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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » Flying is overrated (AKA: Northwest Airlines YOU SUCK!) (Page 6)

 
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Author Topic: Flying is overrated (AKA: Northwest Airlines YOU SUCK!)
Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99


 - posted 07-17-2007 09:31 AM      Profile for Brad Miller   Author's Homepage   Email Brad Miller       Edit/Delete Post 
Most people I see chatting on their cell phones as soon as the plane lands do it to alert the person picking them up to the fact that they have landed and to make sure they are there and verify where they will meet. The others are checking their voice mail messages and reponding to any emergency that happened while they were in the air. (Remember many people are "on call".)

Also bear in mind it is much easier to use that 5 minute window to make that phone call than it is to leave the plane and try to juggle the phone in one hand while carrying the luggage with the other hand, all the while trying to pay attention to the signs to figure out where to go. That 5 minute window is the perfect opportunity to use a phone.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 07-17-2007 11:16 AM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Brad Miller
Of course I fly back out again this morning. It's with American this time though, so we'll see how that goes
Well, Let us know if it is anything like it says in this article.... You might wanna think twice about checking any luggage or tools!

______


Top 5 Reasons Not To Fly American

With air travel safety at the forefront of media speculation, the basis on which an airline survives today may truly be in the customer service offered. With airlines struggling to maintain security, while remaining profitable, the airline industry continuously strives to become a more efficient working machine. Of the domestic carriers, however, there is one, in particular, with a history of mistakes both in safety, security and customer service. Granted, this is one of the largest carriers in the industry. However, the ratio of passengers to complaints is disproportionate to the competition thereby indicating this airline may continue to suffer and eventually lose ground altogether. Who is this domestic airline? American Airlines.

Top FIVE Reasons to Avoid American Airlines:

Consumer Complaint Index:
In the January – June 2006 USDOT analysis, American Airlines ranked highest among 20 domestic carriers, in complaints. With the highest number of passengers, this figure was out of proportion when considering the second ranked carrier, in terms of passengers, reported only 83 complaints compared to American Airline’s whopping 580. In June of 2006, this figure was, alone, 100.

Flight “Problems”:
Again, as reported by the USDOT, for the period January – June 2006, American Airlines reports the greatest number of flight problems at a rate of 146 with 25 of these in June 2006.

Discrimination:
The USDOT report, for the period January – June 2006, also reports American Airlines, when compared with all domestic carriers, sustained the greatest number of discrimination complaints.

Lost Luggage:
For American Airlines, this is a severely compromising issue in terms of customer service. While it is understandable, when considering the number of bags flown each day, luggage will be lost. However, in the case of American Airlines, who, once again, carries the highest incidence rate, it is not so much the lost luggage as it is the lack of customer care or customer service in handling the retrievel of the luggage. There are many reports of individuals who have waited up to four days to have luggage returned to them. In this age of heightened security, one has to wonder where the bag is for four days?

Worst On Time Record:
American Airlines carries one of the worst on-time records in the industry. Again, considering the number of flights, this record is still sadly gruesome in ratio to the level of business. In fact, this on-time record may be inversely proportionate to the lost luggage. As reported, luggage does not make a profit. On time records do. When American Airlines employees are faced with the dilemma of luggage verses taking off, the plane will win out and take off without all luggage loaded.

Personally, I have flown American Airlines many times. Without knowing these facts, I strongly feel American Airlines is the worst domestic airline carrier available. For this reason, I will pay whatever additional monies need to be paid to avoid this domestic airline carrier altogether. When considering the facts as outlined, it is no wonder my instincts were right. American Airlines needs to work out the issues “at home” before competing with the big boys.

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Joshua Waaland
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 800
From: Cleveland, Ohio
Registered: Dec 1999


 - posted 07-17-2007 12:10 PM      Profile for Joshua Waaland   Email Joshua Waaland   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Brad Miller
Most people I see chatting on their cell phones as soon as the plane lands do it to alert the person picking them up to the fact that they have landed and to make sure they are there and verify where they will meet. The others are checking their voice mail messages and reponding to any emergency that happened while they were in the air. (Remember many people are "on call".)

Also bear in mind it is much easier to use that 5 minute window to make that phone call than it is to leave the plane and try to juggle the phone in one hand while carrying the luggage with the other hand, all the while trying to pay attention to the signs to figure out where to go. That 5 minute window is the perfect opportunity to use a phone.

Brad pretty much hit the nail on the head here. I too used to think it was ridiculous how people were so attached to their cell phones. Then I went into sales. The cell phone is my lifeline to my customers and our office. In today's society anyone can make anything and the difference (especially in sales) is the the service you give. If I am away from my phone for a few hours my customers flip out. In our industury if your machine goes down, your whole operation goes down costing you thousands and thousands of dollars.

Since I started here eight years ago I have watched the number of overnight packages going out daily quadruple. We have become a got to have it now society. A.K.A. Just In Time Service. If I don't get their problem solved then they will buy my competitor's product. You can spend years cultivating a relationship with a customer and lose them in minutes with one mistake.

There are also practical reasons that Brad pointed out. If you are on the back of the plane you might as well accept the fact that you are going to be there for fifteen minutes while everybody ahead of you takes their sweet time getting their carry-ons and getting off the plane. This is what really pisses me off. I always make it a point to put my bag within arm reach when I stand up so that I can grab my stuff and go. I hate it when somebody takes their bloody sweet time getting off the plane. Of course since Southwest lets old people and children board first they always sit in the front. They tend to hold up everyone at the load off. I think they should be made to get off last so that everyone else isn't waiting for them.

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Brad Miller
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From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99


 - posted 07-17-2007 12:32 PM      Profile for Brad Miller   Author's Homepage   Email Brad Miller       Edit/Delete Post 
Hmmmmm, not a baby in sight, I am in seat D with nobody booked for A, B (there is no C), E and F seats on my row (exit row) based upon my electronic check-in and we are about to board. Could it be? Could it be?

I probably just jinxed it.

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005


 - posted 07-17-2007 04:17 PM      Profile for Louis Bornwasser   Author's Homepage   Email Louis Bornwasser   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Perhaps, Brad, you've used up your supply of bad luck; making way for a dose of baby=free good luck. Or not! Louis

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

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From: Denver, Colorado
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 - posted 07-17-2007 05:19 PM      Profile for Joe Redifer   Author's Homepage   Email Joe Redifer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
So how did you people survive without cell phones before they were mainstream? How did the world go on? Do you get withdrawals when you are without it? I can understand using it for business (though I'd hate to have a job where I'm constantly on the phone... talk about boring), but I see a lot of other people attached to their phones for no reason. If your company's machine breaks down, why do they call sales? You need smarter customers and better machines.

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Allison Parsons
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From: East Peoria, IL
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 - posted 07-17-2007 05:43 PM      Profile for Allison Parsons   Author's Homepage   Email Allison Parsons   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Joe, I couldn't agree with you more.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

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From: Forsyth, Montana
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 - posted 07-17-2007 05:58 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
My day job is in retail. There was a time when sales reps would actually come and see us. Now they call on cell phones while they're driving and I HATE IT. You're trying to ask a question and their call drops, or there's static.

There have been times when I'm glad we have a cell (my wife has one, I don't) but by and large I think we all got along just fine without them and it wouldn't break my heart if the terrorists came in and took them all. Talk about disabling our society.

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Joshua Waaland
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From: Cleveland, Ohio
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 - posted 07-17-2007 10:54 PM      Profile for Joshua Waaland   Email Joshua Waaland   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Joe Redifer
If your company's machine breaks down, why do they call sales? You need smarter customers and better machines.

If only it were that easy. Sales people are the customer's main contact. We are a small company with only one repair guy that is fairly new since he replaced me when I went into sales. I know far more than he does about servicing the equipment and most people expect you to come to them to fix the problem.

Another problem is that most people using our equipment are not educated and rarely even have a high school diploma or even speak english. Add to that, the equipment is used for welding which is one of the worst environments you can put any piece of equipment into. No amount of engineering is going to protect a machine from a 40 foot fall from the side of a ship hull to the ground, from a 15 ton steel plate falling on it from an overhead crane or from the bombardment of high frequency waves, welding spatter, grinding sparks and metal dust in the circuitry. Some of the guys using this stuff are just plain dumb. I was at a steel company two weeks ago in Chicago and the overhead crane operator almost hit me in the head with a 1 ton magnet. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and ducked just in time. Even with a hard hat on I would have been killed or seriously injured at the rate of speed he was moving that thing. The moron never even sounded a horn (like he is required to do by OSHA) or never tried to avoid me. Then he had the balls to get pissed at me for being in his way even though he was at fault.

Regardless, the fact is that our society has gotten used to a certain level of service and timeliness. If you don't provide the service someone else will. This means maximizing your time and being one step ahead of the competition even if that means turning your cell phone on right after a flight.

I don't particularly like how fast paced the world has become but if you want to survive, you have to adapt. The cell phone junkies used to annoy me too. At least I have to be on it. When I get to my hotel at night the last thing I want to do is talk to my wife on the phone. Of course this makes her mad because she doesn't understand that I spend most of my day on the damn thing.

[ 07-26-2007, 12:39 AM: Message edited by: Joshua Waaland ]

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Leo Enticknap
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From: Loma Linda, CA
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 - posted 07-18-2007 05:05 PM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Agreed with Allison and Joe on mobile phones. I just got to Amsterdam yesterday (no babies on the plane - yay!), and in this crazy city they've got people riding bicycles in the city traffic with one hand riding the bike and the other clamping a mobile phone to their ear! I can't wait to see someone doing this and getting mown down by a tram or riding straight into a canal when they're concentrating too much on the phone call.

I had a similar experience to Allison's last October, but with an brilliant twist in the tail. When we landed at Anchorage, the flight attendant made the customary 'you can use your cellphones now' announcement as we were taxiing in. About 250 hands dived into pockets and bags for phones ... and then most of them discovered that their contracts didn't allow roaming in Alaska and Hawaii, and that they couldn't make any calls! [Big Grin] Much swearing then went on as it dawned on everyone that they'd have to queue up at a phone booth in the terminal...

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Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!

Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
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 - posted 07-18-2007 06:03 PM      Profile for Paul Mayer   Author's Homepage   Email Paul Mayer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hmmmm. May be going to Fairbanks for a couple of days next month. I'll have to go read through all that Cingular (The New AT&T) roaming charges fine print I signed off on...

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

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From: Annapolis, MD
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 - posted 07-18-2007 08:49 PM      Profile for Steve Guttag   Email Steve Guttag   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
You should see the looks we get when we have brought Gary (our little one) into 1st-class. Back then, he really was a good airplane traveler. We always got compliments after the flight and people asking us if we drugged him...nope...just good timing with his nap/bed times and ensuring that he had something to eat during take offs and landings to clear his ears.

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

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From: Loma Linda, CA
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 - posted 07-20-2007 03:20 PM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Paul: During my week in Anchorage, a lot of people were bitching like mad that their contracts didn't allow roaming outside the Lower 48, and that they'd either have to use phone booths or buy a 'pay as you go' SIM card for their stay. The conference screenings were brilliant: because very few visitors' phones worked, they were completely uninterrupted by ringing mobiles. Presumably the roaming facility is there if you book it in advance (it is for me in mainland Europe), but if you just turn up assuming the phone will work, that's when the fun starts...

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Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!

Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000


 - posted 07-20-2007 05:26 PM      Profile for Paul Mayer   Author's Homepage   Email Paul Mayer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Looks like I'm covered in Fairbanks (Cingular Nation 450 plan using a Moto KRZR quad-band GSM phone). So won't need a local SIM card this time, though I am looking at such things when I start traveling to the EU next year. Now debating as to whether I take the damnable thing with me at all this trip! [beer]

I'm not in management yet so I have no mandate to be available on my days off - just 24/7 availability on my duty days. Cell phones - the electronic ball & chain.

Sorta back on topic, we don't have a station agreement with NWA so they won't be a candidate for this trip. [Big Grin]

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Leo Enticknap
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From: Loma Linda, CA
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 - posted 07-21-2007 01:09 PM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I understand that Europe uses a completely different transmission system (GSM900) from the US (DCS1900): so if your phone isn't GSM compatible, you'll need a whole new phone rather than just a SIM card.

Not a major tragedy, though - in Britain, basic but perfectly usable mobiles can be had from the equivalent of around $50. Given that all charges to a UK mobile are paid by whoever originates the call (no charges are incurred by the phone receiving the call), if the main reason you want one is for other people to be able to contact you then that's all you'll end up needing to pay.

Edit - just re-read Paul's post in which he says that his phone is GSM; sorry. Just got home from Amsterdam, and no, I haven't been spending too much time in their so-called 'coffee shops'!

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