I have been having a few fuming thoughts about 2 topics: Airlines and Airports
Airlines
I have been really upset about my favorite airline, which I will keep nameless. Really, I am only pissed at a team member or two. Every Monday when I leave Des Moines International Airport I proceed to a ticket counter where a gentlemen says it is and "FAA requirement that all bags have a baggage tag on it." I don't like baggage tags. It would be an easy way for my identity to be stolen with my address and telephone number on the tag. I don't mind my name being on it, as happens when the sticker is placed for checked baggage. So, every Monday the same person gives me a flimbsy tag to put on the bag. When I arrived in Boston on Monday, the baggage tag was missing and the sticker was still on the bag. What use is it spending the "precious" money the airlines need on a baggage tag that comes off before the flight is completed? I check with a friend that works for the same airline (in a different capacity) and was told it isn't an FAA rule, but more of a "guideline" this airline has. What a bunch of crap.
Airports
Southwest and other airlines often complain about the landing charges from Airports. I might have found a solution. But I have some questions:
1. Why do airports have large ceilings, with extensive artwork?
2. Why do airports require airlines to provide "capital" to create additional amenities?
3. Why are rental car facilities located so far from terminals that you have to take a bus to get there?
I have been in the airport around 113 times this year (give or take a couple of trips) and I have seen them all. From Westchester, NY with ground operations run by the city to Gainesville, FL with only a few airport gates, to Vancouver, BC with extensive artwork and "experience." While I marveled at the interior of Vancouver Airport and appreciate the spa located in the Detroit World Gateway I question why Airports find in necessary to make the terminals a "show." I understand that having a spa creates additional revenue for the airport, but why do we need Italian tile, expensive lighting systems, or art work from a far off land. Why don't we keep the design simple. Give plenty of waiting room, decent boarding bridges, and places to eat and rest when there are delays.
Why not make it simple? That would not only save our municipalities money but also help the airlines get out of trouble. Easy.
1 comment:
1. Airlines - it's obvious that the employee desires to make the travelers life a living hell hole by requiring the baggage tag!...but to this, I say have fun with your name...perhaps you could be Crown Prince Nick the Great with some made up address/phone number. Or maybe even the daring James Bond a.k.a. 007!
2. Airports - well they are supposed to be functional buildings, but often they are not. So it turns out to be a big penis contest between cities in order to impress the travelers...but really do the travelers really care? ummmm most likely not...as long as there's a Starbucks (shudder) and bathrooms then they are usually happy. But outwardly they would probably bitch if the airport had a totally utilitarian look to it...so who can win?
I say enjoy the travels - the most boring airport in the world...Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are so desperate for attention there that their airport isn't called an airport, but rather an "International Sunport"!!! Top that! (I'm not kidding www.cabq.gov/airport )
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