The Trouble with Modern Air Travel

Flying, the dreaded mode of travel for many, can lead to substantial irritation to put it mildly. Delayed flights, seats seemingly designed for the comfort of a leprechaun or small child, and overpriced food and drink are just a few things about which the majority of customers complain, despite being the new normal.

I pity those working in the customer service positions for airlines today. Seriously, I tip my hat as a former customer service employee to all of them. Working in that capacity for the air travel industry would be a new type of Hell, I image, that would easily trump the working for the food and hospitality industry. The people that airline employees deal with on the regular, generally in a cool and calm manner, redefine rude and need to attend extended classes at Cotillion in the worst way.

This is how customer service employees WANT to react to irritating people...

I concede that I have complained numerous times in the past in re unfortunate flight experiences. However, I always do so in a more or less polite manner, generally via a thoughtfully written e-mail, and I never do so over factors that the airline cannot control. Previous complaints of mine include poor treatment by an airline employee or huge mistakes such as insisting that I did not have a seat on a flight back to the states from Canada, where I was connecting, despite having my confirmation number. Those, I like to think, are legit and merit complaint. However, I have seen some crazy Jekyll and Hyde moments in airports around the world. At Washington National Airport here in D.C., I was in line to board my flight to Orlando when I beheld a rather frightening reaction by a lady waiting for a flight to Boston. At the information desk at the gate for the Boston flight, an airline employee stepped up to the PA microphone and announced that due to the extremely dangerous storm pommeling the north east coast, their flight would be delayed for three hours.

I’m sure that people around the world could hear the collective gasp produced by those waiting at that gate. The mad uproar began with only a select few keeping their calm. One woman stood out from the rest by displaying an extremely unreasonable reaction to the news. She jolted from her seat like a jumping bean and screamed “WHAT?!” in a voice brimming with ire after the employee concluded her announcement. She stormed up to the customer service agents and began expressing her displeasure. I half expected a torch and pitchfork to materialize in her hand from the sheer anger manifested on her face. The customer service kept her cool better than an air conditioner in the arctic. She even seemed to have mastered the fake smile while internally not-caring. I imagine her thoughts while dealing with women like that...

This reaction made me realize how ridiculous people can get over things that cannot be controlled whatsoever. Nature, the grand reminder that we humans are not always in control, dealt her a bad hand and she couldn’t handle it. Complaining about a deadly storm interrupting your travel plans is a completely fruitless waste of energy and a way to unnecessarily ruin the airline employee’s day. Yes, how DARE the airline not use its magic weather control gun to blast the storm away from Boston! Do these companies not realize that their customers have PLANS?! 

OH PLEASE NO!!!!!! NOT A DELAY!!!!!

Louis CK says it best in his bit about the ridiculous nature of the complaints made by today's generation. Lots of language, but hilarious...

Prior to my flight to Orlando, Florida, I had never had the pleasure of flying with JetBlue. What a lovely, underrated airline! Actually, on second thought, I cannot call them “underrated” as I haven’t actually researched their ratings. Well, if they are not rated as one of the best airlines, then they are definitely underrated. When I learned the other day that Frontier charges their customers for their FIRST carry-on bag, I wanted to vomit in disgust on the spot. JetBlue offered FREE TV the entire flight and unlimited snacks! Not just bags containing a grand total of two peanuts, but a basket containing of a selection of six plus varieties of goodies. So…moral of the story is fly JetBlue when you can. Yes. That is all for now.