Flight Or Fight

This could perfectly describe the attitude of most people who choose to brave the nation's skyways on almost any of the domestic airline carriers. I figure if I'm going to be traveling for another big meetup with my running friends, I'll have to bite the bullet myself eventually unless the get-together is within relatively close driving distance (which will involve another different biting the bullet, but that's another story)

Service sucks. Fees increase both in number and price. Moods on both sides of the aisle sour.

But then again, is anyone really surprised?

Of course, there's no excuse for the crappy service and attitudes that have become the norm. In some sense, I think this is a perfect example of contempt breeding contempt. Miserably treated passengers engage miserably treated employees (anyone remember the retirement plans gone belly up, massive layoffs, and renegotiated reduced pay & benefits contracts?) inside a cramped, thin tube of metal. Not exactly a fertile ground for nirvana to blossom.

And if you think about it, the prices are all relative. I cringe myself when I see that that cross-country fare may not be in that sub-$300 range the next time I have to pony up, but there was a time when airlines were pretty much exclusively the realm of the well-financed. Interesting that I found this column this evening pretty much reflects my views.

Just for, uh, fun, I checked out airfare for a flight from SFO to JFK on a hypothetical birthday celebration roundtrip for a week - the lowest fare is roughly $400 including those new baggage fees I figure I'd have to pay. But I make $400 easily after one paycheck even after taxes.

According to the U.S. census, the median income back when I was about born (late 1960s) was a little under $9000 annually. Keep that same fare range (I don't think bargain basement fares really hit the airline industry until deregulation started going in the 1970s) and you can see that not only a $400 fare back then would've been a bigger chunk out of the average Joe's (ahem) pocketbook, but that same $400 could pay for a lot more amenities for a typical airline.

I suppose all this doesn't make it any easier though for the modern day traveler. Pretty much everyone grumbles that we're flying the "fiendly" skies these days, and I think that trend will pretty much transform into the status quo before too long.