LazyAzian

First it was Aloha Airlines…Second was ATA Airlines…and now it’s Skybus Airlines…

How many more airlines are going to shut down do you think? I’m surprised more haven’t shut down by now. The costs of fuel for them are so high now. If our gas prices are where it’s at now and rising, I can only imagine what the airlines are paying for fuel. Apparently, they’re now paying double what it was at the beginning of 2007. Imagine the outcry if we were paying double for our gas!

They’re doing all they can to reduce costs. They’re making the planes as light as possible now by taking out unused equipment on the plane, like ovens. As long as they’re not dropping their trash out while in the air, I applaud the airlines for this. It saves them fuel by making the planes lighter and thus helps the environment because less fuel’s needed. Why didn’t they do it before?? They even replaced big paper manuals with electronic books…save those trees! Again, why didn’t they do this before??

Also, another way to cut their costs affects us, the passengers. I haven’t seen all that much change in fares, BUT I have seen a lot of change in what’s offered to the passengers. When you don’t get free snacks, lunch, drinks, etc. any longer…that sucks! Now, it really is just a no-frills flight. I’d really suggest bringing your own drinks and snacks, unless you want to pay $9.00 for a sandwich (I’ve done that because I was starving).

Airlines have also lowered the weight limit for luggage. So you have to be much more careful now when you’re packing. Now, “packing light” has even more meaning. It’s not just so that you don’t have to check-in your bags, but it’s also so you don’t get charged extra because of the weight. I just went on a flight overseas a few months ago and it was a pain in the a** to pack! the reason was that it was cold where I was going, so I had to pack sweaters and big jackets. You may not think it gets heavy, but when you actually pack it…boy, does it add up quick! I think I barely made it under the limit.

Now…remember those days when the person picking you up at the airport asked “How was the flight?” and you told them “It was real nice, there was no one on the flight and I was able to lay down across the seats.” Those will probably now be “memories” and only memories. Gone are the days of empty planes. The airlines will be packing us in like sardines now and cancelling flights if they see that there aren’t going to be enough people on the flights. Don’t believe me? Well, it just happened to me a couple months ago. I was ready to go on a flight and two days before my outbound flight, I receive a call from the airline saying that it was cancelled. It took me awhile, but I was able to get them to basically confirm they cancelled the flight because not enough people were on it. They wanted to pack the other flights to the same destination. So it screwed with my travel plans. They obviously didn’t say it explicitly, but I asked questions where they could only say “Yes” or “No.”

So now, we get to sit in packed flights starving. But maybe the starving part is good, because then people will lose weight…thus saving fuel too! Maybe that was their plan all along. I’ve gotten stuck between two fat people before, just like in the movies, and it’s so not fun. I’ve gotten stuck between people that smell like crap too (why can’t people shower?). And between people who “think” they smell good because of all the cologne and perfume they put on. Maybe I should start bringing gas masks with me onto a plane from now on. If people are not going to be allowed onto planes for inappropriate clothes, why can’t they kick off these people who stink up the whole plane? The girl was eventually allowed onto the plane on a compromise to cover up more, but why can’t they also make a compromise with the “stinkers” and get them to take a shower?