What's wrong with air travel

By James Wysong

Travel columnist

updated 11:15 a.m. ET June 19, 2007

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OK, so you've read my earlier column about everything that is right with air travel. At the end of that article, I solicited readers' comments about what might be wrong with air travel. Now comes the fun part: your pet peeves.

Before I get started, I would like to make one point clear to the many people who will no doubt be writing to me to complain about the following list. I did not write the responses, you did. If a complaint was made more than once, I put it on the list — whether it was serious, funny, trivial or bizarre. My own comments are in italics.

Without further ado, here it is: what's wrong with air travel.

In the terminal
1. Longer lines and fewer employees. This was the top complaint.

2. Customs and immigration. The lines and the inefficient procedures are a nightmare and getting worse.

3. Wheelchair attendants. How come these guys never meet the airplane on time and can't speak more than a few words of English? I have to admit: As a flight attendant, this is one of my pet peeves as well.

4. “Federal regulations require.” What exactly do federal regulations require? In the security area, especially, federal regulations seem to change from week to week and airport to airport. Other requirements vary widely from airline to airline, though the explanation is always: "Federal regulations require ..." Make an across-the-board policy and stick to it at every airport.

5. Additional screening. If my 80-year-old grandmother gets sent to secondary screening but Moammar Hussein does not, there is something very wrong.

6. Arrival monitors inside the gate area. Who cares about arriving flights when the only people permitted past security are ticketed passengers? Good point. I never thought about that. I mean, there just aren't that many arriving passengers meeting other arriving passengers.

7. Boarding procedures. It's time to figure out how to board passengers in a more efficient manner. This is the 21st century.

On the airplane
1. Smaller seats and bigger people. Do the airlines not know that most people are over 5'3" and 150 pounds?

2. Old flight attendants with attitudes. Apparently, quite a few of you have recently traveled on international Pacific flights and have had the same crew of pissed-off grandmothers.

3. Carry-on luggage. It was so nice after the London bomb scare when nobody was allowed any carry-on. Boarding was quicker and easier, and the flights went so much smoother.

4. In-flight lavatories. By the end of the flight they are so disgusting that if you are forced to use one, you just want to cry. That or pass out.

5. Airlines that serve Pepsi instead of Coke. Really? Of all the things wrong in the airline industry, you see soda pop as a major issue? Apparently three of you did.

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6. The seat-belt police. "Come on!" complains one reader. "The seat-belt sign goes on, the cockpit makes an announcement, flight attendants check everybody's seat belt, and then, when somebody desperately has to use the facilities, they shout at the top of their lungs, "FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS!" We're not in elementary school anymore. If you gotta go, you gotta go. Would you rather I wet the seat?" I sympathize, but here's another point of view: When you are out of your seat, you are endangering the people around you, who can get hurt if you get thrown around the cabin.

7. Germs and worse. It never fails: When I go on a trip, I always catch something. They say the onboard air filters catch most of everything but that is hooey. Why do you think the man with tuberculosis was such a threat to his fellow passengers? Whether it be SARS, TB, or the next chemical concoctions of terrorists, people who fly are at risk. All true — but you've got to be careful when you mix hypochondria with paranoia. You can make yourself sick with worry.

In the boardroom
1. Greedy CEOs. I say amen to that!

2. Bankruptcy shenanigans. Airlines that go into bankruptcy, threaten to close down, slash employee paychecks and pensions, but then quickly emerge from Chapter 11 and bid billions to buy another airline. Can you say US Airways? I give another amen to that point!

3. Last-minute price gouging. Just because the airline can take advantage of you when you're desperate doesn't mean they should.

4. Overbooking. In this day and time, why do airlines still overbook by 20 percent? If passengers don't show, they should lose all or most of the ticket price — period!

In the break room
1. Airline unions. They only give the right for employees to maintain snotty attitudes. I don't agree, but I won't comment further.

2. Airline employees who won't take responsibility and pass the blame elsewhere. Well, speaking as an airline employee myself, most problems really aren't my fault. Blame management!

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