Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/united-airlines-revenue-drop.html
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Here is my dumb solution to airlines. Take out a bunch of seats. Improve the food. Charge more. Basically I’m suggesting the airlines go back 20-30 years and make flying more comfortable. Make it so people WANT to fly again. If you could do something about TSA that would be great too.
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This.
Stop spending money on scanners and low-paid employees who just look at everyone with contempt because everyone else is looking at them with contempt (with reason). You’ve put locks on the cockpit doors, you have jack-holes digging through our luggage which we can’t lock, and independent studies have shown that you’re not stopping 9 out of 10 weapons being smuggled by undercover agents.
It’s the ICE of the airports.
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Looks like that they will have to use the police to drag us onto their planes, this time.
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How about not f’ing charging money for every damn option available inside the cabin.
Oh, sir you want air to breath? That’ll be $50.00.
Oh, you want fresh air? …
TSA is Kabuki theater. Get rid of most of them.
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“How fresh ? We have first class fresh, business class fresh, and well.”
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Oh, oh no. Not the airlines. Oh no.
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Oh, great, another bailout.
By the way, United (and American) are still flying their planes packed to the gills during the pandemic, even as other airlines are attempting spacing.
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How much for lavatory fresh (and that better be a negative number)?
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Depends.
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I heard somewhere that maybe taking a boat. Like a cruise ship or something. Might be safer than a plane.
But what do I know stuck here in my mask-filled sequestered socially-distanced house?
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The only transport I’d be less inclined to get on right now than an airplane is a cruise ship. Apart from a weekly trip on public transit, I’m resigned to not travelling anywhere outside a 6-hour drive in a private vehicle until at least November.
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Things are so bad at United they’re going to start dragging customers onto their planes.
Folks, we have a great show for you tonight…
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I think this is one of those things that consumers might say they would be willing to go along with, but there is a ton of evidence that price is the only thing that actually matters to the vast majority of ticket purchasers. We grumble and we hate the tiny seats and being treated like cattle, but we still buy the cheapest ticket.
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Agree. I think boats might be worse than an airplane mostly due to the prolonged time one is exposed to other people. Days on a boat vs hours on a plane.
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But if the cheapest ticket is more expensive than now, supply and demand will fix it. If the more cheapest but still expensive ticket leads to a better experience, demand may be enough to let airlines still be profitable.
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My dad worked for United when I was a kid. Back then ('70s and '80s) we flew a lot as a family. I ran across a Mad Magazine feature about “no frills air travel” and thought it was pretty hysterical. Little did I know that it was basically going to become reality in a few decades.
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Speaking as an East Coaster, if the Intercoastal was modified to handle large fast hydrofoils, I would take one.
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I’m not 100% sure that I want airlines colluding and price-fixing to set a floor for tickets.
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Nah. None of that matters much. People don’t fly because they want to have fun, they fly because they want to go someplace quickly and cheaply.
Your solution seems to be cutting out the lower end of the market; the people who want to quickly get somewhere and don’t have a lot of money to do it. Which, in turn will push people back to driving (ick).
It might be a workable solution if we fixed out train systems… Which are often more expensive and far slower than driving or flying.
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