Everybody knows that the airline industry is an abomination of American enterprise. It is laughable when the airline representatives say that safety is their concern because they treat people like cattle. Evidence of cattle herding by the industry can be seen anytime you look into the coach section of a jumbo jet. The philosophy is cram as much cargo; people, into the plane and move it from place to place. If the industry was concerned with the people than the ability of the coach passenger to straighten their legs would be a priority because that would prevent deaths by deep vein thrombosis. In the USA approximately 1 million people suffer DVT with 100,000 annually dying from it post flying (Lancet Sept 8, page 838; 2001). That is more people who die annually in the USA from hemorrhagic stroke, but the airlines call it a rare event. All they would need to do is supply passengers with leg room and plenty of water and soft drinks. Instead they provide less leg room and are charging for everything they can including soft drinks.

If 100,000 deaths annually was not enough what about the economic costs of an airline industry? It seems to have forgotten that flying is a service industry. Well, as a scientist I need to travel to communicate with collaborators and researchers to be able to do the work that I do. University and federal regulations require that I try to find the cheapest way to travel, can only travel coach, any frequent flyer miles accrued with my work can only be used for work and minimize the nights away for travel. I was planning to do a day trip to have a couple hours of face to face meetings with some colleagues a few hundred miles away. The airlines have discontinued the earliest and latest flights that they used to fly and made it impossible to do a one day trip. Then we had to schedule an overnight and this caused the costs of the trip to increase. The increase was not only because of the hotel accommodations needed, but the costs of the flight increased.

When traveling on business I try very hard to not check bags. This is because the airlines are notorious at losing bags. The funny thing is that when they lose passengers’ bags they refer to those bags as, “unclaimed.” Who has gone flying and did not try to claim a bag they checked? Those bags should not be referred to as “unclaimed” because that implies that someone did not try to claim the bag. They should be called, “Stupid and Incompetent Airline Lost Bags.” So now the airline sells those bags and pockets the profits. The airlines lose 7000 items DAILY and sell those items (http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com). So they are actually incentivized to lose your bag. They just don’t care and are rewarded for that lack of caring. What other industry is rewarded for incompetence? Someone, if you have an answer, please tell me.

Part of the problem with air travel now is that the rules are changing faster than anyone can keep up with and no effort to phase in changes. There is also a capricious level of inconsistencies on all fronts against the flying public. For example I had 6 flights in one week and had a carry-on bag and my computer bag with me. on the first four flights I carried these on with no problem. But on the fifth flight I was told only “one bag.” While the sign that was less than two feet from the woman telling me this read one bag with the exception of a personal bag, purse or computer bag. Remember, I had a personal bag and computer bag. I did not argue for fear of missing my flight. I checked one bag with numb resignation that I had no choice as cattle going to slaughter. I kept my computer bag – of course. On the plane I saw several people with two bags that matched or were larger than what I had checked. Still there is and was no recourse. Once on the flight we were delayed for 30 minutes because of traffic at the destination, when I had a 55 minute layover between flights. On the flight the stewards insisted that all electronic devices be turned off 22 minutes before landing. This is frustrating because I use my computer for work and this cuts into the time I would use for important blog writing as well as science writing. The 22 minutes of electronic silence does not improve navigation, so I’m at a loss as to why this is needed on a 1 hr and 10 minute flight.

By the way, when the plane landed we were forced to wait for 10 minutes again on the tarmac because of congestion at the terminal. We disembarked with less than 15 minutes to catch the next flight and of course, I was at the back of the plane and one of the last people off the flight. Believe it or not, the congestion at the airport had delayed the next flight from pulling away from the gate and even though boarding had closed I made the connection. Maybe it was a blessing that I was not carrying that extra bag because it might have slowed my jog between terminals.

I fly about once per month in the USA and annually one international flight and have done so for about 20 years. Twenty years ago, flying was comfortable and somewhat luxurious. Now flying sucks. It is stressing the law abiding citizen and killing business. People say that these “changes” are for our safety. If you believe that talk to the passengers who have been stuck on a plane on the tarmac for 6 hours. How is that safe? If you want safety it is achievable through fair and balanced approaches that need not drive honest paying customers away.

My threshold for driving versus flying used to be a 4 hour drive. That threshold is now up to 6 hours and I will be refusing trips because it is not productive and the stress of the demeaning experience does nothing for my work productivity. I’ve got access to skype and several virtual communication options, which will be my preference over flying.

The bottom line for me is that flying is getting too expensive, too time consuming and all and all an abysmal experience. I try to drive if I can, and do virtual meetings when possible. I also combine trips when I have to travel but I do whatever I can to avoid flying.