnight coach flight for 'cheap' It stopped in NYC, Cleveland, Chicago, Kansas City and Las Vegas, before finally arriving in L A about 8:00am. No change of planes, but the Crew changed in K C so we got fresh faces and new food then. I was bumped up to first class in K C also so even in the unholy hours of the morning there was free wine and a very nice steak and eggs breakfast. Since the rest of my trip--Travis AFB to Bien Hoa RVN was on a Flying Tigers Super Connie, it was memorable also, but not for the same standard of service.

I sympathize with your tales of woe. When Janet flies west to see her family two or three times a year, we are careful to avoid NorthWest Airlines, as we find the service and connections fail so often it winds up costing much more than we planned to get her home. So Far, and we know that even this is tentative, we have used AmericanAirlines for the Louisville-DFW-ONT connections. They have proved to be the most reliable and she avoids major trouble spots like O'Hare, Denver and Atlanta. We miss the TWA flights thru St Louis...They were the fastest and usually the least crowded of all the alternative flight plans we would find from SoCal to Louisville.

I hate flying!!!!. I am almost 3 million miles with Delta and I have experienced almost every thing you can imagine. I will not spend four pages documenting everything that has occurred but I know, I hated it. I have spent many nights in an airport.

My last occurred just a couple of weeks ago at O'Hare where they had thunderstorms on our arrival. Four consetutive flights to Knoxville were cancelled along with several hundred other flights. O'Hare was a zoo with thousands of folks upset, hungry and standing in line trying to get out. After 12 hours of trying to get out, I was the last passenger called on the standby. There must have been 100 other passengers who saw me get on and knew they would be spending the night at the airport. I felt sorry for them but I was glad to get the hell out of there.

I would rather drive than fly and anymore even if it is a 1000 mile trip, I can drive faster than I can fly particularly this time of the year.

Best thing I can say about O'Hare is I had a very good Chicago Style Hot dog there served by a very patient Asian gentleman. Other than that, If I did not have a good book, the day would have been double awful.

You cannot afford to get intoxicated in O'Hare due to the cost. Even with my paid expense by the company, I would be afraid to turn it in.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Northwest, USAir and United. Please don't tell me there are worse airlines
They all seem to have a present day Circuit City policy in their past; hmm, I think there may be a connection
At least the CEO's are all well compensated

Al, My first Connie flight was from Indianapolis to LaGuardia on my way to Navy OCS in Newport, RI in 1968. Everyone wore a coat and tie. Before that I only flew in small private airplanes during my student days when I worked with an AE firm that designed airports. I did a lot of aerial photography for them and thought nothing of flying sidewise so I could get a straight down shot of the airports.

Paul, I have to fly on my job but for pleasure, unless we go overseas again, is going to be in our Sprinter camper van. I even hope to make the trip in Alaska in it after I retire since I figure that would take at least 4 to 6 weeks minimum to justify the enjoyment.

There wasn't much open in Detroit after 10:00 PM and I did not care to intake any more liquids after having a couple of beers in Philadelphia.

MilwFoodlovers, my only ontime flights were to Milwaukee and back last month. That worked out for a productive day and a pork tenderloin sandwich to boot.

Unfortunately in Minneapolis Northwest rules. They practically own the airport as they do in Detroit. I will grant them the fact they do fly out of a couple of nice terminals. Minneapolis has over 60 accessible eateries if you do get stranded. The latest I noticed was a Wolfgang Puck Express and a Rock Bottom Brewery.

I probably shouldn't complain too much. One advantage of being a hub city is you can fly a lot of places non-stop. I did fly to London once on Northwest. I notice on my of my flights Minneapolis is a connecting terminal for many on the flight and when I get to Minneapolis I have the satisfaction of knowing that's it and I will be heading home. So many others are puddle jumping to Madison, Des Moines, Duluth, Sioux Falls, etc. after. That flight from Detroit to Minneapolis had a lot of family vacationers with young kids returning from Disney World and for many that was not their final destination at 1:00 AM.

DavyDD, a couple of beers does not do it for me. When that occurs, I need to get as numb as possible.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Here's a new twist:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Foul-Mouthed-Pilot.html

You guys have me worried about my flight to Colorado Springs this Saturday. I have to change planes in Atlanta -- something is bound to go wrong!

I've been pretty lucky over the past few years...no lost luggage and no major delays. So I guess I'm due for the big fall. Yikes!

quote:

Originally posted by joanie41

You guys have me worried about my flight to Colorado Springs this Saturday. I have to change planes in Atlanta -- something is bound to go wrong!

Don't feel bad; as the saying goes "Whether you're going to heaven or you're going to hell, you've got to change planes in ATLANTA !!

Actually, I was'nt crazy about changing in Atlanta either last month on my flight from PHL-ATL-MSY (New Orleans)

I was'nt looking forward to the indoor train connecting the gates.
This time I really enjoyed it , though . (like a NY subway, and in 2 minutes, you are at your desired terminal)

There are some decent food choices at the Atlanta airport.
I satisfied my "Krystal burger" fix in the A terminal.....

good luck and have fun!
ellen

I just bring a good paperback or two, make sure I have access to bottled water and chocolate, a walkman w/a couple of music tapes, and a good logic-type puzzle book. I hurry & hassel 8-5 Mon-Fri at work; I refuse to hurry & hassel any other time. Any situation can be an adventure. The worst you can do is die, which is just another adventure.

To wit: Last flight from Ft Lauderdale to DC: redeye hours, crowded flight, seatmate was sick due to turbulence caused by flying over and thru thunderstorms blanketing the east coast. Once the seatmate had succumbed to Dramamine, I sat back in my window seat for the most spectacular light show I'd ever witnessed (the lightening). Wouldn't trade that memory for nuttin'!

My own horror story.....
Back in 1998, I flew from Miami to Tampa..
On an airline I shall NEVER fly again.
American Airlines.
On the return flight, which if anyone knows that Tampa to Miami is about a 45 minute flight.
About 10 minutes into the flight, the lights started flashing inside the plane, and bells dinging away..
Everyone looking around and wondering.

Then the pilot announced that we had to make an emergency landing in Ft. Myers. The plane descended so rapidly that we were all leaning forward in our seats, and I would venture to say that we were skimming tree tops... Probably about 20 foot above the pines.
Get to the runway, and fire engines and rescue crew are already on the tarmac.
So we sit, and sit and sit.....
All the while everyone is panicked and freaking out.
Then comes onto the plane, firemen wearing silver flame suits.
Meanwhile, we are STILL ON THE PLANE.........HUH?

Pilot says to exit the plane "IN A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION, and to leave everything behind"..
Screw that, I thought.
I grabbed my purse, and book and overhead bag (thats all the luggage I had anyway)...
So we are standing on the tarmac, sweating like crazy.. It was April..
I calmly lit up a smoke, and all of a sudden, I had 10 people around me begging for one.
(Remember, we were supposed to leave our items on the plane)..
Passed them out... I am sure people that didnt smoke, had one that day.
Anyway, a bus comes and takes us to the terminal, just letting us off, never telling us where to go or what to do.
Like little lost children, we wandered the airport, until we found the AA desk.
Then they made an announcement for all us passengers to gather.
Proceeded to tell us, arrangments were being made for travel to Miami.
But it would be on vans.
VANS?.... I thought..... WTF?.. I opened my mouth and yelled "I paid for a plane ticket!".. The AA lady then proceeded to tell us that "YOU paid for transportation", and that is what they were doing, was Transporting us.

The local TV news crew were out there interviewing people and I let AA have it and spouted everything that AA DID NOT do and how we were treated....They only made 2 announcements during the 4 hours we were in the airport.
No provisions made for a meal or drink.. Nada.... We were all on our own.
Several people lost connecting flights and some rented cars, and a couple others tried to get on another NON AA flight.
ONE lady got a ticket for a freaking sandwich, as she was diabetic.
So.... my plane took off from Tampa at 730AM.. Was supposed to be in Miami by 830AM. With catching a greyhound bus back to Islamorada and be home by Noon.

Around NOON, they sheparded us to several mini vans and loaded us up.
Finally got to MIA around 4PM...
I WAS supposed to work that evening at 5PM..
I took a greyhound bus from Miami to Islamorada, FL Keys and got home about 7 PM.
They never told us what happened or offered any tickets or discounts on future flights. I called and called AA and could never get anywhere on the phone or by mail regarding this incident.
I will NEVER fly American Airlines EVER again!

I'll fly only on Pan Am and Eastern. They don't mind me having my pocket knife.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

I'll fly only on Pan Am and Eastern. They don't mind me having my pocket knife.

How about TWA?

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Bad

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

I'll fly only on Pan Am and Eastern. They don't mind me having my pocket knife.

How about TWA?

Oh, yeah.

quote:

Originally posted by joanie41

You guys have me worried about my flight to Colorado Springs this Saturday. I have to change planes in Atlanta -- something is bound to go wrong!

I've been pretty lucky over the past few years...no lost luggage and no major delays. So I guess I'm due for the big fall. Yikes!

As the saying goes, "When you die - whether you go to heaven or hell - you still have to change planes in Atlanta."

I always loved to fly. My father was a B-24 captain in WW-2 and I enjoyed flying and being around airplanes. I had not been on a plane in some years, and then we took a flight to New Orleans. Of course the service was poor, and all the other complaints that have been mentioned here applied. But the one thing I couldn't understand, is that most of these airlines are in bankruptcy, near bankruptcy, just coming out of bankruptcy and so on. Well, virtually every plane we travled on was filled to the hinges. No seats left and more often than not people had to be turned away. So if you're flying full all the time, how is it that you can't make any money, and have to keep going back to the employees and taking away their salaries, or going to court to get your agreements voided? Full planes don't seem to equal an empty bank account. Or am I missing something here??

quote:

Originally posted by Mack184

So if you're flying full all the time, how is it that you can't make any money, and have to keep going back to the employees and taking away their salaries, or going to court to get your agreements voided? Full planes don't seem to equal an empty bank account. Or am I missing something here??

Most of these airlines (and other large corporations) have been around for years. This means they not only support their current employees buy also their past employees through pensions and health care etc.

In some cases these corporation have more retirees than current employees. This adds alot to the costs of running the corporation.

Also older companies are tied to union contracts for pay rates that a start up company may not have to abide by.

And older companies may have older loans with higher interest rates or lease agreements with higher payments.

A recent start up like Jet Blue doesn't have to worry about pensions and other costs that older more established companies have to.

I used to fly constantly. For twelve years I was a holder of the top cards for NorthWorst, Delta and US Error. I moved up a bit on the corporate ladder and now fly twice a year at most. I used to tell my wife that one of my great wishes in life was to have to stand in the long lines at check in and NOT be up graded. I bring my own food and water on board. Air travel has become an endurance test.

US Error won't even give you a bottle of water on an international flight only a glass. Just a hint, keep hitting the attendant call button when the glass is empty and you'll get the bottle of water.