Skyway Robbery: 6 Ways the Out-of-Control Airline Industry Is Ripping Off America

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/airline-rip-offs



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1. Serving Wall Street

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Americans complain about flying the way people in communist countries used to complain about telephone service. Rarely do we reflect that the bad and limited service we endure is a result of our unregulated market economy, where corporate profits and limited government are prioritized over citizens’ access to affordable and reliable air travel.

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2. Mind-blowing fees

To illustrate a bit more what John Kay meant when he talked about destructive competition, we have Spirit Airlines.

CEO Ben Baldanza is one of America’s most thuggish corporateers, a libertarian on steroids who runs the Florida-based discount airline. Under his guidance, Spirit has perfected the art of luring unsuspecting customers with come-on fares, and then whacking them upside the head with unanticipated fees.


***SNIP

3. Terrible service

With all that money you're forking over, you might expect decent service. Mwa-ha-ha! laughs the airline executive.

In the U.S., the Department of Transportation is currently responsible for the airline industry and even has a specific division called the Aviation Consumer Protection Service that deals airline complaints (hint: always register your complaint with the DOT — airlines at least have to respond, and it costs them time and money). The number of complaints consumers filed with the DOT overall skyrocketed by one-fifth last year to 11,445 complaints, up from 9,414 in 2011.

[53tammy]

1. After many times having airlines delay flights,

or have computer crashes closing hubs without the staff to assist their customers in finding new flights or having the unexpected privilege of spending the night at the airport because the car seat you need for a taxi to a hotel is in the broken down airplane you just spent several hours on ,,,, But the first time you mess up it will cost you $$$$ I think its about time we charge them fees .

[bemildred]

2. This is why I never fly.

I can still remember when customers were not treated like cattle.

[xchrom]

3. the experience really was rather grand back in the day.

i remember pan am and united when it was an absolute delight.

airlines seemed genuinely delighted to have you as a passenger.

not, as it seems today, as a problem to be solved.

[bemildred]

4. Well, I didn't suffer from a constant wish to Mooooo at the stews back then.

And I know I'd get arrested if I did that. So it's better to just stay home where I'm safe.

[FarCenter]

5. Thank Alfred E Kahn and Jimmy Carter (and Teddy Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Ralph Nader)

While serving as Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), which regulated commercial airline fares, in 1977-1978, Kahn (a self-described "good liberal Democrat&quot [8] oversaw the deregulation of commercial air fares. As one analyst put it, Kahn "set to work with . . . other progressives" including Senator Edward Kennedy, future Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader to "dismantle anti-consumer cartels that had been sustained by government regulation."[8] At the same time the CAB was disbanded, as deregulation of commercial air fares made the agency no longer necessary. This is one of the very few examples of a regulatory agency deregulating itself out of existence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Kahn