Airline Travel ... From B A D to W O R S E

The worst in a long line of bad customer service experiences lands me in another area of the travel industry -- the airport. It is hard to believe that people once looked upon air travel as a luxury, that young girls coveted the lifestyles of stewardesses, and people dressed up to travel. Today, I contemplate wearing even one extra piece of clothing that isn't an absolute necessity. Tennis shoes, albeit comfortable for long days running between departure gates, are sacrificed for flip flops because I don't want to fiddle with tying my laces after being required to remove them before going through the metal detectors. Of all the accessories that one might consider in their wardrobes, belts certainly are more utilitarian than most, but in the eyes of homeland security...they are a threat. I am just waiting until the day that bras are considered a threat and women are expected to de-robe in line. A few years ago, my mom and I were returning from a cruise to Mexico. Standing in the Fort Lauderdale airport, I witnessed security personal essentially harass an elderly couple that had to be at least in their eighties in order to make sure they had 100% traveler search compliance. Neither had the physical strength to walk without assistance and they certainly did not have the ability to remove clothing and shoes without sitting down, yet the guard made both of them take everything off, while the line behind them grew. If this couple was a threat to national security, then we all should live in fear of our own grandparents. This is how absurd this entire issue has become.

My most recent experience was on a return flight from San Francisco to Austin. I had the privilege of a pat-down after my jeans (belt removed), cotton T-shirt, socks, and underwear set off the metal detector. Its bad enough that I was forced to wait in an excruciatingly long line with my bare-feet exposed to the dirty airport, holding my pants up, while I try to keep a watch on hundreds of dollars of electronics and all my personal identification slowly move away from me and potentially into the arms of any opportunistic traveler, but then I get singled out to endure the fondling and total invasion of my personal privacy. Is this the type of experience that keeps customers coming back? I would have to argue NO!!!! With all of the turmoil that the airline industry is going through, is it any wonder that airline travel is down? I dread going to the airport. I detest being there 2 hours early to ensure I get through the horribly inefficient security lines. I hate checking my luggage, because it never ends up in the same location as me. I have come to expect bad service and no matter what the airlines do to make check-in easier (ie e-tickets, kiosks, and other ticket-less travel options) that is only one small aspect of the total travel day. It’s the whole package that counts. Even with gas prices at $3/gal, I would choose driving to flying any day of the week. I can not be alone in my plight. So, why isn’t something being done about it. At the bear minimum, why don’t they buy more metal detectors and hire a few more airport security staff to alleviate the security line bottleneck?

Platinum card holders, frequent flyers, it doesn’t matter who you are anymore… everyone gets treated like cattle. I think airlines might be interested to learn how customers feel after going through these experiences. Do travelers desire comfort and luxury even more, so they rush to the private flight clubs or has their whole experience already been tainted to the point that no amount of pampering will improve it?

In the end, do we really need another reason to buy a private plane?