$9 Cheap Seats on JetAmerica and other cattle car stories ...

[MrsPickle]

When I was a kid, ALL the gentlemen wore coats/ties/hats and the ladies wore dresses ... flying was a BIG deal. It was special ....

One of my airlines would do a Chateaubriand dinner (carved at your row/seat) w/potatoes & vegetables and wine that rivaled the fare at many fine restaurants -- seriously.

All the while seated in your fresh-from-Argentina leather seats ....

Skip forward to 2008... The seat next to mine was broken, and they wanted to move my son to another seat, 5 rows away! He was 18 months old at the time. Then, they wouldn't even give me a bottle of water for his sippy cup, when we were sitting on the tarmac for 3+ hours. He was even being good! No screaming, no tantrums... well, until they turned off the a/c and it was about 90 degrees in the cabin.

I'd even dress up (and I never dress up) to fly, if we could get real service on airlines these days... :icon_rage

 

[Rubiks06]

Who cares about service. They know you need to fly whether they are nice to you or not. They have to save money where they can, so they cut customer service. It wont be long until we are just strapped down like cargo.

 

[LazersGoPEWPEW]

Blame deregulation. That's what I think happened to the airlines.

I feel a little rude for saying it but people expect way too much for what they pay nowadays. Fares are substantially cheaper than they were in the "good ole days" when you adjust for inflation.

 

[A4sForever]

Who cares about service....They have to save money where they can, so they cut customer service.

Yeah, but see ... that's what's WRONG w/ the American business model today .... there's no customer service. The 'dissing' of America continues .... and if there's any customer service at all, it's the exception, rather than the rule ....

I ALWAYS treated my 'customers' (pax) as if 'the customer is ALWAYS right' ... unless they were tryin' to crash the airplane, and then I'd nuke 'em ... hell, I'd even pick up scrap paper in the jetway (and I was the Captain) when manning up and toss it in the garbage ... just to set the example for the rest of my crew and to 'improve the look and experience' for the pax who would be following me shortly ... because I thought the pax should have a positive experience on MY aircraft.

The customers DESERVE customer service, they're paying for it ... and if you 'do it', they'll come back again and again ... and w/ smiles on their faces ...

It's similar to what I learned my first week in the Navy:

Take care of your "men" (or 'customers' in airline parlance) and they'll take care of YOU ...

It's ALWAYS true ... it's ALWAYS been true ...

Believe it.

 

[HuggyU2]

... The seat next to mine was broken, and they wanted to move my son to another seat, 5 rows away! He was 18 months old at the time.

Reminds me of a story. A few years back, my daughter was about 5, and she, me, and my wife all got different seats. My wife asked the guy sitting next to my 5 year old if he would change seats with her. He wasn't interested. My wife paused, then said to my daughter "Honey, if you need anything during the flight, just ask this man to help you."
You could see the shock on his face, and he suddenly agreed to switch.

 

[insanebikerboy]

It wont be long until we are just strapped down like cargo.

Ever priced shipping a couple hundred pounds of cargo same-day air delivery coast to coast? I'll gladly take my less than perfect service for the cheap price I pay for a seat. Beats driving 3-4 days to get there.

 

[FrankTheTank]

It wont be long until we are just strapped down like cargo.

Can't be too bad... I have seen chickens and horses. So looked up a few animals: Whales, Penguins, Dolphins, Bears and Eagles.

http://citizenshipblog.fedex.designcdt.com/animalrescues

The irony is, I bet, they smell better than the fat slob cramming his/her fat ass into the seat of an RJ!

I remember a deahead out west, middle of the winter, snow on the ground (yes, it happens on occasion in Graceland) and the fat dude next to me was wearing shorts and T-shirt sweating profusely! Meanwhile I thought I might freeze and catch hypothermia. The attendent was "Sir, you really should have gotten 2 seats" and he is "No, I can fit just fine" Makes me throw up in my mouth just recalling that day!

 

[A4sForever]

Can't be too bad... I have seen chickens and horses.....The irony is, I bet, they smell better than the fat slob cramming his/her fat ass into the seat of an RJ!....

"Can't be ... "??? Don't bet your next paycheck on it ...

Have you ever had to scream: "SHUT the FUCK UP"!!! to a caged flock of 100's of parakeets lookin' at you & chattering so loudly you couldn't hear each other in the cockpit (727 freighter) ... ??? And so they shut up ... ??? And then start back up in @ 2-3 minutes ... and you repeat the procedure as necessary for 3+ hours ... ???

Have you ever had chimps throwing 'dirt' @ a jewel courier they didn't like who was pleading to get into the cockpit -- and you wouldn't let him ... ???

Have you ever had a load of bull semen in the cockpit that 'shot' all the way to South America ... ???

Have you ever had a champion race horse going all the way to Taiwan and getting better personalized treatment & food enroute than the flight crew, i.e., YOU ... ???

Have you ever seen what 175 pregnant ladies (of the bovine variety) can do to a 747 freighter???

Have you ever smelled them .... ??? From 200' away from the aircraft ... ???

Have you ever seen the greenish-brown 'sludge' ooooooozing around on the cargo deck as you man-up ... ???

Have you ever had the fire warning system go off as you start down for Tokyo 'cause the urine-scented cloud above them condenses as the temp/pressure changes ... ???

Have you ever had to 'push' one of them by her 'south end' back into her pallet w/ a broom handle @ 37,000' w/ a couple of cowboys asking YOU how to do it ... ???

Ever had one of those ladies 'fall in love' w/ you during the flight ... ???


..... I have ....