I”m back from a short trip to Texas and have a couple of observations on air travel.
First, what the hell gives flight crews the right to jump the line to get through TSA screening. I had stood quietly in line for 20 minutes and was second from going through the screener when three flight attendants and two pilots jumped in front of me and began shoving their belongings onto the belt. Sure, they were polite, but maybe if they had to stand in line like everyone else, the airlines and TSA would be motivated to fix the issue with getting us onto airplanes. In my case, there were a number of closed lanes and if the flight crews just HAD to get past, why not fire up one of those lanes for them. All they did was tick off everyone standing in line.
Second — if there is an empty seat on an earlier plane going where you are going, why is it not in the best interest of the airline to put you on it. Instead, they want to charge you $75 to move to the earlier flight. Isn’t it the case that when an empty seat flies, that revenue will neverbe seen. If I move to the earlier flight, don’t they now have the ability to sell my seat on the later flight to some one else, of if the later flight has a problem, am I not one less pain they have to deal with. I”m sure they have run the number six ways to Sunday and know exactly how much revenue that $75 brings in, but at worst putting me on that earlier flight would have been one super PR move. Oh well…
JVH
