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Originally Posted by wdfifteen
What do we demand that is unreasonable?
Don't make sit on the Tarmac waiting to take off for more than half an hour
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Ok, so here's the deal. Waiting on the ramp or taxiway for takeoff clearance is not the choice of the airline. It's always due to congestion on the ground, congestion in the air, or severe weather somewhere along the route of flight or at the destination that causes Air Traffic Control to slow down or stop the flow of traffic. It might be clear, warm, and beautiful at LAX, but the weather in Chicago or Dallas or Atlanta might be complete hell. ATC then restricts or even temporarily stops the flow of traffic into the airport with bad weather. If your jet is on the ground, it's called a Ground Stop by ATC. The analogy is a car stuck in Urban traffic at 5PM on a Friday, with a bad accident a couple of miles up ahead of you. You might WISH you could drive straight through it, but it just isn't gonna happen. Trust me, jets that are not moving are not making money for the airline, and all of us HATE it, but it is what it is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wdfifteen
Make the seats wide enough that the 300 pound guy sitting next to me fits and doesn't slop over onto my seat.
Give me enough room in front of my seat that my knees don't press against the seat in front of me.
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What you're describing is Business class seating - bigger seats with more leg room. If you want that sort of room, buy the Business class seat every time. If an airline were to create coach class seats wide enough for your 300 pound seatmate to not spill over, the typical narrow body jet would be 2+2 seating, not 3+3. To increase the legroom so that everybody would have plenty of knee space would require also removing quite a few rows of those now 2+2 (instead of 3+3) seats. Do you see where this is headed? Sounds a lot like Business class, doesn't it. So, we take out two seats per row, and remove maybe 5 complete rows of seats out of a 25 row coach cabin to give you more legroom, which is the only way to do it. So, a 150 seat coach cabin (25 rows X 6 seats per row) has now become a 80 seat cabin (20 rows X 4 seats). Almost half of the revenue of the coach cabin has been removed. But wait, we don't want to give up those low prices for seats (lowest ever when adjusted for inflation), so the airlines will just have to eat the lost revenue.
So, again, if you want a bigger seat with more legroom, buy a Business class seat. Really.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wdfifteen
Provide cabin crew that help passengers.
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Cabin Crew in Business and First class will generally make a serious effort to help their passengers. In a coach class cabin, with 150 to 180 people all trying to get into their seats, find room in the overhead bins, etc., how do you expect a Flight attendant to come ambling up the aisle ('scuse me, pardon me, 'scuse me, coming through) to help you stow your bag? Not only that, generally, most men are larger and stronger than most FA's. Why would you need help from them? Load you own bag into the overhead bin and sit down so that those around you might also be able to do the same, and allow an on-time departure. I mean, honestly, think about it. If a Flight Attendant's duties should include those similar to a bellhop at a hotel, then the airline would need twenty or more FA's for a 150 passenger cabin, and the aisles would need to be about twice as wide as they are now, in order to allow them to meander back and forth hefting bags into the bins while passengers are also standing in said aisles (wait, it might be with the 2+2 seating I described earlier).
This might lead to higher crew costs though, which might increase the cost of your ticket significantly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wdfifteen
Maintain posted schedules.
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Let me remind you that an airline would LOVE to maintain their set schedule and NEVER be late, ever. And they usually ARE on time. In fact, most flights arrive at their destinations EARLY. The reality of airline travel through a rather congested three dimensional environment, with good weather and bad weather spread all over the country and world - which has a huge impact on flow rates into an airport - and an airline's REQUIREMENT to comply with FAA directives concerning maintenance and crew rest, oftentimes interfere with that perfect world of every flight is always on time. Being on time, every time is just not going to happen in the real world we live in and on.
So yes, given reality, your demands are at the very least, unrealistic.