re: OT - United Airlines situation

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the crew would have not been counted as rested enough or some such? (going by memory)

also - a 4 hour drive = 1.5 hour flight - seems that would have made the crew miss their next job?

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Yeah, we discussed a bit. Certainly could have caused them to time out/not enough time off before next trip *but* I believe at least one location indicated the next flight wasn't until 8:30/9am the next morning for those 4 crew members. Additionally, see more recent posts that indicate that there was another flight leaving after this one. They could have bumped from that flight prior to boarding, making the whole thing a lot easier.

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If tarzan ordered a #3 from McDonalds, sat down with his food, and then McDonald's told him to leave without his food, offering him his money back plus $800, and tarzan refuse to leave, so McDonald's call police, and tarzan resist police, so police beat the shite out of tarzan, is this McDonald's liability for police beat the shite out of tarzan?

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Deeprig9, your post reminds me of the time the Spring Street McDonalds in Macon called the police to deal with me.

It was late night and I stopped at Mickey D's to get a quarterpounder. When I pulled in I noticed two school buses in the parking lot.

After I got my food I turned to the empty main seating area and noticed that it was blocked off with highchairs. I looked in the side seating area and every table was full of children who were having fun throwing mustard and catsup packets at each other.

To enjoy a peaceful meal I moved a highchair, sat in the main area and starting my meal. There was a security guard in the joint. He walked over and said that I couldn't sit in the area that had already been cleaned because it was blocked off. I told the man that I would leave a clean area and that I couldn't sit in the kiddie area. When the guy said that I had to move I told him that I would as soon as I finished my meal. The rent-a-cop turned red and started trembling. I got through eating and walked outside just as the cop car pulled up. The cop said that McDonalds had the right to make me move. I said OK and drove home.

So only one time in my long life have I run afoul of the law. I learned my lesson--go to Burger King.

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No, I am arguing your analogy was flawed, and I presented an unflawed analogy. The point is, he already had the product he paid for, which was his seat, just as a person buying a TV would already have the product he paid for.

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People confuse what they are paying for. You are not paying for a seat. You are paying for transportation. Period. Nobody can take a seat off the airplane with them. You do not buy a seat. The doctor did not already have what he had paid for. This is really why changing the subject and saying "It's like...." doesn't really work. (Don't get me wrong....I am guilty of doing this)

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In court, the cause of action is against police. Not McDonald's.

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This was my thought, too. I wasn't positive, because sometimes the law can get a bit murky, though.

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You are paying for class of service and transportation.

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Basically you are just paying for transportation, and it is time sensitive. Obviously you have a seat but it has an expiration time similar to a football game. When the game is over the ticket value drops to zero. If you pay more for first class you are just paying a fee of marketing.

I got caught up in that Delta fiasco last week coming back from an international flight and had to drive the last leg back to Cola in a Hyundai Sonata. I don't think they had a flight for me for 2 days after I came back.

But...I just got an email saying that I got 20,000 miles. Nice.

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But...I just got an email saying that I got 20,000 miles. Nice.

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Most airlines really do want to keep their passengers happy and treat them well. Sometimes they do things that seem unreasonable, but really are not.

For instance...when you hear of a plane staying on the runway for 1-2 hours, people get fired up, and want to know why they don't return to the gate and let the passengers off to stretch. Seems reasonable.

However, if they return to the gate the plane loses it's place and they go to the back of the line to take off. If people get off the plane, and a window opens in the weather, they then have to make announcements to get the people reboarded, then go to the back of the line of waiting aircraft to take off. If that window closes (More bad weather comes in) the whole process starts over again.

The airlines could do a better job of keeping the passengers informed, however, they depend upon the FAA tower to tell them what is going on, and the tower is a madhouse under the best of conditions. If the airline tries to tell passengers what they THINK is going to happen, and then it doesn't, people feel they've been lied to and they get hostile.

It's a tough industry to be in. Sometimes the airlines deserve the criticism they get...sometimes they don't.

Somebody in the thread mentioned about a flight attendant not giving them a drink while being on the runway for an hour. The reason they are hesitant about that is all cups, etc has to be taken up and put away for safety before an airplane can take off. If they pass out drinks, snacks not knowing when they will be cleared to take off, it could delay the takeoff by 10-15 minutes while they go back through the cabin getting the cups. If you see the Flight Attendants passing out drinks during a delay, you be assured you will be on the ground for awhile.

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I will say that they sometimes pass out drinks to first class while still at the gate. They take up the trash when they close the door, though.

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Delta still gives out pre flight drinks in First Class... it's one of the last bastions of civility when flying commercial.

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Yeah, everything has changed...and not for the better.
It used be break-even for the airlines was somewhere around 48%, meaning that if you had 48% of your seats filled you broke even, and made money after that. Now, it is somewhere around 78-80% last I heard. (It changes almost daily due to fuel prices, etc) but usually does not change a whole lot. The reason it is harder is the price of tickets (Believe it or not) has not kept pace with inflation, employee salaries and benefits have gone up, fuel prices are so volatile....a lot of things have gone into it. Since there are more people flying you don't get the same level of serve you used to get. Flight attendants and ground personnel are stretched thin, so people are a whole lot tireder,and less friendly/helpful.

Things probably won't change a whole lot, because instead of getting the high end customers and business people you used to get, the airlines are now getting more of the greyhound bus crowd. they spend their money according to cost. The business traveler, who was once the backbone of the industry is suffering the most.

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Even at 48% they were not making boatloads of money, because their load factors were typically around 50-53% due to higher fares and higher seat capacity. The airlines were flying more aircraft.

I am not familiar with what happened, as I don't follow stuff real closely.

Did you have to rent a car because of something Delta did? If so, I would tell them that you are not happy about that. (Even if it was your decision to rent the car, if they were running late, or whatever and you decided to rent) Let them know. You never can tell, they might cover the entire cost of the rental. It's worth a try. I would even go so far as to just ask fro them to cover it. Just a suggestion.

ALWAYS be nice, though. When people came at me screaming I never gave them anything. When people were polite and friendly, I would sometimes give them stuff without their asking.