June 10th, 2009
Air travel - how to lose a whole day
I’m currently sitting in an airline lounge (shhh, don’t tell anyone, but I mean Delta) waiting for my next flight and contemplating on how air travel has become a time consuming, frustrating experience for many business travelers. I was, on the other hand, impressed with the professionalism and efficiency of the onboard crew on my flight. The airport lounge crew have been fantastic as well.
What happened? My 7 AM flight from Tampa Interplanetary Airport to Boston was diverted to Cincinnati due to a medical emergency, A flight attendant came running from the back of the aircraft to the front about an hour into the journey and made an announcement. “Are there any Doctors, Nurses or other medically trained passengers on this flight?” she asked. Shortly afterward, we descended at a very steep angle and found ourselves in Cincinnati. Medical personnel came on board and an elderly lady was helped off the aircraft.
We then sat at the gate for about an hour. It is not really clear what was happening. No one bothered to let us know. Later, the pilot announced we would leave as soon as some paperwork was delivered.
We got to Boston about one and a half hours late. Of course, my connection had already left. Although there are many flights from Boston to New York, they were all full. This meant that those of us wanting to get to New York in time for some event would have to squeeze into already overbooked flights if we hoped to get to our destination at all.
The gate agent did his best, but he couldn’t change the fact that this airline has cut flights and has started using smaller aircraft so that each and every flight is full. This also means that air travel is uncomfortable and that there is no flexibility in the system for situations such as this one.
I’m fortunate to be a member of this airline’s “club” and have the opportunity to sit at a desk, drink coffee, catch up with my Email and fume about missing the first day of my first team meeting at my new company.
I recently read an article that pointed out that the airlines are now planning to decrease the distance between rows of seats. This will allow them to cram more unfortunate passengers into their aircraft.
What can a frequent traveller do to get the airlines to behave?
Daniel Kusnetzky is a member of the senior management team of The 451 Group. He is responsible for research and publications on a broad array of technology topics. He examines emerging technology trends, vendor strategies, research and development issues, and end-user integration requirements. You can follow Dan on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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