LITTLE ROCK — WE CONFESS to some fond memories of airline travel. We can remember when the seats offered lots of leg room, the aisles were wide, and stewardesses provided complimentary beverages. If the flight was long enough, they'd even serve a meal that, honest, wasn't half bad.
We also must confess that all that was in another, long-ago time. (Listen up, kids.) Back then, airline passengers even dressed up for travel. None of the shorts, jeans, flip-flops or whatever you see today. If the adults weren't wearing coats and ties or Sunday dresses, they were out of place.
Yep, it was a different world. It was so long ago that some of the airlines were still flying prop planes. Most likely, the pilots were World War II vets. Back then, air travel was still an event to be enjoyed, not the experience to be endured that it's become in these frantic times. Once the idea of an airplane flight was as exciting as a kid's anticipation of Christmas. And as naive as a belief in the jolly old elf. Or the tooth fairy.
What's air travel like today? Long lines, tiresome security searches, cramped seats and aisles so narrow you may have to inch down them sideways. Complimentary refreshments? A bag of peanuts if you're lucky. And all that's if you catch your flight in the first place. Because there are also the flight delays, the lost luggage, and the increasingly common waits on the runway-for hours sometimes. (Feel free to insert your own horror story here.) Want some more bad news? As miserable as air travel has become these days, it's probably not going to improve much-if at all.
A study just out shows how low customers rank today's airlines. On a satisfaction index compiled by a researcher at the University of Michigan, airlines ingeneral scored a miserable 63 out of 100.
Even the postal service, which used to be everybody's idea of bad service, comes in at a respectable 73 nowadays. (Congratulations and keep it up. There's still abundant room for improvement.) If the mailmen can improve, why can't the airlines? What with private enterprise, the zeal of the free market, and all that. Turns out the airlines have more to overcome than just bad service and customer relations. The airlines are caught in a bind. So many folks want to travel that comfort and convenience tend to be overlooked. Costs keep rising and amenities fading.
Naturally, passengers are getting ever grumpier about the way they're treated.
Admit it. When your plane's on time, you hardly pay attention. Timely arrival is the expectation. But any delay sends passengers over the edge. They feel like they're being mistreated. And watch out when the customer who's been told he's always right thinks he just got the short end of the boarding ticket.
No, it's not all the travelers' fault. The airlines are way too cavalier about their problems. Many of them don't seem to care. Take your business elsewhere? The other airlines may be just as bad. And have you tried going anywhere on Amtrak lately?
Despite the problems, demand for seats on airplanes just keeps growing.
Everybody wants to go visit Grandma over the holidays. Business types have no choice. If you're traveling more than a few hundred miles, you're probably going by air regardless of how bad the experience might turn out.
So welcome to the modern age of travel. It might not be how they did it years ago. But you don't get a choice these days.
When you gotta go, you gotta go.
Editorial, Pages 14 on 10/23/2007