Maybe you had the same reaction I did.
Recently, a New York man flying on a free pass filed suit against JetBlue Airways, alleging that the pilot on a recent cross-country flight forced him to give up his seat and hang out in the restroom after a flight attendant grew tired of sitting in the jump seat.
My first thought, of course, was, “Wow, how’d this guy actually manage to redeem his frequent-flier miles?” The rest of us would sure like to learn the secret.
Unfortunately, as it turns out, he didn’t. He was traveling on a “buddy pass,” which airline employees can give to friends.
In any case, what a fitting opening act for the summer travel season. The way most airlines treat their customers, we’ll all soon be frog-marched down the aisle to assigned seats in the toilet. And we’ll have to pay an extra fee for it, too.
Every time I’ve written about the airline industry, its decline in customer service and the corresponding increase in fares and tacked-on fees, I hear from fed-up airline employees who say that dealing with the rudeness of the traveling public is no picnic, either.
I don’t doubt that.
For example, it’s become more routine than we’d like to think for passengers to hand dirty diapers to flight attendants during midflight drink service, after having changed their babies’ diapers at their seats.
Which is just beyond gross.
In Texas last week, an airline passenger was arrested on disorderly conduct charges after he allegedly refused to get off his cellphone during the flight. The only thing unusual about this is that it doesn’t happen more often.
Some people think rules don’t apply to them. These are the people, often as not, who berate ticket-counter personnel, board the airplane late and still insist on squeezing overstuffed luggage into the overhead bins, or allow their small children to wander unattended up and down the airplane aisles.
If life were fair, they’d be rounded up and immediately voted off the planet.
As it is, we’re stuck with them — and also with an airline industry that gouges us, crams us into seats, charges us extra for snacks that used to be free, then holds us hostage if our flight is diverted to another airport because of bad weather at our destination.
Tough luck for us.
Travelers were stranded by the hundreds of thousands for a few days last month when American Airlines grounded most of its domestic flights to comply with Federal Aviation Administration inspection demands.
Again, tough luck.
Frankly, consumers have had it up to here with the airline industry and its dismissive attitude toward passengers. Is it any surprise that the California Assembly recently passed an airline passenger bill of rights measure? The bill would require airlines to provide basic amenities like drinking water, snacks and clean bathrooms to passengers stuck on the runway for three hours or more.
It’s clear that federal standards would likely have more impact on the airline industry than state-by-state legislation. Even so, you’d think that airlines interested in good customer service would figure out how to treat their passengers nicely without being forced to do so by law.
Instead, it’s come to this: When smart travelers end up stranded on the tarmac for a few hours, they use their cellphones to alert the media that they’re being detained against their will.
Many decades ago, flying was considered glamorous and even a bit indulgent. Passengers dressed up for the privilege of taking a flight. Flight attendants were polite and solicitous.
Imagine.
Now, you’re lucky if the traveler sitting next to you is covered appropriately and doesn’t do anything too disgusting. Now, the reason that guy is taking so long in the toilet is that the pilot made him sit there.
