pawlconsulting.com Blog » Airlines

Welcome Aboard

Administrator — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:15:57 +0000

The way passengers are loaded on an aircraft has always been a mystery to me despite having worked for airlines. For example, United Airlines boards passengers based on the window-seats-first principle. While this is effective and sounds logical it sometimes defies the very chaos it was designed to avoid. During business trips I prefer to be in an aisle seat. I also suffer from mild claustrophobia so if the aircraft is small or prone to be a packed route, I will sometimes opt for an aisle even on a long pleasure trip. Most business travelers prefer the aisle seats for a variety of reasons and this is where the trouble starts.

Passengers are instructed that one bag only may go above in the storage bins and if there is a second bag, it must go under the seat. This is repeated every two to three seconds over the public address system and yet most leisure travelers refuse to pay any attention to it and then claim they didn’t know when you frustratingly try to find space. The people seated in the window seats stuff the overhead bins to capacity so that by the time the aisle seats get on the aircraft there is no room whatsoever. This not only creates more chaos, but takes up valuable time as people jockey for space. The flight attendants do their best to remind people, but are unable to actually stop them from stuffing everything they own in the bins.

Other airlines board passengers based on the back to front system. This seems to be a little more effective with regards to getting people boarded quickly and making sure they do not take all of the space around them. This often works better than the window seat method, but I have been on flights that still end up having the forward bins full when some passengers decide they would rather put all their bags in the front so that they can just grab them on the way out rather than carry them down the length of the plane.

What this all amounts to is a lack of consideration. Have we truly become a society that just does not care about our fellow travelers? There is not much we can do to bring back the “joy” of flying anymore, but at least a little thoughtfulness would go far. Acts of random kindness are always appreciated.

Reprinted from my blog at a national travel magazine

Baby On Board

Administrator — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:00:12 +0000

I am really a pretty easy going air passenger. I don’t ask for much. I rarely bother my seatmates. I can handle sitting in coach and I don’t even moan when the person in front of me leans the seat back into my lap. I typically turn on my iPod, put my noise canceling headphones on and read a book or take a nap. However, I draw the line at children under two sitting on an adult’s lap anywhere in my vicinity.

Different authorities have voiced many opinions on this practice, but now I am going to throw in my two cents. First of all, what parent in their right mind thinks it is okay to hold an unbelted child on their lap while an aircraft takes off or lands? Let’s just look at the safety aspect to begin with. The adult is safely tucked in while the small child is free to become a projectile at the whim of turbulence, and this is assuming the adult is awake. If the adult has fallen asleep then it is anyone’s guess.

My second point is purely service oriented. It is bad enough that we sometimes get stuck in a seat that will not allow us to move in any direction and oftentimes leaves our bodies in a permanent sitting position long after arriving at our destination. However, the child under two is an added annoyance. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t dislike children, but I don’t like them sitting on my lap unless invited to do so either. I have a pet peeve with little ones falling asleep on me, kicking me, spilling their food on me, or worse yet, drooling on me in flight, and I fail to see the wisdom of an airline allowing parents with small children to inconvenience fellow passengers with this continued practice of flying free under two years of age as long as they are seated on an adult’s lap.

One time, while on the way to a one day business trip, I actually had a lap child spit up their mushy breakfast in my direction. While normally inappropriate in the best of circumstances, I was a little incensed at having to arrive at my meeting with the smell and stain of pureed peas on my suit. Another time, recently in fact, I attempted to get a few hours sleep on the way to New York from Los Angeles only to have the gentleman next to me allow his lap child to continuously hit me with various body parts as it restlessly tried to get comfortable across daddy’s lap. Despite being disturbed every five minutes I refrained from reminding “daddy” that the rule was the child stayed on his lap, not everyone elses. And just when I thought this was all bad enough, on my return trip from New York, I experienced another little jewel standing on her father’s lap while he slept in the seat in front of me. Not a big deal except she seemed to have some fascination with the contents inside her nose while leaning over the back of the chair in my direction.

So I ask readers, is it me or is this just an insane practice that has to stop? If I have to have a ticket to get on so should the child. If I have to sit in a seat, shouldn’t all children have to? Why is it okay for children under two to annoy and inconvenience paying passengers that are already annoyed at being crammed into a space the size of a dog carrier? And why for goodness sake do we, as a society, not have an issue with the reckless disregard for the child’s safety all in the name of saving a few bucks?

Reprinted from my blog at a national travel magazine

The Insanity Continues

Administrator — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:29:40 +0000

Okay, so it isn’t just airports in the U.S. that are insane. London’s “one bag” through security rule has got to go! Talk about a business disaster. How can a business person traveling abroad possibly contain everything down to one small bag for carry-on? Are we supposed to leave our laptops home? Does this REALLY make us more secure or is it just another kneejerk reaction to create a false sense of security?

Alright, enough about airports! How about more on airlines? American carriers must be kidding! How much more can they torture us in economy? Now, normally I am fortunate enough to fly business, but this time there just wasn’t any room so I toughed it out and flew economy from London to Los Angeles. The food was nauseating and I almost broke a tooth on the frozen sandwich. The 4-inch screen on the back of the seat was at least bigger than my iPod, but a little difficult to see at two inches from my face when the passenger in front of me reclined. Not a big deal, though, as my knees were already in excruciating pain from being jammed past my upper leg and into my hip bone. Watching a movie became less important.

So, I thought, okay, I’ll just try and get a little shut-eye. I can actually sleep standing up if necessary, which is good as I wasn’t far from that position. There was a little 6-year-old cherub sitting next to me and she had been a fairly pleasant little girl with a quick wit. Not exactly what I had expected, but quite enjoyable as it also gave me a bit more room. Luckily, 6-year-olds are still small in the world of airline seats and rarely require use of the common two-inch armrest. Ah, wait a minute! What would really help is an ice cold beer or a cocktail to lure me into dreamland and hopefully keep my neck from freezing in the awkward position I was about to put it in. Alas, they were coming by with the drink trolley! How perfect. WRONG! $5.00 for a beer on an international 11-hour flight? Are they joking? Apparently not! It seems that American carriers started charging for alcohol in economy about two years ago over transatlantic routes – a barbaric practice that has still not happened on ANY international carrier. It was the one thing I could look forward to on a miserable torturous experience.

So, the moral to the story is – I will have to fly through or from London over and over again and I will complain every time until they change that ridiculous rule. However, I will NOT be flying any American carrier on a transatlantic route unless I absolutely must–and until I calm down, I won’t even do it in Business or First.

Reprinted from my blog at a national travel magazine