So this is how a Maine Lobster must feel before the big boil. If last week's steaming emails were any indication, another second at my desk and I could have been served with drawn butter. (Note: there's a shorter cooking time when the main course lacks a thick skin or an exoskeleton.)
I really hit a nerve and rightfully so, as my timing seemed woefully bad. Unfortunately, the writing of last week's column Passengers Behaving Badly predated the debacle that I have come to call Airlines Behaving Badly.
Airline travel hit a new nadir last week when winter storms and mismanagement left some passengers and flight crews trapped onboard planes for up to 11 hours. To add insult to injury, in most cases the terminal was within view.
As someone who can barely sit through a single showing of Lawrence of Arabia, I was impressed that no one lunged for the emergency door and triggered the air slide. (Bundle up kids; we're sledding back to the terminal.)
Later in the week, the news was dominated by airline executives apologizing for a series of failures. Whether a combination of poor weather, communications, planning, or scheduling created this perfect storm for the unwary traveler, it doesn't really matter as long as it gets fixed. The consensus among travelers (and airlines hopefully) is this should never happen again.
To that end, the talk is fast and furious to create a national Passenger Bill of Rights, that is, guidelines or laws that protect passengers from such abuses.
While this is not a new discussion, the events of last week will likely add traction, if not justification to its creation and enforcement. In fact, Rep.
Michael Thompson announced that he would submit a bill supporting an air passenger bill of rights.
JetBlue has been quick to initiate its own
Customer Bill of Rights outlining what the airline will do to help regain the confidence of its travelers.
Here are some other related links that I think you'll find interesting.
Scarborough's nine hours on the runway Weighing in with the Coalition for Passengers' Bill of Rights The message is loud and clear as travelers call for change, a change that includes not being hermetically sealed with a couple hundred strangers in a machine better suited for the skies than the terra firma.
What are your thoughts? Tom Conway, who would happily trade sitting through
Cats with sitting on a tarmac, looks forward to your comments below.
