What are some of the reasons that the quality of air travel is decreasing?

Question

Delayed flights... lost luggage... What's going on?

Answer 1

Cuts in pay, some passengers are complete morons, work schedules, some passengers are complete morons, etc.

Answer 2

lot of airlines are losing money due to the rising prices in fuel

Answer 3

Democratization and rising costs.  Today, almost anyone can afford to fly, but making air travel cheap enough for the masses involves cutting out all but the absolute essentials.

In addition, when everyone can fly, a lot of people who would probably be better off on the ground start to buy tickets, and the crowds you get aboard the airplanes change in character, and not necessarily for the better.

Finally, the sheer volume of air travel has an effect on the experience. In the days when air travel was reserved for the rich elite, there weren't many flights, airlines could afford to provide all sorts of frills, and the hoi polloi couldn't afford to get on a plane.  Now all that has changed: everyone can fly (and everyone does), airlines can no longer afford to fly anything but basic transportation at current ticket prices, and the rich elite have often moved on to fractional ownership or their own private planes.

Answer 4

Gas is getting more expensive, and airlines are cutting costs to save money.  One of the ways they're cutting costs is by laying off workers - pilots, ground crew, flight attendants, and all of that does 2 things.  1 is that it makes every flight somewhat less enjoyable, and 2 is that it makes some things that need to happen not happen (maintenance, baggage loading, etc.)

Answer 5

One and only one reason...money

Answer 6

We take air travel for granted. Only 40 years ago, only the well-off and business travelers flew. Thanks to Airline Deregulation act of 1978, we got increased competition for airlines, causing at least 50 or so to rise and fall since that act.  We, as a society, got so used to cheap airfare and cheap oil that went with it, it's a shock when we have to pay what it actually costs the airline to move us from point A to B. And we aren't even to that point yet.

All these little charges they tack on now for bags,drinks,etc. are fuel surcharges, they just aren't stated as such. Your average airliner burns $3/gal jet fuel at about 8 gallons per minute. That's at cruising altitude, not accounting take-off and climb, where you could double that figure.

The airlines give no room in their schedules for bad weather or broken aircraft. In a 12 hour day, I could be scheduled for 8 flights, most with only 30 minutes or less between landing and departing.  That doesn't leave much room for any delay of any variety.

Be very surprised your luggage gets to you at all.  All the bags, all the automation and the fact the airlines don't pay people enough to haul around your  bag makes it a big challenge to get your bag to you. Now you throw in your delay or you changed airlines or you arrived late,etc.  Sometimes, we have to leave luggage behind due to weight restrictions. Would you rather make it to your destination or your bag? Yes, in a perfect world, both of you would make it all the time. But...

Airlines have dramatically cut service and personnel. The folks that are left have lost pensions, taken dramatic pay and benefit cuts. And that's if they haven't been laid off or their company disappeared.  You say so what, all businesses could tell that story, especially manufacturing in the US.  

Well, as an assembly line worker, steel worker,etc, you didn't have to deal with the public face to face when your company was going under or cutting back did you?  Airline employees do and it's tough to care about you getting to Cancun for your vacation when my job could end tomorrow.

Sorry this is so long, but there are so many reasons air travel has declined.  

Answer 7

I don't think airline travel is getting any worse. Peoples expectations are rising, due to improvements in other areas of life, but the airline industry is getting no better. WHY? Because everything you see looks all sleek and glamorous, fancy new fly by wire planes and composite wings and double decks, but in the end, what is the airline industry about? Alot of d**n bull work. These things are huge and a logistical nightmare to work on, especially as they get more complex. Fuel truck are still operated by guys who go through alot of BS, heat, cold,rain, snow. And guys still have to cram luggage in the bellies of these things, pull them out, load them in carts, and it takes alot of work and patience, which unfortunately no one has. An d mistakes happen. NOW we have more strict security than ever and an aging FAA infrastructure that gets worse not better because everyone is a tightwad when it comes to infrastructure upgrades from Washington DC to the guy fixing luggage carts.

Answer 8

fuel gone up 125% nobody can afford the flights ..plus they are shutting down flights to parts around the world cuz not enough people.

Answer 9

One word - DEREGULATION

Answer 10

Cost....mainly fuel costs

Answer 11

It's a combination of rising costs and increased competition to keep fares low.  It used to be airlines competed by providing the best service possible, but then "low cost carriers" came onto the scene.  Their success proved that the public would rather pay less for "no frills" service.  Legacy carriers have tried to emulate that model with limited success, mainly because the infrastructure that they have is already in place with huge overhead that smaller carriers don't have.  But it was the only way to attempt to compete with the low prices of budget carriers.

One of the big price factors is the internet.  People used to have to book tickets directly from the airline or though a travel agent.  Now, thanks to the internet, the public can do direct price comparisons.  Ticket prices are less than half of what they were in the 1980s, adjusted for inflation.  This means they are trying to run a business with increased costs and decreasing revenues per passenger.

Ways airlines cut costs:

-FAST turn-around times.  This means more misconnected baggage, less time to clean planes, and worse delays because of the cascade effect throughout the day.  When there was 1.5 hours between flights on a plane, the plane was thoroughly cleaned, meals were loaded onboard, bags had plenty of time to get loaded, and there was plenty of cushion for one delay not to affect future flights on that plane.

-Cuts in employee pay and benefits.  Many airline employees are unhappy and bitter about taking huge paycuts while working longer hours.  Many have been laid off several times from different companies throughout their career.  This is reflected in the level of service that they provide.

-Getting rid of extra services, or charging more for those services.

Answer 12

I'll bet you got a good deal on that ticket when you bought it.  That explains why the luxuries are going away.  

Give me one other means of transportation that can get you from ATL to LAX in less than 5 hours for the price you paid for the ticket.

You got a great deal for what you are getting.  Yes...traveling exactly when YOU want to IS a luxury.  

Answer 13

Most Major Airline Pilots are bearing the stress of 50% pay cuts, the loss of their pension, and working second jobs to make ends meet. Many are in bankruptcy and losing their homes.

Pilots can barely concentrate on keeping the flight safe, because Airline Management, while giving each executive millions in bonus $$ each year, are skimping on pilot salaries, fuel, maintenance, and ground safety personnel.  All to keep ticket prices and pilot salaries as they were in 1980.

Low airfares = Low safety.  How much is your life worth?

Ticket prices go down, Airplanes go down.  With a Crash.  Stop Greedy Airline Management.  Keep flying safe.  Support Your Major Air Line PIlots Association.  Vote Union.  

Boycott low fare airlines:  JetBlue, Virgin America, Spirit, AirTran, Frontier, Midwest Express, Alligiant

Buy from brand name Major Airlines:  American, United, Delta, Northwest, Continental, America West/US Airways, Southwest, Alaska, Hawaiian.

Answer 14

Becasue passengers would rather have a $49 ticket to Orlando than a gate agent treat them with respect, a F/A act kindly toward them, the airline not lose their luggage....

The old answer to the question of why American used to be HQ'ed in Newark was, "because they breed faster than we can p**s them off."