Airlines simply don't care about passengers anymore....

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   moneyfairyposted 10 years ago

   Recently when I was traveling and Delta Airlines asked 12 people to give up their seats because they overbooked the flight. Don't you think they knew when booking people that their wasn't going to be enough room? Yet they took their money knowing these people wouldn't be able to fly. This really made me angry as I booked my flight 3 mo. in advance. they did nothing to compensate us and the rest of us left to travel sat on the tarmac for one hour waiting for some technical issue to be resolved. Don't you think they could have checked the plane before they boarded us???What ever happened to customer service? Is it non existent?

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      Wendi Mposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Are you in the US?  If so, the answer is YES - non-existent!

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         moneyfairyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Yes "ya think". It's horrible. Obviously I haven't traveled in a while but it definitely has declined significantly. It's very sad. I guess unless everyone stopped flying they'll continue getting away with whatever they can.

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   wildernessposted 10 years ago

   Not sure I'm following this.
   
   Airlines overbook because they have a real need to fill the plane (it keeps costs and prices down) but they also don't know how many will show up.  Too many people book, but then never pay for their flight or show up.  So they overbook, gambling that enough people won't show that the plane will hold those that do.  Sometimes (mostly) it works; sometimes it doesn't and someone has to pay the price for the self centered idiots that reserve a seat but don't use it.
   
   Sitting on the tarmac because there is a problem; that plane is typically on the ground for under an hour.  Can you possibly think that every little thing that could go wrong will be checked in that amount of time?  Things happen - a gizmo might be just fine until the pilot hits the "start" button whereupon it breaks.  Personally I'd rather sit on the tarmac for two days than crash on takeoff because they knew something was wrong but thought they could make it anyway.

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      Wendi Mposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Name 1 airline that holds seats on the plane without payment, please?

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         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Sometimes I pay when I get to the airport, or at least did years ago.  I confess I don't fly much anymore and cannot give names.
         
         But I do know that refunds are available, sometimes for a price and sometimes not.  Would you shut down booking days or weeks early, knowing that some will cancel and simply hope that there will laggards wanting to book in the final day or two?

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         moneyfairyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         WendiM: Exactly!!!You could never book a seat without paying. otherwise everyone would do it.
         Wilderness: those idiots that don't show up also don't get a refund as they need to give notice or they lose their money which means the airlines have their money and an empty seat for anyone that shows up for a stand by and they get that persons money too... So I have zero sympathy for the airlines...Also how do you think they can afford to give away all those free trips if someone gives up their seat??? It's because they have taken all that money that they overbooked people with. It's not coming out of the airlines pocket at all.

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      moneyfairyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Airlines overbook for a real need to fill the plane??? Really ,c'mon???When someone purchases a ticket they deserve a seat and there are only so many seats to be filled. So by overbooking they know they will have some upset customers and for those that don't show up after purchasing their ticket it's their loss not the airlines loss as they already paid them , not refunded them. So the only persons being inconvenienced are the ones that have already paid for a seat and then are being asked to give it up for who?? Oh yes,The airlines. Where do the good paying people that show up come into play???You think it is o.k. that they should have to give up their seats because the airline was so greedy it overbooked and took all that extra money knowing that some would be turned away??To me that is extremely unfair .
      Also yes the planes should be checked just like our cars before we go driving on the road. They have all these mechanics etc... so before putting us all on the plane...taking us down the runway ...then saying "oops Huston there's a problem"  it won't be that long.... an hour later.....we're almost ready.... Don't put us all on the plane till you are sure it's running o.k. , Is that too hard to ask??? If you knew something may be wrong with the plane would you have even boarded? How difficult can it be to do a maintenance check before you load passengers???Make sure the plane will take off. It's not rocket science either it's working and ready to go or it's not.

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         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         This would be comical if it weren't so sad.
         "Also yes the planes should be checked just like our cars before we go driving on the road."
         What checks do you do before driving off?  See if the door opens?  I think I can assure that airlines do everything they can to make sure a plane is flyable in the few minutes they have, but to do a complete maintenance (periodically required by law) means tearing the entire plane apart.  It takes days or weeks, not minutes.
         
         So yes, it is ridiculous to ask that any airline do a complete maintenance check before each flight.  They'll do a walk around, they'll check the gauges and the operations of major controls but that's about it.  It is incredibly expensive to have a plane rejected for flight, but thankfully airlines will do it rather than fly if they anything at all wrong. 
         
         No, it's not rocket science.  It is far more complex than a simple rocket; the engines on a jet plane have far more moving parts and are far more complex than a simple rocket engine.  Few if any rockets have anywhere near the control surfaces a plane does, and fewer yet have the emergency backup systems.  A modern jet plane is an incredibly complex machine, with an astronomical number of things that can go wrong at any given time.

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      Beth37posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      True. We Americans have got to learn to take a chill pill. (Not at all picking on the op at all.) Id rather sit on the tarmac for one hour than take off with an unresolved issue and come crashing down in a field somewhere. Life's too short to stress over what you cannot control.

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         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         You may crash, you may not.  You have no control, so don't stress about it.

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