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Airlines, and Airline Employees, With a Heart

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JetBlue likes to talk about its "humanity" and they walked the walk this week after the horror of the Boston Marathon bombings with small personal touches like waiving bag fees at Logan and providing free coffee and donuts throughout the terminal. The CEO even showed up to remind the troops in Boston - and the rest of the city - that the company was thinking of them. (gma.yahoo.com) More...

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Depqua
Rema Allen 2
It is nice to read positive things about airlines instead of a lot of the bad. Cheers.
bristolsqim
Dennis Haven 1
Thanks for the story regarding Jet Blue and others and other airlines who do many thoughtful things. It's nice to hear the good things they do and not just the few problems they sometimes have which always get media coverage.

[This poster has been suspended.]


preacher1
preacher1 1
10-4 on that, and even on here, all we read about is the bad experience. If you fly long enough, you will have a bad flight, but for the most part, they are all good. People fly them.LOL
RobSJC
Wonder how long the "humanity" will last ? Perhaps, if Blue we're to go, by way of Southwest, and eliminate bag fees, the public might be inclined to fly them more, causing a decline to the other carriers, leading to elimination of bag fees and greed by all ... Wile they attempt to justify bag fees, due to fuel costs, why not eliminate the high priced management and their outrageous bonuses and stock perks ? Cut the fat !
StymieHo
Chris Donawho 1
Like any rusty coin... This one also has two sides. Yes, it's nice to hear some good news every now and again. I would like to think we would read more about stuff like this if only it occurred more.

Lots of folks will comment on here about their experience as an airline employee. The disparity in opinions is directly related to the age of the employee. The younger employees simply do not work for the same airline as the older ones. Retired employees speak of the hard work and above and beyond ethic they committed themselves to long ago. Those airlines are gone now.

I've sat on both sides of this table. I've watched, as a member of management, employees intentionally delay flights to get back at The Man. From ramp rats lollygagging to pilots who simply refuse to release the parking brake on time. This was all related to a labor contract coming to an end. It's the union way of firing warning shots over the bow.

Employees of today are not even as remotely committed to customer service as their predecessors. Ramp agents have multiple felony convictions (so much for those pesky background checks). Flight attendants left their lucrative careers at Hooters to welcome you aboard at half the wage. Pilots can enter the ranks with ZERO hours of "alone-time" in a cockpit. It's a matter of 250 hours of simulator time, coupled with a 90-day Zero time to ATP fast-track program. Ridiculous at best. Think Colgan Air/Buffalo. Any two year old can tell you that yanking back on the yoke during the onset of the stall horn is a no-no.

I fly American (since it's my hometown airline, not because Im married to it). At the ripe old age of 40, I have recently discovered the value of first class travel. With all the free booze, meals, blankets, pillows, headsets and various waived fees, a first class upgrade can be every bit as cheap as the coach ticket. What do I truly get for this first class upgrade? I get the same exact service I "USED" to get in coach back in the late 80s and early 90s, when air travel was still a service-oriented business.

Airlines of today, through both union and management shenannigans, have devalued the average airline employee to provide the customer service more aligned with irresponsible kids working at Taco Bell. In fact, that's precisely what the airlines of today have become... Unionized Flying Taco Bells.
preacher1
preacher1 1
Unforunately, when coming up against folks your age to mine, that part about "hard work and above and beyond ethic they committed themselves to long ago", does not hold any water for a big part of this younger generation. There are some that still execise a little pride in what they do but it is sad to see the crop of some applicants that come thru the door, and then they wonder why they don't get a job.

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