Long, long ago -- the 60s -- when I was but a tyke, I looked forward to summer for one reason: the big vacation. For our family, it was almost always the same thing: we'd fly to Southern California to spend time with my grandmother in La Jolla and then to my great uncle's place in Anaheim. And Anaheim meant Disneyland.
For a middle class kid from the Chicago suburbs, jetting out to a beachside hotel in San Diego was so cool. We had to wear our Sunday school clothes on the airplane. Flying was a special event, and was treated by us and everyone else accordingly.
Alas, times have changed. And it's still getting worse. Let's go look for your lost luggage below the fold.
The cost for lost luggage just went up. American Airlines will be hitting you up for $15 for the first bag you check, each way. This comes on top of their existing policy of charging $50 for the second bag. No more "first one's free" for the beleaguered flyer.
About the time the TSA began to insist on teeny-tiny-toiletries in a one-quart ziplock bag, many people began to check their bags rather than go through the added indignity of being admonished for being a half-ounce over the lotion limit. So much so that airlines tacked on a charge for additional bags. But, still, one bag free seemed a given. No more.
This is just the latest way the financially-strapped airline industry is trying to stay alive. To some degree, I can understand. Jet fuel costs are nearly double what they were last year according to the IATA, a trade group for the industry. This is a game of survival at this point, and the alternative isn't pretty. Just ask the employees, shareholders, lenders and stranded passengers impacted by the recent failures of Frontier, ATA, Aloha and Skybus.
But, as yesterday's Wall Street Journal wire service reported, passengers are finding their own passive-aggressive ways at striking back in ways small and utterly disgusting.
"Increasingly, passengers are certain that the airlines are not on their side and actually don't care anything about them," said Irwin Sarason, a University of Washington psychologist in Seattle who has studied passenger behavior. "In that kind of environment, it isn't too surprising that people will not exercise the restraints they normally would."
[...]
Steve Cuzzone, finance director for a Birmingham, Ala., manufacturer, has found old french fries, a festering baby diaper, half a hamburger, used Kleenex and wet napkins in seat-back pockets. He put a book in once and pulled it out to find the bottom covered in a melted candy bar.
"If you sit in a middle seat, never look in - those are the riskiest ones," he said, noting that children often sit between parents and that passengers will dispose of their grossest things in an unoccupied middle seat.
[...]
Adding to the dehumanizing of travel is the advent of kiosks, self-service check-in and other money-saving automation. With little interaction with airline employees, customers have little emotional connection to airlines, so why worry about trashing their airplanes?
Ready to book that flight yet? Me neither.
Even with gas prices being what they are, it is enough to make many people reconsider the big adventure and look for more affordable and less irritating day's drive alternatives. Yesterday's Wisconsin State Journal was looking at the bright side for in-state destinations. If you happen to live in or next to Wisconsin, places like the Wisconsin Dells, with all it's water parks and other family attractions, suddenly look a lot better than flying the whole gang to Orlando or Southern California.
Along the same line of local logic, the gambling-inclined can lose their money just as easily at the state's Native American gaming places as they can in Las Vegas.
I'm not ready to make a trip to the Dells, lord knows. As an Illinois transplant, I've spent a lot of my life making fun of the Dells. But the big tourist destinations are worried... big time.
As the Associated Press notes:
A new Rand McNally survey says two-thirds of Americans planning road trips this summer are either altering their plans to shorten their trips or canceling altogether.
[...]
In the casino capital of Las Vegas, things already are tough.
Room occupancy rates have fallen slightly, forcing casinos to lower hotel room prices. Gambling giant MGM Mirage Inc. and local casino operator Station Casinos have cut their work forces. Las Vegas Sands, which opened a massive new casino on the Strip in January, unexpectedly swung to a loss of $11.2 million in the first quarter of the year.
The airlines know people are at the tipping point. The hassles of flying, the indignities of window-dressing "security," the surcharges and the add-ons, the delays, and the overall crappy service are making people think long and hard about flying. Business and first class travel, the real money-maker from business travel, is down. As the economy continues to sour, travel is a controllable cost for businesses large and small... and suddenly webinars and services like gotomeeting.com are pretty popular. This is leading airline to announce massive layoffs and service cuts. At the same time they were telling people it will cost you to check even one bag, American said it would lay off thousands of workers and cut service by 11-12%.
A summer without that big summer vacation? That's hard to consider for many people, especially those with kids. Flying doesn't look like an attractive option for all the reasons above. But with $4-a-gallon gasoline prices, the idea of loading up the family truckster and driving across the country may actually cost the same and be every bit as stressful as flying. Then there's the whole economy thing. Energy costs are driving up the costs of just about everything that lands in the grocery cart. Family vacation budgets, like business travel costs, can be considered optional compared to true necessities.
Have I sufficiently bummed you out yet? I'm sorry. I just kept thinking about the stories I was reading about the airlines' woes, traveller dissatisfaction, gas prices, and all that. Then I would wonder if, "adjusted for inflation," going to Southern California from Chicago every summer would be possible for a one-income family of five given today;'s circumstances. Sadly, I rather doubt it.
On the bright side, I have already paid for my Netroots Nation registration and I used frequent flyer miles for my airfare to Austin (but will be forking over baggage fees to American, I suppose). So while it isn't going to Disneyland, I'll be with a whole lot of you guys so that's more than enough fun for me (if last year's gathering is any indication!).
cross-posted on Kerfuffle