The airline experience has become miserable

[Warhead36]

22 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

 

💯

 

Global entry was fantastic when we went to Venice/Rome pre pandemic. Avoided hour++ wait in Chicago on the way home. Global also comes with TSA precheck and use it all the time now when we fly. 

 

The only downside to global is that you have to do an interview (with TSA at a major airport usually) and it can take awhile to get them scheduled, depending on your location. 

Yeah I got Precheck because I couldn't find an interview opening for GE. My Capital One Venture X covered it.

[purbeast]

Southwest is now offering direct flights from BWI to Grand Cayman.  

 

Woohoo!

 

Think I'm booked on the first one out too lol.  

Edited September 22, 2022 by purbeast

[TheGreatBuzz]

Getting on a Southwest flight to BWI tonight.  God help me.

[purbeast]

BWI is one of the easiest airports IMO.  

 

And Southwest is probably my favorite domestic airline.

[Fergasun]

Flying this week... no problems (excepts my not so great seat).  Plane has a powerjack... plug in charger .. put on headphones... relax. 

 

Helps that we are out of the heavy family travel season.

[Cooked Crack]

 

[TradeTheBeal!]

O’Hare was surprisingly smooth this afternoon.

[China]

 

[balki1867]

 

(They’re clearly on an Amtrak train in the second pic)

[China]

Do you recline your seat during flights? These are the 'rudest' airplane behaviors.

 

Air travel is increasingly becoming a place for misconduct and poor behavior.

 

An American Airlines passenger is facing federal charges for physically assaulting a flight attendant on a flight last week from San José del Cabo, Mexico, to Los Angeles. The unruly passenger was caught on video running up behind the flight attendant before punching them in the back of the head. American Airlines said "acts of violence against our team members are not tolerated" and banned the assaulter from ever flying with the airline again. 

 

In the past year, there have been 1,973 reports of unruly passengers and 680 investigations, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Just two years ago, in 2020, there were 183. 

 

This incident is hardly isolated. 

 

"Flight Attendants are signing up for crew member self-defense training at rates higher than after 9/11," Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, told USA TODAY. "The frequency of disruptive and violent passengers is still way higher than pre-pandemic, and there’s a lot of work to do to stop or mitigate these incidents on planes."

 

Read below to learn more about the worst airplane behaviors: 

 

• Fully reclining your seat
• Removing your shoes
• Using overhead bins toward the front of a plane
   

Click on the link for the full article

 

BTW, I think the comparison to 2020 is misleading as there were a lot fewer flights due to the pandemic in 2020.  What about 2019?  (I looked it up and globally there were less than 50% the number of flights in 2020 than in 2019).

[Skinsfan1311]

On 9/22/2022 at 3:51 PM, purbeast said:

BWI is one of the easiest airports IMO.  

 

And Southwest is probably my favorite domestic airline.

Agreed and I feel the same.

Admittedly, I'm a little biased as BWI is our home airport and we live 10 minutes away.  

People **** about the SW "cattle car" boarding process, but we've never had an issue with it.  If we travelled with kids, (that ship has sailed😄), it might be a different story.  You'd almost have to pay that criminal "Early Bird" fee.   

Lately, though, they've hosed up a few of our flights, the most egregious was changing our non-stops out of Vegas to 1-stops and later flight times.  What should've been a  4 1/2 hour flight home, to an 8 1/2 hour cluster-****. Their Wi-Fi blows donkey balls, (at least it has on our last couple flights)  The other issues were delays, but not obscene.   They did issue us each $150.00 credits for the Vegas debacle, so at least they tried to make it good.

My favorite airline, (since Air Jamaica went belly-up), is British Airways.  

[Skinsfan1311]

11 hours ago, China said:

Do you recline your seat during flights? These are the 'rudest' airplane behaviors.

 

Air travel is increasingly becoming a place for misconduct and poor behavior.

 

An American Airlines passenger is facing federal charges for physically assaulting a flight attendant on a flight last week from San José del Cabo, Mexico, to Los Angeles. The unruly passenger was caught on video running up behind the flight attendant before punching them in the back of the head. American Airlines said "acts of violence against our team members are not tolerated" and banned the assaulter from ever flying with the airline again. 

 

In the past year, there have been 1,973 reports of unruly passengers and 680 investigations, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Just two years ago, in 2020, there were 183. 

 

This incident is hardly isolated. 

 

"Flight Attendants are signing up for crew member self-defense training at rates higher than after 9/11," Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, told USA TODAY. "The frequency of disruptive and violent passengers is still way higher than pre-pandemic, and there’s a lot of work to do to stop or mitigate these incidents on planes."

 

Read below to learn more about the worst airplane behaviors: 

 

• Fully reclining your seat
• Removing your shoes
• Using overhead bins toward the front of a plane
   

Click on the link for the full article

 

BTW, I think the comparison to 2020 is misleading as there were a lot fewer flights due to the pandemic in 2020.  What about 2019?  (I looked it up and globally there were less than 50% the number of flights in 2020 than in 2019).

I somewhat disagree with #1.    I rarely recline for shorter flights, but I read the room. If a child, or someone smaller in stature is behind me, I might do so.  If a big/tall person is behind me, I won't recline.  Our youngest son is 6'7" so I can sympathize with tall folks.   Not everyone can afford to pay seats with extra leg-room, so I get it.

 

I agree, wholeheartedly, with #'s 2 & 3, especially the feet.   If you have clean socks, maybe, but I still think that they should remain shod.   Those pics of people sticking their bare feet in between the seat and window, or in between seats, is the thing of nightmares for me. It's never happened to me, so the jury is still out on how I'd react.  Probably ask nicely, then start spilling stuff on the offenders piggies.

 

As for overhead bins, that seems like a  douche move, but seldom comes into play, (in my experience anyway), because the passengers in the front of the plane have already been seated and their stuff is already in the bins.   The douche part is when someone sticks their bags in the first available bin, then proceeds to the back of the plane where theirs ample space for their bags.  They're not getting off the plane any faster.  

[purbeast]

18 minutes ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

Agreed and I feel the same.

Admittedly, I'm a little biased as BWI is our home airport and we live 10 minutes away.  

People **** about the SW "cattle car" boarding process, but we've never had an issue with it.  If we travelled with kids, (that ship has sailed😄), it might be a different story.  You'd almost have to pay that criminal "Early Bird" fee.   

Lately, though, they've hosed up a few of our flights, the most egregious was changing our non-stops out of Vegas to 1-stops and later flight times.  What should've been a  4 1/2 hour flight home, to an 8 1/2 hour cluster-****. Their Wi-Fi blows donkey balls, (at least it has on our last couple flights)  The other issues were delays, but not obscene.   They did issue us each $150.00 credits for the Vegas debacle, so at least they tried to make it good.

My favorite airline, (since Air Jamaica went belly-up), is British Airways.  

I've traveled with kids and I can tell you, SW is fantastic, because if you have kids under 5, you can use family boarding which is between A and B.  We always just head straight to the back like 3-4 rows from the end, where it's empty at that time, and get a full row.

 

My second son was born in August during covid, and my second son turned 5 that March.

 

So basically we have 10 years of family boarding lol.  But now that my second son is over 2, we have to get a seat for him, so we'll need 4 seats instead of 3.

[CobraCommander]

My feet get so swollen on flight it hurts to keep my shoes on. I'm pretty good about wearing clean socks on the airplane. International flights have the little hospital socks to put on too, those help. I also don't stick my feet up in the air for people to smell or anything. I also try to only do it if everyone in my row is a family member.

 

I definitely don't put my over head bags in the front of the plane but I also use my young children as an excuse to get on the plane before our boarding group is called, sorry not sorry. 

 

The old seat reclining debate rages. The airlines have pitted people against each other by selling the space to both the person in front and behind. It's a conundrum that will never be solved. 

[TheGreatBuzz]

I recline me seat.  It is what it's designed to do.   I won't start a fight about it but I will finish one.

[The Evil Genius]

I don't care about reclined seats. I care about the mother****ers who can't stand up properly so they pull on the top of my seat rather than pushing on their own armrests to assist. **** them.

 

😆

 

They're the same ****ers who can't walk down the aisle without touching the top of every aisle chair in every row. 

Edited October 5, 2022 by The Evil Genius

[purbeast]

12 minutes ago, The Evil Genius said:

I don't care about reclined seats. I care about the mother****ers who can't stand up properly so they pull on the top of my seat rather than pushing on their own armrests to assist. **** them.

 

😆

 

They're the same ****ers who can't walk down the aisle without touching the top of every aisle chair in every row. 

Most Americans are too fat and/or out of shape to just use their core to stand up.

[The Evil Genius]

Just now, purbeast said:

Most Americans are too fat and/or out of shape to just use their core to stand up.

 

Maybe. I'm both and I sill can at 47. It's laziness imo.

[China]

Pilot sues Southwest after colleague exposes himself

 

A Southwest Airlines pilot is suing the company, her union and a former colleague who pleaded guilty last year to dead-bolting the ****pit door during a flight and stripping naked in front of her.

 

Christine Janning alleges that Southwest retaliated by grounding her after she reported Michael Haak to the company and the FBI, that it kept him employed despite an alleged history of sexual misconduct and that managers disparaged her in memos.

 

She also alleges that the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association conspired with the airline and refused to support her. She is suing Haak for sexual assault. He pleaded guilty last year to a federal misdemeanor charge of committing a lewd, indecent or obscene act and was sentenced to probation.

 

Haak’s attorney, Michael Salnick, said Wednesday that his client disrobed only after Janning encouraged him to, never did anything else and that there were no previous incidents. 

 

Southwest said it supported Janning and that it would “vigorously defend” itself against the lawsuit. The union did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Skinsfan1311]

On 10/5/2022 at 11:39 AM, purbeast said:

I've traveled with kids and I can tell you, SW is fantastic, because if you have kids under 5, you can use family boarding which is between A and B.  We always just head straight to the back like 3-4 rows from the end, where it's empty at that time, and get a full row.

 

My second son was born in August during covid, and my second son turned 5 that March.

 

So basically we have 10 years of family boarding lol.  But now that my second son is over 2, we have to get a seat for him, so we'll need 4 seats instead of 3.

Yeah...we used to do the same when our kids were young....and I agree.

[Dan T.]

12 hours ago, China said:

Pilot sues Southwest after colleague exposes himself

 

A Southwest Airlines pilot is suing the company, her union and a former colleague who pleaded guilty last year to dead-bolting the ****pit door during a flight and stripping naked in front of her.

 

Christine Janning alleges that Southwest retaliated by grounding her after she reported Michael Haak to the company and the FBI, that it kept him employed despite an alleged history of sexual misconduct and that managers disparaged her in memos.

 

She also alleges that the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association conspired with the airline and refused to support her. She is suing Haak for sexual assault. He pleaded guilty last year to a federal misdemeanor charge of committing a lewd, indecent or obscene act and was sentenced to probation.

 

Haak’s attorney, Michael Salnick, said Wednesday that his client disrobed only after Janning encouraged him to, never did anything else and that there were no previous incidents. 

 

Southwest said it supported Janning and that it would “vigorously defend” itself against the lawsuit. The union did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Here's a short clip of accused pilot Michael Haak:

 

 

[China]

 

[China]

Newark airport authorities remove snake from a plane

 

Although it sounds like a Hollywood plot, authorities didn't need help from "Snakes on a Plane" actor Samuel L. Jackson when an airline passenger found a snake underfoot after arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Police and operations employees met the plane at its gate early Monday afternoon "and removed the garden snake," the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told CNN. It said nobody was injured.

A passenger onboard told News 12 The Bronx, a CNN affiliate, that "passengers in business class started shrieking and pulling their feet up" while the flight was taxiing.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

[China]

British Airways Passenger Stripped Naked, Defecated On Floor of Plane, and Smeared Faeces Into Curtains While Running at Other Passengers

 

ABritish Airways passenger reportedly stripped from their waist down, defecated on the floor of a plane and then smeared themselves in their own faeces before charging at other passengers and wiping the excrement over the carpets and curtains in the cabin.

 

The horrifying incident allegedly occurred while passengers were still boarding a British Airways-operated Boeing 777-300 aircraft at London Heathrow Airport on the BA75 service bound for Lagos in Nigeria on the 7th of October.

 

British Airways has seemingly confirmed the nauseating episode, with a spokesperson saying that the airline had apologised to passengers after the flight was delayed so that a new plane could be found while the contaminated cabin was deep cleaned.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Looks like they want to make the seats as small as possible.  Now is your time to let the FAA know what you think:

 

Request for Comments in Minimum Seat Dimensions Necessary for Safety of Air Passengers (Emergency Evacuation)

 

The FAA will seek public comment on the minimum seat dimensions necessary for airline passenger safety.  The 90-day public comment period will open when the document is published in the Federal Register. Stay tuned to this page and our social media feeds for more information on when the comment period opens.

 

UPDATE: The document was published to the Federal Register and comment period opened on August 3, 2022. Written comments must be received on or before November 1, 2022.

 

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-07/Minimum-Seat-Dimensions-Request-for-Comments.pdf

 

Click on the link for the full article