Seat 2B: Lessons Learned On The Road
12-22-2007 | 06:50 PM
#1
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From: C-172
Seat 2B: Lessons Learned On The Road
Here's an interesting article about business travel.
Excerpts:
At the end of each of the 30-plus years that I’ve been on the road, I come to the same conclusion: It’s been another bizarre 12 months for business travel.
The trick to surviving, as I’ve discovered, is to not become too flustered by the ludicrous nature of being a business traveler. It’s much better to learn a lesson or two from what has gone before and adjust your parameters and expectations accordingly. I’ve found it’s best to just keep a low profile and take copious notes. Call it the Zen of business travel if you must. But I’m just a grinder and will make no such high-flown pronouncements.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22346583/
Excerpts:
At the end of each of the 30-plus years that I’ve been on the road, I come to the same conclusion: It’s been another bizarre 12 months for business travel.
The trick to surviving, as I’ve discovered, is to not become too flustered by the ludicrous nature of being a business traveler. It’s much better to learn a lesson or two from what has gone before and adjust your parameters and expectations accordingly. I’ve found it’s best to just keep a low profile and take copious notes. Call it the Zen of business travel if you must. But I’m just a grinder and will make no such high-flown pronouncements.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22346583/
12-22-2007 | 07:56 PM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,784
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From: I was acquired, Not Hired
VB,
Thanks for posting this article, it offers an honest insight as to how the traveling public views airline travel these days.
I took a few snipets from the article that I thought personify the public's opinions:
----------------------
"Fees are a fact of life
The airline industry’s pricing strategies have always been byzantine. Now they are also criminal. It has loaded on so many fees, surcharges, and extras that your final price is a crapshoot."
Fees are a fact of life because the Gov't has ordered the (deregulated) airlines to collect these monies to offset the fight against terrorism, the cost of rebuilding the aviation infrastructure (which is not all that stellar), and heaven only knows for what else. I hope passengers aren't too upset when they soon see a fee called "Passenger Bill of Rights surcharge". How else do you think the airlines will fund the rewards of being a whiney passenger.
Airlines are in business to make money, not lose it. With airlines providing $39 each way fares to keep the traveling public happy, how else do you expect them to make money...by robbing banks. They already have robbed the employees paychecks, pensions, and jobs.
It's not criminal as the author suggests it's called survival in order to provide the cheap prices that the public insists upon.
-------------------
"The grass is greener ...
The rapid decline of standards in domestic travel sometimes blinds us to a global reality: Travel is often less offensive, less costly, and much more comfortable elsewhere."
Welcome to airline deregulation...you get what you pay for..and guess what...you pay $39 for a one way fare when the price of oil is near $100 a barrel and be lucky you get to sit in a seat instead of on the floor. The author needs a reality-check cocktail, in fact make it a double.
------------------
"The fine print
Here’s a lesson we have to learn again: Europe is back on strike. After years of relative labor peace, the transport unions and the relevant airline and train companies seem to be at war over everything: salaries, pensions, work rules, staffing. Even as I write this, there are one-day strikes affecting transportation in Italy, Greece, and France. You’ll need to plan accordingly in 2008."
When we go on strike here in the U.S. there is a good chance the White House will intervene or that airline management will hire replacement workers as was the case at Northwest a few years back. The word "strike" unfortunately doesn't hold the same horsepower it once did in this country and as it does oversees.
In closing, I may be alone in my opinion, but I feel the article has comedy to it in the form of irony. The traveler is a seasoned professional, however; he dreams about a higher level of service that is present maybe in countries that have state-run airlines not deregulated ones. He insists that current pricing is criminal, but offers a solution of raising fares which in a deregulated industry with low cost carriers is an option that only leads to loss of business and subsequent revenue. For a seasoned traveler he comments like someone that has never flown before.
Just my vantage point...
FF
Thanks for posting this article, it offers an honest insight as to how the traveling public views airline travel these days.
I took a few snipets from the article that I thought personify the public's opinions:
----------------------
"Fees are a fact of life
The airline industry’s pricing strategies have always been byzantine. Now they are also criminal. It has loaded on so many fees, surcharges, and extras that your final price is a crapshoot."
Fees are a fact of life because the Gov't has ordered the (deregulated) airlines to collect these monies to offset the fight against terrorism, the cost of rebuilding the aviation infrastructure (which is not all that stellar), and heaven only knows for what else. I hope passengers aren't too upset when they soon see a fee called "Passenger Bill of Rights surcharge". How else do you think the airlines will fund the rewards of being a whiney passenger.
Airlines are in business to make money, not lose it. With airlines providing $39 each way fares to keep the traveling public happy, how else do you expect them to make money...by robbing banks. They already have robbed the employees paychecks, pensions, and jobs.
It's not criminal as the author suggests it's called survival in order to provide the cheap prices that the public insists upon.
-------------------
"The grass is greener ...
The rapid decline of standards in domestic travel sometimes blinds us to a global reality: Travel is often less offensive, less costly, and much more comfortable elsewhere."
Welcome to airline deregulation...you get what you pay for..and guess what...you pay $39 for a one way fare when the price of oil is near $100 a barrel and be lucky you get to sit in a seat instead of on the floor. The author needs a reality-check cocktail, in fact make it a double.
------------------
"The fine print
Here’s a lesson we have to learn again: Europe is back on strike. After years of relative labor peace, the transport unions and the relevant airline and train companies seem to be at war over everything: salaries, pensions, work rules, staffing. Even as I write this, there are one-day strikes affecting transportation in Italy, Greece, and France. You’ll need to plan accordingly in 2008."
When we go on strike here in the U.S. there is a good chance the White House will intervene or that airline management will hire replacement workers as was the case at Northwest a few years back. The word "strike" unfortunately doesn't hold the same horsepower it once did in this country and as it does oversees.
In closing, I may be alone in my opinion, but I feel the article has comedy to it in the form of irony. The traveler is a seasoned professional, however; he dreams about a higher level of service that is present maybe in countries that have state-run airlines not deregulated ones. He insists that current pricing is criminal, but offers a solution of raising fares which in a deregulated industry with low cost carriers is an option that only leads to loss of business and subsequent revenue. For a seasoned traveler he comments like someone that has never flown before.
Just my vantage point...
FF
Last edited by FliFast; 12-22-2007 at 08:17 PM.
12-23-2007 | 09:45 AM
#4
Banned
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,929
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From: A-320
VB,
Thanks for posting this article, it offers an honest insight as to how the traveling public views airline travel these days.
I took a few snipets from the article that I thought personify the public's opinions:
----------------------
"Fees are a fact of life
The airline industry’s pricing strategies have always been byzantine. Now they are also criminal. It has loaded on so many fees, surcharges, and extras that your final price is a crapshoot."
Fees are a fact of life because the Gov't has ordered the (deregulated) airlines to collect these monies to offset the fight against terrorism, the cost of rebuilding the aviation infrastructure (which is not all that stellar), and heaven only knows for what else. I hope passengers aren't too upset when they soon see a fee called "Passenger Bill of Rights surcharge". How else do you think the airlines will fund the rewards of being a whiney passenger.
Airlines are in business to make money, not lose it. With airlines providing $39 each way fares to keep the traveling public happy, how else do you expect them to make money...by robbing banks. They already have robbed the employees paychecks, pensions, and jobs.
It's not criminal as the author suggests it's called survival in order to provide the cheap prices that the public insists upon.
-------------------
"The grass is greener ...
The rapid decline of standards in domestic travel sometimes blinds us to a global reality: Travel is often less offensive, less costly, and much more comfortable elsewhere."
Welcome to airline deregulation...you get what you pay for..and guess what...you pay $39 for a one way fare when the price of oil is near $100 a barrel and be lucky you get to sit in a seat instead of on the floor. The author needs a reality-check cocktail, in fact make it a double.
------------------
"The fine print
Here’s a lesson we have to learn again: Europe is back on strike. After years of relative labor peace, the transport unions and the relevant airline and train companies seem to be at war over everything: salaries, pensions, work rules, staffing. Even as I write this, there are one-day strikes affecting transportation in Italy, Greece, and France. You’ll need to plan accordingly in 2008."
When we go on strike here in the U.S. there is a good chance the White House will intervene or that airline management will hire replacement workers as was the case at Northwest a few years back. The word "strike" unfortunately doesn't hold the same horsepower it once did in this country and as it does oversees.
In closing, I may be alone in my opinion, but I feel the article has comedy to it in the form of irony. The traveler is a seasoned professional, however; he dreams about a higher level of service that is present maybe in countries that have state-run airlines not deregulated ones. He insists that current pricing is criminal, but offers a solution of raising fares which in a deregulated industry with low cost carriers is an option that only leads to loss of business and subsequent revenue. For a seasoned traveler he comments like someone that has never flown before.
Just my vantage point...
FF
Thanks for posting this article, it offers an honest insight as to how the traveling public views airline travel these days.
I took a few snipets from the article that I thought personify the public's opinions:
----------------------
"Fees are a fact of life
The airline industry’s pricing strategies have always been byzantine. Now they are also criminal. It has loaded on so many fees, surcharges, and extras that your final price is a crapshoot."
Fees are a fact of life because the Gov't has ordered the (deregulated) airlines to collect these monies to offset the fight against terrorism, the cost of rebuilding the aviation infrastructure (which is not all that stellar), and heaven only knows for what else. I hope passengers aren't too upset when they soon see a fee called "Passenger Bill of Rights surcharge". How else do you think the airlines will fund the rewards of being a whiney passenger.
Airlines are in business to make money, not lose it. With airlines providing $39 each way fares to keep the traveling public happy, how else do you expect them to make money...by robbing banks. They already have robbed the employees paychecks, pensions, and jobs.
It's not criminal as the author suggests it's called survival in order to provide the cheap prices that the public insists upon.
-------------------
"The grass is greener ...
The rapid decline of standards in domestic travel sometimes blinds us to a global reality: Travel is often less offensive, less costly, and much more comfortable elsewhere."
Welcome to airline deregulation...you get what you pay for..and guess what...you pay $39 for a one way fare when the price of oil is near $100 a barrel and be lucky you get to sit in a seat instead of on the floor. The author needs a reality-check cocktail, in fact make it a double.
------------------
"The fine print
Here’s a lesson we have to learn again: Europe is back on strike. After years of relative labor peace, the transport unions and the relevant airline and train companies seem to be at war over everything: salaries, pensions, work rules, staffing. Even as I write this, there are one-day strikes affecting transportation in Italy, Greece, and France. You’ll need to plan accordingly in 2008."
When we go on strike here in the U.S. there is a good chance the White House will intervene or that airline management will hire replacement workers as was the case at Northwest a few years back. The word "strike" unfortunately doesn't hold the same horsepower it once did in this country and as it does oversees.
In closing, I may be alone in my opinion, but I feel the article has comedy to it in the form of irony. The traveler is a seasoned professional, however; he dreams about a higher level of service that is present maybe in countries that have state-run airlines not deregulated ones. He insists that current pricing is criminal, but offers a solution of raising fares which in a deregulated industry with low cost carriers is an option that only leads to loss of business and subsequent revenue. For a seasoned traveler he comments like someone that has never flown before.
Just my vantage point...
FF
Good post, sad that this guys has been traveling so long, yet he is so clueless..............., or maybe ignorant is a better word
12-23-2007 | 04:19 PM
#6
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Bidding Time Off
I hope the day shows back up when air travel is a classy way to go and not just how cheap someone can get a ticket. A fair price for a ticket=a safe transport for your family by PROFESSIONAL pilots who care about your kids. I do not fly passengers, but it gets me when I hear someone in the TSA line brag about how cheap their ticket ran for the flight. Some of the most professional guys I have met are the RJ crowd. One in particular flew me home last Christmas with a great attitude and the people in back did not even thank him on the way out the door for getting them home in time for their families while I am sure this guy was heading out for a few more legs (away from his family). Some of this we have done to ourselves, but the majority is just apathy from the public. The public is not going to change, so from one pilot to APC, I hope you enjoy your holidays and thank you for getting my wife and one year old home safely.
Fish
Fish
12-23-2007 | 05:06 PM
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From: C-172
Thanks FliFast and Fish for your thoughtful responses. I am not an airline pilot, but I travel quite a bit for both business and pleasure, so I have seen what the author of the article is writing about, although I do not necessarily share his sentiments entirely.
Like you, I am saddened (for lack of a better word) by the quality of the flying public today. I dread getting into an airplane filled with people wearing t-shirts and flip flops, carrying their snotty nosed kids, shouting at their overweight wife to hurry along with their five pieces of oversized carry on luggage. I despise some travelers who argue with gate agents over something which nobody has any control. I despise even more those who make derogatory or sarcastic comments about the flying ability of the pilot and the co-pilot.
I have come to know many professionals on this board and I know each one goes to work and does his/her best everyday. It cannot be easy to maintain such an exemplary safety record given management’s many shady tactics to make a buck or two off the backs of labor. As a student pilot myself, I also know that flying an airplane is not simply pushing a few buttons here and there. You guys do everyday what many others only dream about. And I admire the professionalism exhibited. I will get into an airplane flown by any of you anytime.
Like you, I am saddened (for lack of a better word) by the quality of the flying public today. I dread getting into an airplane filled with people wearing t-shirts and flip flops, carrying their snotty nosed kids, shouting at their overweight wife to hurry along with their five pieces of oversized carry on luggage. I despise some travelers who argue with gate agents over something which nobody has any control. I despise even more those who make derogatory or sarcastic comments about the flying ability of the pilot and the co-pilot.
I have come to know many professionals on this board and I know each one goes to work and does his/her best everyday. It cannot be easy to maintain such an exemplary safety record given management’s many shady tactics to make a buck or two off the backs of labor. As a student pilot myself, I also know that flying an airplane is not simply pushing a few buttons here and there. You guys do everyday what many others only dream about. And I admire the professionalism exhibited. I will get into an airplane flown by any of you anytime.
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