Hollywood director Kevin Smith took Southwest Airlines to task for its decision to boot Smith from a flight under what have been termed "too-fat-to-fly" regulations. Southwest's requirement that forces oversized passengers to purchase two seats for comfort and safety reasons has been company policy for 25 years--but Smith's Twitter and press campaign made waves, and Southwest eventually apologized.
Those inconvenienced by the new ice age that has descended on the U.S. and Europe may find this hard to believe, but airline travel is getting better.
Or is it?
First the pluses: The business travel sector is already rebounding, despite worries that the sluggish world economy would severely hamper travel for years. A number of U.S. airlines showed a fourth quarter profit, with others beating analyst expectations, and even the related hotel sector—which has been battered hard by the recession—is also showing signs of recovery, with the Marriott Hotel chain returning to the black in Q4 2009, according to the international business wire service, Bloomberg.
Then there are the yet more immediately tangible bright spots for the traveler. In 2009 U.S. airlines posted the best on-time record since 2003, according to the U.S. Transportation Department—and lost luggage complaints dropped to 2004 levels.
And as regular airline travelers will be the first to point out, this is quite a big deal.
All kidding aside, this is an achievement worth noting. Airlines have managed to overcome time-sucking hurdles such as increased security due to terrorism and the resulting War on Terror, as well as a tough economy that punished the entire travel industry, especially in 2008.
Moreover, as U.S. flights invariably affect schedules the world over, there has been an undeniable trickle down effect. If your Transatlantic flight stays on schedule, you are probably going to make that Rotterdam to Munich connection as well.
However—and as we’ve covered security issues ad nauseam, we’ll skip them for now—there have been a few new lows for both the traveler and the airline industry. Chief among these, you have the brilliant or abysmal pay-for-luggage idea, depending on who is doing the talking. No, there is no doubt that a number of profit-challenged airlines have made the most of charging for “extra” luggage and carry-ons—and this one does not look like it is going away anytime soon—but to say the public is irritated hardly does the subject justice.
The move which has angered so many travelers is a sticky one. Traditionally, long-haul flights meant two pieces of luggage were allowed, plus carry-ons. At the turn of the year some airlines reduced this to one piece plus one carry-on and that’s it.
This gets even stickier as it only takes one airline to implement the rule for the rule to stick on a multi-carrier flight. And in this case, the consumer may be in for “luggage shock” when he hits the airport. Why? Because a traveler may check with airline “X” before a long-haul flight to Munich and learn that two pieces of hard luggage are allowed. Unfortunately, at the gate he may well be confronted with a fee because—in the world of airline route partnerships—airline “X” on that day may in reality be a partnership with airline “X” to London, then airline “Y” and airline “Z” to Brussels and finally Munich.
If any such airline has a one-piece rule (which means an extra fee for extra luggage) the consumer may get hit.
Likewise, a European traveler who wished to remain anonymous told World Traveler.Biz of yet another aggravating incident. Two pieces of luggage went from Poland to the U.S. with no problem. But he was forced to pay for luggage at the gate upon his return, as it suddenly fell within the one-piece rule.
Speaking from experience, that kind of situation is awful. Travelers may be tired, anxious, excited or a combination of all three. Suddenly they are confronted with either an airline representative or even security personnel who say (and this often feels quite arbitrary indeed) that they either must pay extra money, check a carry-on such as a musical instrument through (always a risky endeavor) or simply leave your extra luggage behind. But where? Airport garage sales are not quite the in thing, so frustration and intense stress in such a scenario is a given.
So are the airlines right or wrong in the one-piece luggage rule? Obviously, these are private companies—buying a ticket on any airline means that you must play by their rules, so they are de facto absolutely right. Times are hard and they need to save (or make) money on extra baggage. Tough cookies.
However, the past year has not been kind to the reputation of airlines or the industry. First, the Halifax Band Sons of Maxwell made United Airlines famous in a brilliant Youtube campaign for breaking singer Dave Carroll’s USD 3,500 Taylor acoustic. Not only did the song strike a chord with just about every musician who has ever flown with his instrument, it was a catchy tune that actually garnered millions of Youtube hits to the shock of the entire industry.
Next came stories of pilot fatigue, beginning with the dismissal of two Go! pilots for falling asleep and overflying their airport destination in Hawaii and culminating recently with a CBS4 I-Team investigation that revealed that the crash of a Colgan Airlines flight into Buffalo-Niagra International Airport was the result of lack of experience, ice on the wings and pilot fatigue.
Worse, the report claimed that over the past five years, there were at least 689 pilot fatigue “incidents” over five years, which resulted in a “safety concern or an actual crash.”
Scary stuff. Add to this Southwest Airlines recent PR bungle with director Kevin Smith, who took on the airline for its “too-fat-to-fly-in-one-seat” policy that eventually got him kicked off a flight, and well, things could be better.
The end result is that airlines are not longer sexy, but instead unfair, uncaring, miserly and unfeeling. This is especially true with the extra luggage fees. In short, paying extra for too much luggage was a given. Paying extra for extra carry-ons also made sense. But reducing the number of bags (and suddenly enforcing the one-small-carry-on rule) has only reinforced the negative opinion that to some extent already existed.
Add to this extra security rules enforced by the U.S. Transportation Department and travel by air becomes less an exciting, fun part of the trip than a headache and even a worry.
This is sad. Travel in the modern age should not be about creating stress. And it certainly should not be about leaving valuable belongings behind—or trying to hock them in the airport parking lot.
Yet perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel. An improved economy will mean better revenue streams and more relaxed rules with some carriers. Other carriers are likely to market “more-luggage-for-your-ticket” policies to try to beat the competition (and there are rumors that such policies are currently being considered by at least two of the big players). In the meantime, no airline wants to follow the United guitar debacle, so musicians at least are going to be treated with kid gloves by any and all sane and logical airline staff.
But for now, it is probably time to play it safe. Even on long haul trips, the best advice is simply to travel light. Stick to one suitcase and one small carry-on. In the end you may find that the travel-light mode is addictive, simply because you will not feel so encumbered upon arrival. And look on the bright side: the airlines have taken their hits, and now they are trying that much harder. You may not have much luggage, but at least it is more likely to get to your destination. Delays are bound to happen, but at least they are happening less and less.
And there is also the simple truth that if you book that dream trip to Hawaii or the Maldives, airline woes will fade to nothing upon arrival—and when it comes down to it, suntan oil, sandals and a swimsuit will probably be all you really need.
By Preston Smith
This blogger may be contacted directly at preston.smith@psiloc.com.
