United Airlines Soft on Safety

On February 23rd, I traveled from Chicago to Vancouver on United Airlines 1119, an Airbus 319.

On final approach into Vancouver, the flight attendants came by for a visual inspection to ensure that passengers were belted in, seat backs were in the upright position and (I assume) to make sure that carry-on items were stowed properly.

I signaled to the flight attendant that the backpack stowed under the seat in front of the middle seat of my row – placed there by the fellow in the aisle seat – was incurring the space between the seats.

NOTE: The picture above shows the bag’s placement AFTER I tried to kick it under the seat. When I pointed out the problem to the flight attendant, the backpack was completely blocking the space between the seats.

In response, both the guy in the aisle seat and the flight attendant looked at me like I was nuts. The flight attendant basically rolled her eyes, did nothing to rectify the problem and carried on with her (useless) inspection.

I guess these people don’t watch the news and missed the emergency evacuation that occurred on the Hudson River just recently. They definitely don’t watch MayDay.

Well here’s a flash bulletin for all the idiots who don’t get it.

Accidents happen and it’s up to each of us to do all we can to ensure our own safety and the safety of others when we travel.

More to the point… in the introduction to the “Carry-On Baggage Program Rule”, which requires United States airlines to develop and use approved carry-on baggage programs, the FAA stated that “excessive carry-on baggage can endanger passengers and crew members in a number of ways: carry-on bags that block aisles or the spaces between seats can slow evacuation of the airplane in an emergency; improperly stowed carry-on bags can block access to emergency equipment and to the under-the-seat lifevests; carry-on bags that fall from overhead racks or bins can injure passengers and flight crew members and hinder evacuation” (FAA Supplementary Information: Amendment 121-194, Federal Aviation Regulation 121.589).

So despite clearly understanding the threats to passenger safety, the airlines are encouraging passengers to carry more items aboard by charging for checked baggage AND failing to train their staff to confirm that egress is clear in the event of an emergency.

I call that dereliction of duty.

Additional note: United Airlines has been directly informed about this problem and invited to comment on this post.

Great News about Fuel Surcharges?

I received an email from Air Canada yesterday that included the following statement:

“Great news. The fuel surcharge is now included in all our North America fares.”

GREAT news? Who are they trying to kid?

Especially since Westjet announced yesterday afternoon that it will no longer collect one-way fuel surcharges of $20 for short haul, $30 for medium and $45 for longer flights.

On a brighter note, Air Canada did say that they will cancel their fees for the second checked bag on Tango and Tango Plus fares within North America effective September 23rd. That’s a savings of $50 per round-trip flight.

The Jerk in Seat 12F

I was aboard an Air Canada A319 enroute to a conference in Montreal at which I was to speak the following day. I was looking forward to the 5-hour flight from Vancouver, to put the finishing touches on my presentation as well as get some other work done.

After we reached cruising altitude and the seat belt sign had been extinguished, I waited about ten minutes before trying to grab my laptop case from under the seat in front of me. I’d been whacked in the head enough times before to know that those who recline their seats usually do so in the first couple of minutes after the light goes off.

Despite my caution – WHAM! – I got whacked upside the head anyway — and hard. It was almost like the guy sitting in front of me had specifically waited until I bent down to get my bag.

I responded with a loud “OW!” and gave his seat a shoulder check on my way up.

Really, how hard is it to turn your head and confirm that the person behind you is out of the way before you JERK your seat back?

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of my dealings with ‘the Jerk in 12F’.

As if having his seat fully reclined wasn’t enough, he rocked and jerked his seat back throughout the flight by pushing against the bulkhead with his feet.

The effect on my end was unpleasant and precarious to say the least.

Behind a fully upright seat on the 319, my laptop can be open to an angle of 90 degrees. With the seat fully reclined, I lose about 15 degrees, forcing me to slouch in my seat in order to see the screen.

However, when the ‘jerking’ occured, the latch on the tray table threatened to catch and snap the laptop screen. In fact, the fellow in the aisle seat in my row told me how that had happened to his laptop and he therefore complimented my response to ‘the Jerk’.

So, what did I do?

Well, every time the Jerk jerked, I jerked back. I either pushed back against his seat, or pushed down HARD on my table.

Finally, after 4 hours of going back and forth, the Jerk in 12F stood up, turned around and said, “Do you have a problem with my seat being reclined?”

“Not at all! ” I assured him. “What I do have a problem with however, is that you have been pushing your feet against the bulkhead and jerking your seatback against my laptop. Each time you jerk, the laptop screen is at risk of catching and snapping, as happened to this gentleman on another flight“, gesturing towards the man in the aisle seat.

Please notice how I managed to get “you jerk” into that sentence without making it too personal. LOL.

He whined in reply, “Well, I’m allowed to recline my seat“.

To which I responded, “Of course you are, but just because you can, doesn’t mean you should“.

The Jerk then sat down, put his seat in the upright position and I managed to work in peace for a whole 30 minutes.

How Do YOU Cope with Terrible Travelers?

Is it my imagination, or have air travelers become increasingly rude, inconsiderate and even obnoxious in recent years?

It seems that on every trip I take nowadays, there is someone who either just doesn’t understand basic passenger etiquette or worse, is so self-centered that they just don’t care if their behavior affects others in a negative way.

The ‘abusers’ are many and varied.

They include (but are not limited to) those who are tardy and unprepared for check-in and at security. Others ignore baggage allowance rules, while still others are apparently oblivious to annoucements at boarding gates and on board aircrat. Then there are those that I refer to as the sprawlers, the yellers and the smelly.

I’ve had it with all of them.

So, over the next few months, I plan to write a series of posts about a wide variety of terrible travelers that we have encountered over the years — with the hope that perhaps one or two of them can read and perhaps amend their awful ways.

So, are you frustrated and fed up with terrible travelers too?

If so, please feel free to contribute your story (or stories) via the comment section below. As this series may end up becoming a book (count on it) please leave us your real email address so that we may contact you if your story is chosen for inclusion.

Technorati Tags: travel, terrible traveler, rude people

Customer Service Hertz at YYZ

We rented a car over Christmas from Hertz at the Kipling and Dundas Street kiosk in Toronto.

The folks at that location were excellent… friendly, fast and helpful. We received an upgrade to a PT Cruiser for no extra charge, and when I remarked that the car was a tad dirty and somewhat odorous, the car jockey ran in and returned immediately with a $15.00 voucher to use for either a car wash or as a credit toward the rental.

The Hertz customer service experience at the Toronto International airport Hertz location on January 3rd was quite another story.

• My cheerful “Good Morning” greeting was not returned in kind. There was no “Good Morning” or “Happy New Year”… nada.
• The agent literally barked at me. “You returning the car?”, “Did you fill up?” and “What’s the mileage?”.
• The desk clerk processed the paperwork which I signed. After slapping another piece of paper on the counter, he appeared to continue working on our file.
• After a lengthy pause he regarded me with a look that said ‘What the he** do you want?”, so I asked if we were done. “Ya.”

No “Thanks for your business” or “Have a nice day”. Just “Ya.”

My response to his extremely poor manners? “You’re welcome… NOT! Next time we’ll rent from Budget!” loud enough for the agents at the Budget car rental counter to hear.

Technorati Tags: Hertz, Budget, car rental

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