Thanks Al. I don't know the extent of his background but he sure needs to do some more research before he writes for the public consumption. He did have some very valid points reference the poor public relations skills of the airline employees. There are some excellent employees working the front lines no matter what the circumstances, and then again there are absolute bastards and bitches even when the customer is nice and polite. If these folks were working in a department store, specialty store or restaurant they wouldn't last long treating paying customers that way. How they survive at an airline in a customer service position for a long career doesn't say much for the airline industry's personnel standards. Jose Prize In a message dated 4/26/2002 12:38:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time, exatc@neo.rr.com writes: > Subj:Re: improving air travel > Date:4/26/2002 12:38:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time > From:<A HREF="mailto:exatc@neo.rr.com";>exatc@neo.rr.com</A> > Reply-to:<A HREF="mailto:AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU";>AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU</A> > To:<A HREF="mailto:AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU";>AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU</A> > Sent from the Internet > > Joe, > Excellent comments. This is one time I don't think I care to comment on = > the articles' content. Has he ever visited or really researched = > anything at an airport/or in aviation? > Al > Al > ----- Original Message -----=20 > From: B787300@aol.com=20 > To: AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU=20 > Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 12:19 AM > Subject: Re: improving air travel > > > The author has some valid points but he's is dead wrong on a couple of = > items. > > The congestion that he mentions is caused by most of the airlines all = > trying > to fly at the same time instead of spreading out their flights more = > evenly > throughout the day. There are times at MIA when there isn't a vacant > international gate (because American has domestic flights on = > international > gates in order to make their hub work) and other times during the day = > when > virtually all the gates are empty long enough for numerous flights = > with > normal turnaround times. If that someone was Southwest you could = > probably > have 4 or 5 back to back turnarounds on one gate. Southwest averages > something like 10 to 12 turnaround flights per gate per day at FLL. = > Average > gate utilization at MIA is something like 3.something or 4.something = > flights > daily depending on the concourse. It's isn't the government's fault, = > or the > fault of airports, that virtually every airline schedules 1 to 5 hour > turnaround times on a gate. Someday, hopefully, some of these = > airlines will > absorb the Southwest line of thinking that their aircraft only make = > money > while flying, not while sitting on the ground hogging a valuable gate = > and > creating gate shortages for other aircraft that are arriving or need = > to > return for some reason. > > The writer's comment on airports not having enough space for lines of > passengers at ticket counters is inaccurate. Airlines usually decide = > how > many ticket counter positions they want when they lease from the = > airport and > then inadequately staff the counters to create long lines. I've stood = > in > line many times to buy a ticket and one of the first things I notice = > is that > the airline has 8 ticket counter positions and 3 people working, or 20 > positions and 10 people working. So what if there are 30 people in = > line and > some folks are going to miss their flights? Add ticket counter = > personnel? > That's too expensive! Some airlines lease more counter space than = > they need > to put the hurts on competitors who would like more space. > > The comment about the pilot apologizing and the writer's opinion that = > he must > have thought he would get in trouble for blaming the the airport or = > air > traffic control system is absurd. I've heard numerous reports of AA = > pilots > blaming "Dade County" on the aircraft intercom at MIA because they had = > to > hold for a gate, when in fact AA was given preferential usage of 47 = > gates > virtually all day long and they did their own gate planning that = > caused the > lack of gates. AA preferred to leave dead airplanes on gates and foul = > up the > works than have them towed off to a remote parking position. This is = > the > airport's fault? What BS.... > > The writer makes a statement that the lack of gates at government = > airports > prevents startup carriers from starting service. The US DOT monitors = > this > situation at commercial airports nationwide and I don't believe it to = > be a > major problem at most airports. It's not a problem at all if the = > startup > airline avoids peak existing operational times since scads of gates = > are > available then. In addition, more and more airports are taking back = > control > of their gates instead of leasing them to airline "x" for 20 years and > airline "y" for 30 years. Thanks to MIA airport director Dick Judy, = > who > could foresee the impacts of airline deregulation on airports, MIA = > started > controlling approximately 22 gates in 1977 and took total control of = > various > concourses over the years as the long-term airline leases expired. = > The > airport controlled all gates at MIA by 1991 when Eastern died and the = > airport > will control all gates in the future. MIA replaced all the = > airline-owned > jetbridges and airlines pay for their usage and concourse fees on a = > flight by > flight basis. This policy has allowed countless new airlines (most of = > the > deregulation startups and failures) to start service at MIA, usually = > whenever > the airline desired to operate. > > Jose Prize > Fan of the truth once in a while > > In a message dated 4/25/2002 3:28:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time, > exatc@neo.rr.com writes: > > > Subj:Re: improving air travel > > Date:4/25/2002 3:28:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time > > From:<A HREF="'3D">exatc@neo.rr.com</A> > > Reply-to:HREF=3D"mailto:AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU";> > AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU > > To:HREF=3D"mailto:AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU";>AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU > > Sent from the Internet > > > > I see another well informed individual voicing an opinion. Remember > > opinions are like ******** every one has one. > > > > At least folks who post here have an opportunity to voice their > > opinion/expertise and explain it. I love one way communications. > > > > This article gives the appearance that the authors experience goes = > as far > > as the "Admirals Club". Pardon AAL for use of your name. > > > > Al > > ----- Original Message -----=3D20 > > From: damiross@attbi.com=3D20 > > To: AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU=3D20 > > Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 11:27 AM > > Subject: improving air travel > > > > Improving air travel > > by Harry Browne > > Posted: April 25, 2002 > > 1:00 a.m. Eastern > > > > =3DA9 2002 WorldNetDaily.com > > > > Pity the poor airlines. > > > > That's right - I said pity the poor airlines. > > > > Yes, those airlines that try to bump you from flights, that keep = > you > > sitting in the plane on a runway for an hour, that take so long = > getting > > your bags to you, that > > have the long lines at the ticket counters. Those airlines. > > > > I'd estimate that about 75 percent of the problems we blame on = > airlines are > > caused either by government-owned airports or by the federal Air = > Traffic > > Controller system. > > > > Prior to Sept. 11, the airlines kept offering cheaper and cheaper = > fares, > > the demand for air travel kept increasing and increasing, the = > airlines' > > inventory of planes and employees kept growing and growing, while = > the > > airports and air traffic control system became more and more out of = > date. > > > > The government-owned airports are always so far behind the curve = > that > > there's never enough room at the ticket counters to process = > passenger > > volume quickly, never an efficient baggage system, never enough = > gates > > available to handle all the planes. > > > > And those flight delays? When they're not caused by the weather, = > they > > almost always are caused by a federal traffic control system that = > operates > > with ancient > > computers and typical bureaucratic inefficiency. > > > Taking the blame > But who gets blamed for all these problems? > > > > The airlines, of course. > > > > Two years ago my wife and I boarded a plane at LaGuardia Airport to = > go to > > Atlanta. The plane left the gate on time, but we got no further than = > the > > runway. The control > > tower held the plane on the LaGuardia runway for four and a half = > hours. > > > > Why? Because the traffic control system was overloaded and planes = > were > > backed up arriving at Atlanta airport. > > > So why didn't the plane simply go back to the gate and> let us = > wait inside > > the airport? Because there were no available gates at the overloaded > > airport. > > > > The pilot was on the Intercom apologizing profusely for the delay as = > though > > it were the airline's fault. It was almost as though he thought he'd = > be > > punished if he said > > anything bad about the airports or the air traffic control system. > > > > And the airline paid for an Atlanta hotel room for the night = > (because we > > missed our connection to California), even though the airline wasn't > > responsible. > > > > Making a bad situation worse > > Since the sad state of air travel today is primarily the> fault of > > governments, the Ralph Nader types have a solution - more = > government. > > > > They want a "Passenger Bill of Rights" with such intelligent = > provisions as > > making an airline pay a passenger 200 percent of the ticket price = > when a > > flight is more than two hours late. Presumably, that will "send a = > message" > > to the airlines that they should make government more efficient. > > > > Public relations > > > > The biggest failing of the airlines themselves is probably poor = > training in > > public relations. > > > > Not only do their employees too often apologize for problems that = > aren't > > their fault, the employees don't show empathy when it really is = > called for. > > They apologize inappropriately in a collective way, but they too = > seldom > > apologize in a personal way. When you wait forever in line at the = > ticket > > counter, rarely does the ticket agent say, "I'm sorry you had to = > wait so > > long." When you can't get the seat selection you ask for, you don't = > hear, > > "I'm sorry we can't accommodate > > you." When your baggage is lost or late getting rerouted back to = > you, no > > one says, "I'm sorry you've had to put up with this." > > > > An airline employee needs to learn only two simple lessons: 1) No = > one likes > > to be inconvenienced, and 2) when inconvenienced, anyone will feel a = > lot > > better if > > you just show a little sympathy. It amazes me that, in such a = > "people" > > business, I'm not aware of any airline whose ground personnel are > > noticeably well-trained in > > public relations. (Southwest is probably the best I've seen, and the > > telephone reservation clerks for most airlines seem very = > well-trained.) > > > > I said 75 percent of the air-travel problems are really government > > problems. Probably most of the other 25 percent would be reduced > > considerably if new competitors could come into the market and = > pressure > > existing airlines to improve their public-relations skills. But a = > lack of > > gates at the government airports makes it > > virtually impossible for a new airline to get started. > > Solving the problems > > > > It would take a separate article to explore all the possible = > improvements, > > but two general remedies are obvious: > > > > Cities and counties should sell their airports to private companies = > and > > make it easier for competing airports to open within each city. > > > > The federal government should get completely out of air traffic = > control. > > Let the airlines operate the system, modernize it, and make it = > efficient. > > Let's make air travel fun again. > > > > Harry Browne is the director of public policy at the American = > Liberty > > Foundation. You can read more of his articles and find out about his > > network radio show at > > HarryBrowne.org. > > >