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December 30, 2014
"Ve haf wayz uf making you suffer"
Why Airlines Want to Make You Suffer
The necessity of degrading basic service provides a partial explanation for the fact that, in the past decade, the major airlines have done what they can to make flying basic economy, particularly on longer flights, an intolerable experience. For one thing, as the Wall Street Journal has documented, airlines have crammed more seats into the basic economy section of the airplane, even on long-haul flights. The seats, meanwhile, have gotten smaller—they are narrower and set closer together. Bill McGee, a contributing editor to Consumer Reports who worked in the airline industry for many years, studied seat sizes and summarized his findings this way: “The roomiest economy seats you can book on the nation’s four largest airlines are narrower than the tightest economy seats offered in the 1990s.”[To read enter "new yorker why the airlines want to make you suffer" in Google search and click link.]
Posted by gerardvanderleun at December 30, 2014 11:10 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
The airlines are simply giving paying customers what they pay for. Passengers SAY they want a more pleasant experience but they pick flights based on price. Don't just say you would pay an extra few bucks for more room. Pay what it requires to get more room, etc..
Passengers whining is the same as liberals deciding the minimum wage should be higher. They think they can just demand a pleasing change and it will have no unexpected impact.
Posted by: tscottme ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://americandigest.org/sidelines/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 30, 2014 11:31 PM
If you want change, don't fly. A drop in traffic will cause a change in fares, fees and seating arrangements. Only cattle ride in cattle cars.
It is the same with the TSA. You put up with that crap, you get more.
Posted by: Vermont Woodchuck at December 31, 2014 2:07 AM
Because so many folks just NEED to get to Boise, on a chair that flies through the air, in two hours.
I hear that the Burger King in Boise ID is JUST LIKE the one in Parma OH.
And it's MUCH better to negotiate that Judicial Education Seminar, face to face, in San Tropez, (all expenses paid on "the account")than it is to Skype it.
If I fly from NYC to Portland Maine, (1/2 hour actual flight time I think) instead of riding the (far more "civilized" travel IMHO)DownEaster for 6-8 hours, does that mean I'm a really "notable" jet setter, who's importance is too valuable for such "down time", too?
Posted by: CaptDMO at December 31, 2014 8:33 AM
The beatings will continue until the screaming stops.
Posted by: ghostsniper at December 31, 2014 9:16 AM
Its expensive to maintain and fly a jet, particularly as fuel prices go up. So they have to figure out a way to cut costs, because people won't pay a premium price to fly any more. Its just that simple.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 31, 2014 9:28 AM
My other half flies to NY from here in SC to see her mother every now and then. Drive time to Charlotte airport one hour, time at airport 1 hour before boarding if lucky, has to be one hour for TSA rules, Tarmac time 20 minutes, flight time 2-2½ hours depending on airline BS. Time from the airport to Manhattan 50 minutes with no real traffic then 1 hour train ride to mother's house.
That is 7± hours . I can drive to Scranton( my buddy's house) in 8 hours and 1½ hours more to her mothers. The gas costs less, I have my weapon no baggage fees, I leave when I want and listen to what I want.
If I have to go to Boise or Bumhole, Oregon I'll leave early and enjoy the trip without having some high school moron tell me I have to strip. And I'm armed. In addition to the DC permit I have the Utah permit. Good to go.
BTW, I had a pilots license, commercial instrument ratings, the medical lapsed because my eyes aren't that good. so there isn't any fear of flying. My first MOS in the Army was 101D.
Posted by: Vermont Woodchuck at December 31, 2014 10:18 AM
Yeah, unless the trip is very long, 1000 miles or more, its usually just as fast and much less hassle to drive. And these days, probably cheaper.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 31, 2014 12:45 PM
Well no, airline seat WIDTH is not narrower on narrow-body airplanes (737, 757, A319, A320). Since the 1960s, economy has been 6 across: 3 seats on each side of the aisle. Those airplanes are the same width today as then, so the seat width is the same.
Now, on wide-body airplanes (747, 767, 777, 787, etc) seat width in economy on some airlines is definitely less on some airlines as they are putting one more seat in each row.
Posted by: Robert O'Hara at January 2, 2015 11:39 PM