Christmas Travellers let down, and I feel Baddd

[AngelKing]

Sorry, AK, but you're full of BS on that one. I do my best to get my passengers safely to their destination on time. When my duty time limit or any other legality limit is reached, I go to the hotel. I do not spend any time feeling personally responsible because the company tried to schedule me so close to the limit. And I definitely do not feel any guilt for refusing to violate FAR duty time regs.

Thank for proving my point.


AK

 

[ualdriver]

Christmas Eve Morning (two days ago), 6AM BOS-ORD. We arrive at the airplane around 5am with a CB popped for a hydraulic shutoff valve (associated with the fire handle). We had a full plane. We needed a new valve, and of course, after the bankruptcy and all the cuts, NO ONE carries spare parts. The flight was cancelled and 104 people were sent home because we didn't have a spare plane until 9pm that evening. They all missed their connections in ORD, and probably missed their Christmas Eve plans as well, at a minimum.

I felt bad for the people, but I think you have to look at the big picture. People want cheap tickets. There was a time where companies like mine (and probably yours) had extra capacity, spare planes, spare parts, extra crew, etc., etc. which costs money. Many companies like ours were punished severely by our customers for carrying around extra costs such as these on their balance sheets. So now airlines such as ours have learned their lesson and operate as lean as possible, which means no spare parts, no extra airplanes, no extra capacity, no extra crew. The consumer is actually getting exactly what they want now, and unfortunately the "cost" of their desires is exactly what they received on this Christmas Eve morning. It's too bad, but that's the way it goes.

 

[Tarquinn]

Excellent post... Whenever someone whines to me about the "awful experience" they had while flying on a cheap ticket, I gently remind them that the travelling public created this, and they have no one to blame but themselves. I'm tired of hearing about maint. delays, surly employees, and and cancelled flights after taking a 30% pay hit so they could save a few bucks.

 

[NuGuy]

I felt bad for the people, but I think you have to look at the big picture. People want cheap tickets. There was a time where companies like mine (and probably yours) had extra capacity, spare planes, spare parts, extra crew, etc., etc. which costs money. Many companies like ours were punished severely by our customers for carrying around extra costs such as these on their balance sheets. So now airlines such as ours have learned their lesson and operate as lean as possible, which means no spare parts, no extra airplanes, no extra capacity, no extra crew. The consumer is actually getting exactly what they want now, and unfortunately the "cost" of their desires is exactly what they received on this Christmas Eve morning. It's too bad, but that's the way it goes.

I swear, this needs to be engraved on an f'in huge bronze plaque and bolted to the entrance to every airline termininal in the country, illuminated with spot lights with a choir of angels singing in the background.

In 1978, I remember specifically that a flight from Florida to New York cost $400 round trip per person, and that was for the 30 day in advance, stay over weekend, steerage class ticket. A princely sum in those days by any measure.

What SHOULD the ticket cost? Not counting for inflation in 2006, that ticket SHOULD cost over $1,200. Aha, you say, lots of things have gotten cheaper since 1978...but if you look closely, only those items where technological advances have MADE them less expensive OR that have been outsourced to countries where the cost of production AND the quality of life is much lower.

Name one thing on an airplane that has gotten less expensive...not the airframe, avionics, fuel, oil parts...no...only one thing...THE CREW,

After checking ticket prices just now, I had to WORK to find tickets that were in the $600 range. Most were sub-$300.

The fault lies squarely on our shoulders.

Nu

 

[AA717driver]

Contract--You'd better toughen up or get into Pt. 91. After all the Christmases I've spent in 'Holidumps' eating food I brought with me, I'm over it. Enjoy this Christmas--you can bet your a$$ you'll be working next year. And the year after that. And the year after that. And... Well, you get it. TC

 

[Huck]

Find your inner strengh. People are so dang f*cking weak that they have to turn to a fictitious character who does not exist. Get it together dude.

Merry Christmas to you too.

May I also humbly suggest that there are those that are "dang f*cking weak" and know it, and those that are "dang f*cking weak" and don't know it. Never mind. Go read some more Ayn Rand.... When you someday get to a place where this whole self-reliance thing quits working (and you will), drop me a PM.

 

[Moonshiner]

Ditto Huck

 

[Torpid]

It truly hurts me to sit here now in front of this computer as my family sleeps after celebrating Christmas without me to think of the families this past weekend that I somehow feel personally responsible for stranding.

They're not the ones I feels sorry for. I feel sorry for the families who can't be together because one of their own is fighting in Iraq or Afghanastan. The families you feel sorry for will be together within a day or two. Many military families wont be together for months!!!

 

[YourPilotFriend]

I swear, this needs to be engraved on an f'in huge bronze plaque and bolted to the entrance to every airline termininal in the country, illuminated with spot lights with a choir of angels singing in the background.

In 1978, I remember specifically that a flight from Florida to New York cost $400 round trip per person, and that was for the 30 day in advance, stay over weekend, steerage class ticket. A princely sum in those days by any measure.

What SHOULD the ticket cost? Not counting for inflation in 2006, that ticket SHOULD cost over $1,200. Aha, you say, lots of things have gotten cheaper since 1978...but if you look closely, only those items where technological advances have MADE them less expensive OR that have been outsourced to countries where the cost of production AND the quality of life is much lower.

Name one thing on an airplane that has gotten less expensive...not the airframe, avionics, fuel, oil parts...no...only one thing...THE CREW,

After checking ticket prices just now, I had to WORK to find tickets that were in the $600 range. Most were sub-$300.

The fault lies squarely on our shoulders.

Nu

They still charge high prices on routes that they don't compete with lean operations. So it begs the question, should the legacies just drop the money losing routes? I think you'll find that even though the ticket may be sub $300, in 1978 NWA had a load factor of 49%. It is now at 90ish on airplanes that cost less to operate.

What hurts the industry is the inflexibility of infrastructure in a rapidly changing market. You lose a lot less money just by eating it rather than changing it. I think you'll find going forward that the legacies should be able to maintain marginal profitability now. If you look at the LCC, i.e. SWA, model, to remain at the level of profitability they have enjoyed in the past, they will have to expand at a rate greater than the infrastructure can support. In other words there aren't enough airplanes for them to remain profitable without raising fares. So fares will go up for them, which will in turn make us more profitable. In 5 years you should see some return on the concessions that were taken now. Prices only need to go up 2-3% for you to get the 98 contract back.

 

[Big Beer Belly]

They're not the ones I feels sorry for. I feel sorry for the families who can't be together because one of their own is fighting in Iraq or Afghanastan. The families you feel sorry for will be together within a day or two. Many military families wont be together for months!!!

Amen.


BBB