November 8, 2007
Be nice to the rest of the herd
This article is a plea for all of us to be more considerate when we fly economy:
The number one problem with air travel, according to an exhaustive survey by the polling staff at the Peoples Weekly Brief, is self absorbed, inconsiderate passengers who act as if the entire transportation system should bend to their will.Naturally I've run into a few problems like kids kicking my seat but I guess I've been fairly lucky that I've never had a really awful flight (not because of other passengers anyway). Posted by James Trotta at November 8, 2007 4:14 PM | TrackBack
I've never had a particularly awful experience with another flyer on a personal level, although I have been on flights where a passenger was kicked off before the flight started (wouldn't turn off his cell phone) and arrested after we landed (kept making his way toward the cockpit after repeated requests by the flight attendants, then engaged them in a shouting match that half the plane heard). I do wish on pretty much a weekly basis that they had separate security lines for frequent flyers and vacationers, such that those of us who travel often don't have to wait behind entire families and people who haven't flown in 20 years. Probably my biggest pet peeve about inconsiderate flyers are the folks who absolutely must have multiple pieces of luggage in the overhead bins, leaving no room for anyone else's things. If your bag fits under the seat and you're not 6'10", put it there and leave room for the rest of us.
Posted by: Nikki at November 8, 2007 6:08 PMYeah, I don't know what people have against checking luggage but they really abuse the lax enforcement when it comes to carry-on bags.
Posted by: James Trotta at November 9, 2007 11:32 AMwhat people have against checking bags is that if the airline doesn't loose your bag, you have to wait very long to get it off the baggage carousel.
Posted by: mar at November 9, 2007 7:45 PMFINALLY! Forget crying babies and loud talkers, I have a personal grudge against the people who recline seats. This is one of the first articles I have seen in a long time that addresses this problem. Please airline makers.. next you build a plane, take out the reclining mechanism! But then again, the people that do this are probably not reading these blogs so Mr. Baker, Mr. Trotta, and I are preaching to the choir.
Posted by: econruth at November 11, 2007 2:09 AMThe last time I contributed to Frommers I was lambasted by only two jerks out of 30 some odd people that agreed with me about reclining seats.
The room between seats is a joke as it is. How are you supposed to get out to go to the bathroom when the jerk in the eisle row in front reclines his seat.
People are really rude and inconsiderate. The only solution is for the aircraft builders (Boeing/Aibus) to stop putting reclinging mechanisms on the seats. It would save weight also, which is always a consideration.
As a retired airline pilot, flying as a passenger, oh excuse me, a CUSTOMER, really sucks!