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Galley Gossip: What is RIGHT with the airlines? (There's got to be something!)
When I was growing up, my parents taught me that traveling by airplane was a luxury, not a right, and it was a luxury I would not experience until I was 16 years old when I flew to Los Angeles, California with a high school friend (and her mother) on American Airlines for an exciting weekend getaway. I'll never forget that flight. Then, at 17, I flew to Santa Clara, California, to visit a boyfriend in college on Southwest Airlines. I'll never forget that flight, either. I couldn't even believe I was on it. Back then just being on the flight itself was an exciting experience, never mind the drinks and the food and the service, which I don't even remember. But I'm sure a can of coke and a bag of peanuts were involved.
What I remember most about those two flights was the awe of flying, of looking out the window at the tiny houses below as we climbed up, up, up, until the incredible view became obstructed by something even more magnificent, billowing clouds.
A few years ago I actually met a flight attendant whose very first trip by airplane was to airline headquarters for an interview for the airline he works for now. That flight took place at age of 21. Today, things have changed drastically in the aviation business, and not for the better, if you ask a passenger. Yet the flights are all full, and with more and more children traveling these days. That, alone, makes me wonder, has travel really gotten so bad? Or are our expectations skewed?
"I never got to travel," said my mother, a flight attendant, who started working for a major US carrier in 1997, three afters I had my wings pinned to my blue lapel. "My first flight was with your father to Hawaii, when I was 21, because your father got stationed there in the navy. I got to go home to Texas once - in three years. And because your father spent most of his time at sea, I spent many holidays alone. That's just the way it was. We couldn't afford to travel."
Now that I'm a flight attendant and have the opportunity to fly for free (in coach), I usually take along my two-year son, who has traveled once a month, at least, since he was born. I always get a kick out of watching him leaning against the window, tapping on the glass, as we fly in and out of the clouds, causing him to exclaim at the top of his lungs, "WOW!" I wonder if he'll grow up to appreciate the privilege of travel? I do hope that one day he realizes just how lucky he is. How lucky we all are to be able to get from point A to point B for just a few hundred dollars.
As someone who works for a major US carrier, someone who has to deal with the me me me first attitude of the flying public, passengers who expect something for nothing when fuel prices keep rising and ticket prices remain fairly low, I have to say, there's something wrong with THAT. There's something wrong when you can purchase a one way ticket from New York to Las Vegas for lower than a cab ride from New York's JFK international airport to Manhattan. NOT WHEN everyone and their mother (as well as the kids) are traveling on my flight.
Not that I mind that everyone and their mother (along with the kids) are aboard my flight, just the opposite, in fact. Especially when airlines are struggling to stay afloat, when airlines like Alitalia are on the verge of going out of business. However, it's not easy for me to listen to all the complaining about air travel, particularly about customer service. Seriously, I have hard time believing that flying is all that bad, no matter how much the airline charges per bag, how long the security lines, how small the seats, or how much it costs to purchase a sandwich, or how old the flight attendant. And why does the age of a flight attendant even matter? (This is the 2000's, is it not?)
After reading letters from readers who responded to the question, What's wrong with American Airlines? on the Dallas Morning News website, I am forced to pose the question, what is RIGHT with the airlines? I mean whatever happened to the glass is half full mentality? It seems like these days all people want to do is complain, complain about everything, particularly when it comes to bashing airlines and flight attendants. Come on now, there has to be SOMETHING good about air travel, right? 
Filed under: Galley Gossip
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Dawn Sep 30th 2008 2:48PM
Being a relatively frequent both domestic and int'l flyer, I have overall been DELIGHTED with the service I have received in the past few years from airline employees. I realize that it might have something to do with the following:
1. I generally fly first or business class; only 1 in 5 trips are coach (but I'm treated just as well in coach).
2. I dress nicely, but comfortably, in well-fitting, matching, CLEAN clothing and shoes. I wear very little perfume on travel days.
3. I comply with ALL the rules; carry-on numbers and sizes, turning off my cell phone, listening to the safety 'session,' et al.
4. I politely greet the FA upon entering the cabin and do not expect assistance stowing my carry-ons or situating myself in my seat.
5. On long flights, I try to bring some boxed chocolates for the FAs in my cabin (but usually present them halfway through the flight).
It is vitally important to me that these folks are here to protect me in case of emergency, and that they're well-trained. I try not to overburden them with requests for anything out of the ordinary. I do NOT stand in the galley area for more than a few moments at a time, when necessary to wait for the lav or to stretch. I respect that this is their private work space, inasmuch as it can possibly be private.
Guess what? I get OUTSTANDING service. I appreciate the job everyone from the pilot to the janitor does to make my experience as safe and pleasant as possible, given the circumstances in which they're required to work.
Generally, I am able to find very reasonable fares, and I'm grateful. Generally, the planes are clean (though not so much as they were 10 years ago) and function properly. Yep, it's become more like bus service, but that's not the fault of the FAs or pilots. The passengers share some of that blame.
You get back what you give, and I'm happy that I'm able to travel!!!
Jamar Oct 9th 2008 8:25AM
Let's see- Thai has pretty much everything that US-based airlines used to have- great service, helpful FAs, good ground-based customer service, etc. So do most Asia-based airlines. Can't really say anything good about US-based airlines as they are now except for Southwest and Virgin America.
Chris Oct 16th 2008 10:04AM
Hi Heather,
I am sitting here drinking my coffee, checking emails and enjoying my day off. What a great surprise to run across this site for the first time. I have been a flight attendant for 4 1/2 years and can't imagine doing anything else. Thanks for all you do and say here.
Fly Safe!
Kevin Nov 24th 2008 7:42PM
What is right with the airlines? Many things.
1) The price. As others have pointed out, it's often cheaper than several years ago. Certainly hasn't risen commensurate with fuel prices... even if you include all the additional fees (though honestly, I'd rather just have the prices raised outright than pay this fee and that fee and the other fee...)
2) The view out the window. OK, so the airlines don't actually have much to do with this one, other than providing windows to look out of, but still. Without them, the only time I'd get to look down on the clouds would be in my dreams... which I rarely remember after I wake up.
3) The sense of adventure. The first time I flew, I was 10, with my mother. The second time I flew, I was less than a week older and alone. I've never quite lost that feeling of excitement... maybe because I only fly 2-3 times a year, max.
4) Take-offs and landings. Except for one time, when I fell asleep at one jetway and woke up at the other, I never fail to put my book away and watch the land recede or grow closer. That first flight, I said "Wow, those cars down there are so TINY!" My mother replied: "Those are houses." Again, never quite managed to lose that feeling. If I'm in the window seat, my eyes are basically glued to the window. If I'm in the middle, I'm constantly leaning forward or back depending on how the person in the middle moves. If I'm in the aisle, I feel like I have whiplash afterward from trying to look out BOTH sides of the plane... especially as we bank.
5) The FAs. Most of them are friendly, or at least that's my experience considering I rarely bother them beyond maybe an extra glass of ice to put in the bottle of water I brought with me. Yes, there are the occasional glares when I'm lugging my mother's second carry-on so it looks like I've got three, and I've had some outright rudeness at other times, but mostly they've at least PRETENDED not to want to throw any given passenger through the emergency exit at 40,000 feet... which is probably as much as you can ask of pretty much anybody on a long, crowded flight!
I do miss sitting on the aisle and leaning to the side and being able to see into the cockpit and even the little patch of blue through the front windows, but I'm hardly going to blame the airlines for taking THAT away. (I also miss being young enough that an FA would sometimes ask if I'd like to actually VISIT the cockpit and be given little plastic wings by the pilot, but I suppose they couldn't do that anymore regardless...)
Is flying my favorite way to travel? No (I have a certain fondness for trains), but it's right up there, even WITH the short connections and the delays and the sprinting across O'Hare (Out of curiosity, how come whenever I have a layover of 3 hours or more, I'm either at the same gate or the one next to it, but anything under 20 minutes is in another terminal?) and the getting wanded at Security (stupid belt buckle...) when I was running late already... Honestly, I'll take a few hours' flight to visit my family with a few annoyances over a few DAYS in the car with *several* annoyances pretty much any day of the week. At least until Security decides I need to be probed... *g*