So much for Democratized Travel. I’m actually tired of cheap air fares. Yawn, easy long distance travel via planes needs to be a thing of the past and I’ll tell you why. Costs and Convenience.
I like convenient air travel, convenient, unhurried, non-volume based air travel.
Air Travel (even as late as the early 90s) was still kind of special. It was a comfortable and expensive way to travel to a far-off location. It was expensive and comfortable and they took great care of you. You were an important customer because you paid so much and expected to be treated as a customer; not another chunk of cattle.
As prices have dropped and “competition” took hold, service has taken a nose dive and air travel has become as valuable as high speed BUS travel. This has to change.
First and foremost, all air lines should cut flights by 50 % and increase the price of all tickets by 50%, right there. Across the board. All flights should now cost 50% more. This will offset fuel and labor costs as they are now and set those remaining flights to a profit basis.
Now, you wonder about plummeting ridership, due to the increase in price, right? How can this make sense for the airlines? It should balance out in the end, the smaller airlines will end up consigned to commuter/airBUS style service; daily repeat flights between major centers. These will end up being expensive, but reduced usage (perhaps less than twice a week) will make it into a boutique service, reducing security loads too.
Imagine the lines at airports having their populations halved! The TSA could focus on real security, instead of high volume annoyance.
Imagine 50% less planes in the air! The savings on fuel would be amazing!
Now, what about freight? With less passenger flights, won’t freight suffer? With fuel prices dropping (due to a 50% drop in demand) freight gets cheaper; meaning import and export prices can stabelize until real alternatives become viable.
As for business travel. Why? You can ship whole operations overseas! Why do you need to go anywhere in person? Let’s put the sales and personal politics of business in the past and save long-distance air travel for absolute needs and VERY special events. We have the technology to allow for simultaneous meetings via cameras and video screens with people around the world, lets leverage that.
To sum up, I am ephatically stating that we have to return to an age when air travel was expensive and exclusive and available only to the affluent, the vacationers and the wealthy. Like it should have remained, and I’ll see you in the lounge on a 747 for a free drink and a complimentary meal. Cool?
No more flying for me
Published by NiteMayr on December 26, 2009“These new measures will affect all flights from Canada to the United States and include not only screening at the security checkpoint but also searches at the boarding gate,” spokeswoman Suzanne Perseo told Canwest News Service. “This includes 100 per cent physical search of person and 100 per cent physical search of carry-on baggage and personal items.”
Air Canada also said in a release that new rules will also limit activities by passengers and crew while in U.S. airspace. “The final hour of flight customers must remain seated, will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps,” the country’s largest air carrier said, citing new U.S. Transportation Security Administration policies.
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