Who's to blame for the airline mess? You!

What can you do? Well, you do have a few options:

1. Know what's important to you and stick to it. Seek out an airline that tries to give you what you really want from air travel, then stick with it. If enough travelers do this, it will send a message to the top in the form of black ink or red ink. But fair's fair: If low price is your priority, you forfeit the right to complain about service.

2. Lower your expectations. In the Good Old Days, when air travel was more of a novelty, people had lower expectations and were delighted with higher performance. Today, your main consideration should be having a safe journey between point A and point B. If you are resigned to a few hassles along the way — like delays, cancellations, small seats and packed airplanes — you will probably be better satisfied with what you get.

3. Accept reality. The Good Old Days are gone for good. Accept it and move on, or quit flying altogether.

Here's a short analogy. When was the last time you pulled into the "Full Serve" line at the gas station and had your gas pumped for you? Is this service even still available? Well, if it is, I can guarantee you that not many people use it. So most gas stations have trimmed the fat and the frills and now strive to offer the lowest gas prices in town. Once in a while, up pops a company like WAWA gas stations (not crazy about that name) with low prices, tons of coffee, courteous staff and tasty food. If you can find an airline like that, stick with it — even if its prices are sometimes a little bit more than the ones next door.

As far as the Good Old Days go, time has a way of obscuring the bad and glorifying the good, making the true past unattainable. It helps me to remember this about the airline industry: As in all of life, the Good Old Days weren't always good, and today may not be as bad as it seems.

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