Frequent criers: Elite fliers are ruining air travel

Christopher Elliott Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

The last thing I want to do is start a class war at 36,000 feet. But enough is enough.

Several weeks ago, when I questioned the efficiency of airline boarding processes, I was deluged with e-mails from elite passengers who were furious that I challenged their right to get on the plane first.

Here’s one missive that landed in my inbox just this morning from reader Roy Gallucci. While waiting for his luggage in Los Angeles recently, he overheard a fellow passenger grumbling about premium passengers being allowed to board before everyone else, and having to buy a $5 lunch box while folks in the front of the plane dined on steak.

Gallucci, who was flying up in first class, turned to the unhappy coach passenger and suggested that if he wanted to pay an extra $2,000, then he, too, could board first and enjoy a steak dinner.

“That shut him up,” he said. “And maybe it will shut you up about elites boarding first.”

Maybe. Maybe not.

My problem isn’t the two-class cabins that draw a curtain between the have’s and have-not’s. That’s been a part of air travel since almost the beginning, and I think most passengers have made their peace with it.

No, what irks me are two important issues. First, it’s the way airlines today are adding amenities to their premium cabins while quietly removing basic services from their economy-class sections. Food is a good example, but such additions and deletions are taking place across the board, and it shows up in every aspect of air travel, from reservations to boarding.

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Meanwhile, airlines disingenuously insist their economy class passengers “asked” to have essentials like in-flight meals and the ability to check a bag at no additional cost taken away from them. They do it every time they claim passengers are only interested in price. But that’s only half the story. Air travelers may be cost-conscious, but I have yet to meet one who wants to pay half a dozen extra fees, to wait in a long line and to be starved on a flight.

The other issue? The attitude of elites. I mean “elite” in several senses of the word: not just elite-level frequent travelers and the well-to-do who can afford to pay full price for the good seats, but perhaps in a broader sense, passengers who think they deserve preferential treatment. Some of these air travelers — and it’s important to emphasize it’s just some of them — are ruining it for the rest of us.

Here’s how:

1. Not minding their manners
Whether it’s mile-high tantrums or clashes with other passengers, the antics of premium passengers are exhaustively documented. The latest case is British supermodel Naomi Campbell, who lost her temper after learning that British Airways lost her luggage. The 37-year-old TV star was hauled off her flight in handcuffs after allegedly spitting at a policeman and trying to punch and kick others.

An extreme example? Oh, maybe. But hardly an isolated one. Just a few weeks ago while I was patiently waiting my turn at a ticket counter in New Orleans, a passenger pushed ahead of me, waving his ticket. “I’m late for my flight,” he said. “Besides, this line is for first class.” (Was it the way I was dressed — in a Hawaiian shirt — that suggested I belonged in the back of the plane? I let him have his way even though I was in the right line.)

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