Oliver Siodmak's Rants & Raves

I am trying to remember the exact moment when air travel really started to really suck for me? And I don’t mean because of of the increased security or the fact that they now charge $5 for the same sandwich I refused to eat for free. I could plan around those inconveniences. I mean when did the airline industry completely forget that they are in a service business and that communication is the best way to manage customer expectations?

Case in point. I am sitting in the US Airways terminal at Laguardia airport watching my “confirmed” flight leave without me. Why is it leaving without me? Well let’s see. It appears that the 7am flight to Syracuse, NY was cancelled so all those people were given priority on my flight. Unfortunately, my flight was not empty so they had to “remove” some of them to make room for the people who’s flight was cancelled. I unfortunately fall into that category. Those who were bumped were given priority on 11:40am flight.

Now if you were on that 7am flight I’m sure you are very happy that you were serviced and given priority. I personally would expect the same treatment. Actually, what I would expect was what the airlines used to do. They would send someone out to the hanger, charge up another plane and locate a local crew to fly it. It appears that planes and crews are no longer kept around in case of emergencies in this micro-managed world of ours.

What really turns my milk sour is that my personal inconvenience could have been minimized to a large degree. After all .. the airline HAD my cell phone number AND my email address but they failed to use them to communicate the flight changes to me. I mean .. I would have been unhappy that I was bumped but at least I wouldn’t be stuck in the airport sitting in a smelly food court drinking bad coffee. And don’t even get me started on overpriced airport internet access.

I guess the real question is .. when did I become Andy Rooney?

P.S. .. I just looked up and my 11:40 flight has been pushed back another 45 minutes. No announcement .. just a updated departure time on the gate’s departure screen. Nice.

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