The airlines blame the FAA, the FAA blames the airlines. Both organizations have completely screwed up air travel in this country, though. The current state of air travel is proof that deregulation is not always a good thing.
Let’s start with the FAA. Underfunded, run by political hacks, paying new controllers dirt and making life miserable for current controllers, and currently facing a huge manpower deficit as boatloads of controllers head into retirement. I predict it will take a mid-air collision of two packed airliners before the government finally wakes up and does something. Business as usual, I guess.
Now for the airlines. The skies are packed to capacity, but none of the airlines will give up routes or flights. There are four (count ‘em, four) flights from little old Champaign to Chicago O’Hare every morning at 6:10, 7:10, 8:10, and 9:10. Is this really necessary? What’s wrong with using a bigger plane and having two flights? Right there you’ve reduced the traffic from one airport by 50%. Multiply that that times the number of other small airports with multiple flights to O’Hare and maybe you wouldn’t have planes full of passengers sitting on the tarmac for an hour or more waiting for gates and watching their connecting flights leave.
And how about those CEO’s who get paid multi-million dollar bonuses every year? What’s up with that? What have they done to deserve it? Air travel gets worse and worse and the bozos at the top get paid more and more. Go figure. How about paying your mechanics and pilots and flight attendants and gate/ticket agents and baggage handlers more? Maybe then flights wouldn’t be delayed so often for maintenance issues and your flight crews and ground personnel would be a bit more accomodating.
On our recent trip to Florida had four flights, two down and two back. Three of the four were in tiny “regional” aircraft. Chicago O’Hare to Jacksonville is not “regional.” It’s halfway across the country. Stop using tiny aircraft for long distance service. Reduce the number of flights and use bigger aircraft. You’ll reduce maintenance, reduce gate usage, use fewer pilots, take up less airspace, and make a whole lot of passengers happier. Where’s the downside?
