Welcome aboard. Our flying time this afternoon, not counting ground delays and holding patterns, will be two hours and thirty minutes.
Before we take off, I would like to apologize on behalf of this and every airline for the hassle you just endured at the security checkpoint. As is patently obvious to any reasonable person, the humiliating shoe removals, liquids ban, and pointy-object confiscations do little to make us safer.
Unfortunately, the government insists that security theater, and not actual security, is in the nation's best interest. If it makes you feel any better, our crew had to endure the same screening as the passengers. Never mind that the baggage loaders, cleaners, caterers, and refuelers receive only occasional random screening. You can rest easy knowing that I do not have a pair of scissors or an oversize shampoo bottle anywhere in my carry-on luggage.
Just a moment.
Okay, well, as expected, we've received word of a ground stop. Our new estimated departure time is 90 minutes from now, subject to change arbitrarily, without warning.
And while we're waiting, let me explain that these sorts of delays (and it's not your imagination -- late arrivals and departures have doubled since 1995) result not only from our antiquated air traffic control system but also from too many planes flying into and out of overcrowded airports. Passengers demand frequency-you want lots of flights flying to lots of cities. But this can be self-defeating, because many of these flights will be late -- in some cases, very late. At airports near major cities like New York and Washington, D.C., the proliferation of small jets has added to the congestion. They make up nearly 50 percent of planes at some of our busiest airports yet carry only a fraction of overall passengers. This inefficient use of air and ground space is one reason we will be sitting here for the next hour and a half.
Once we're airborne, flight attendants will be coming around with food and beverages for sale. I know many of you are irritated that an in-flight meal now costs $7 -- on top of the $25 you just paid for an extra checked bag. Unfortunately, with oil prices skyrocketing and jets requiring as much fuel as ever (a coast-to-coast flight takes 8,000 gallons), it's impossible for us to provide luxurious service and rock-bottom fares at the same time.
We know that most of you are miserable and that you long ago learned to despise every aspect of air travel. But try, if you can, not to take your frustrations out on other passengers or the crew. The overall surly vibe is unpleasant for us too. And ridiculous as this might sound, look on the bright side.
Yes, there is a bright side: more choices and surprisingly reasonable fares. Domestically, you can now fly between almost any two airports in the country with, at worst, a single stopover. Internationally, transoceanic routes have fragmented, allowing people to fly direct from smaller hubs in the United States to points in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere. Nobody enjoys holding patterns or sitting on a tarmac, but in earlier days, the overall journey would have taken longer-and cost more.
It's true that fares have risen sharply of late, but if they seem especially pricey, that's partly because they remained so cheap for so long, with many carriers selling tickets below cost. Fares in 2006 were averaging 12 percent lower than in 2000, despite a 150 percent rise in jet-fuel costs.
Current fares cost about what they did in the 1980s. And let's not forget that flying is much safer than it was in the past. Globally, there are twice as many planes carrying twice as many people as there were a quarter century ago. Although the raw total of crashes has risen, accidents are way down as a percentage of total flights.
I am well aware that airlines have become pariahs of the postindustrial economy. But it's rarely acknowledged that despite recurrent fiscal crises, major staffing and technology problems, and constant criticism from the public, our carriers have managed to maintain a mostly reliable, affordable, and safe transportation system.
Hang in there, and our crew will let you know if and when our plane might actually take off. In the meantime, those $7 sandwiches are actually pretty good.
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Airline Pilot Speaks Out On Flight Delays
Pilot Patrick Smith explains why the airline industry is on overload.
By Patrick Smith
From Reader's Digest
Well, what a wonderful feel good fluff piece. But, the author forgot to mention one detail when stating that airline prices are "low". Namely that they aren't. Every airline is subsidized, heavily, with taxpayer dollars. So, what he should have perhaps said was... "Even if you aren't flying... you're paying to."
tsatony... what ever Speaking as a fellow TSA employee... you and I BOTH KNOW that there is no change in security...
TSATONY, it *should* sadden you that we are more concerned with the appearance of safety than we are with actual safety. Great article!
I was sad to read your comments /insults about the TSA. I have been an employee since the first anniversary of 9/11 and have worked with some of the most intelligent, diverse and patriotic individuals in the nation. I might have smiled at you as you walked through Logan Airport or assisted you to the front of the line as flight crews are allowed to proceed (as a courtesy). they way to solve problems is to work together with others not rip them apart.
I thought the entire series was well done. It isn't like RD is an investigative journal or anything so the complaints aren't warranted. I think the info about CAPBOR is what is setting people off. I hope that one day soon a bill of rights for passengers comes to fruition. I also hope that one day it is made illegal for airlines to oversell their flights, selling seats they don't have and selling the same seats more than once. It will go a long way in preventing delays as well.
Well, it seems RD is so busy that they will take the word of one disgruntled airline pilot about the cause of air traffic congestion. If you will check www.aopa.com you will find actual and accurate statistics on this subject, not some jerk's exaggerations. Much of the private jet traffic has been generated by the unreliable operation of airlines. The users of the private jets need to be at meetings, etc. on a reliable schedule; using their own transport is the only way to insure they make it.
I thought Reader's Digest checked the facts before publishing a story. Patrick Smith must be receiving a bonus from his airline to smear General Aviation. Delays are the airlines fault only and the airlines are trying to get their fees paid by others. GA pilots like us have always landed at small or "reliver" airports to avoid the "big boys". Shame on Mr. Smith.
General aviation, anything other than airline or military flights, is often cited as a cause for airliner delays. This very seldom happens. The National Airspace System was put in place to enhance airline safety but general aviation has to live with it. I have been delayed many times by airline traffic, or required to fly miles out of my way, but never caused an airliner the same problem. I am a professional pilot with 33,000 hours logged in over 40 years of flying.
It is egregious, outrageous, incompetent journalism that attempts to blame small jets, aka GA ("General Aviation), for airport congestion. Hey RD, why not report on multiple recent congressional hearings directed specifically at understanding the basis of commercial carrier's miserable timeliness records? GA has very little to do with it. The carriers themselves are the single most controllable cause, as the AOPA reporting notes.
"At a hearing on New York airspace congestion, nobody pointed a finger at general aviation as a cause for airline delays. Even the airline’s chief lobbyist, who in the past has sounded off about restricting general aviation flights around New York, didn’t blame GA when he had to testify before the House aviation subcommittee on June 18. The fault, according to the witnesses, lies with a lack of ground capacity, airline scheduling practices, and ultimately with the FAA." -AOPA online
¨At airports near major cities like New York and Washington, D.C., the proliferation of small jets has added to the congestion. They make up nearly 50 percent of planes at some of our busiest airports yet carry only a fraction of overall passengers¨ 1000% WRONG. Small jets at best make up 4-5% of traffic at the nation´s busiest airports. Please check your FACTs before re-writing talking points from the Airline Transportation Association.
I think I would word it differently.... Yes, security theater is a great way to put it. Typically we go through more, certainly in frequency than the passengers. But I would also add that while you (the passenger) are getting charged for your extra bag, you drink, etc., and I'm taking a pay cut and people are being furloughed -- don't forget that hard working CEO that took the 4.8 million dollar bonus because of the great job he did running the airline... right into the ground.