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Attention Airlines -- I think I'll just drive

I started this post several months ago with the intention of it being a cathartic rant. Now I find that I can barely remember the specifics of why I was so mad but just the mention of airline flight is enough to send me into an apoplectic fit.

UPDATE: I feel the need to complete this post. After a recent trip, I remember why the thought of driving for 4 straight 12 hour days was more appealing than the 15 hours of airline torture I’ve had to endure. I will give props to the gate agents as they are dealing with incredible stress every day. Without the good humor and kind hearts, this rant would be filled with quite a few unprintables.

The problem with modern air travel is that airlines have found ways to divert any frustration away from their business decisions and pitted traveler against traveler. While reclining seats have been an issue for so many years, the latest of charging for luggage, no entertainment, and meagre seat space has made for extremely uncomfortable travel.

On my most recent trip home, the morning flight was initially cancelled and my itinerary changed. Then upon arriving to the airport, the pilots didn’t show up so our flight was delayed. What was to have been a comfortable 1.5 hr layover became a 10 minute dash for the connecting flight. When the stewardesses asked that travelers who did not have an immediate connection wait a few minutes so that those with short connection times could depart, do you think that such a courtesy was extended? Many travelers did wait but the usual self-important businessman with no where to go but get another martini blocked the exit for those of us needing to make the next flight. Traveler vs Traveler.

Loading & unloading has become an adventure. Most won’t pay the $25-$50 fee for checking baggage and so it’s all loaded onto the plane to be crammed into any nook & cranny possible. When it’s time to unload, those with oversize luggage of course block the aisle while they try to wrestle the luggage free from it’s too small confines. It’s time to enforce a reasonable carry on policy & reimplement the first bag free concept. Just the little things like the tiny bag of 3 peanuts makes all the difference to those of us not fortunate enough to be in first class.

And those new seats. In an effort to cram even more of us onto the plane, the seats themselves have slimmed down. Never in my life have I felt such excruciating pain radiating throughout my back and down to my toes as I did in those Delta seats. I’m not an oversized person and am of average height. Those new seats just poke & support in all the wrong areas and so after just a few hours in the air, I’m ready to turn into the Hulk. That’s pain that shouldn’t be happening and I noticed I wasn’t the only one. There were others standing in the aisle as often as possible just to stretch and get out of the torture chamber the airline laughingly calls our seat.

So next time I need to go from coast to coast, I am seriously thinking about just driving. I’ll get to see more of our beautiful country and in the process save my back & my sanity.

Thanks airlines, I think I’ll drive.

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