Jaunted

I am against all government interaction in the private sector, but something needs to be done. Everyone blames the airlines but I think part of the problem is the difficulty that the different air authorities (airports, FAA, TSA, etc.) place on the airlines that forces airlines to decide to keep everyone on board and uncomfortable. Anyway, something needs to be done. 30 minutes should be the max ground time. I think the biggest problem is with the current boarding process. If airlines told everyone to go in, sit down, and shut up, boarding could easily be completed for regional-737/A320s in 10-15 minutes. Have al fuel, food, etc. on board. Boarding processes take far too long, which usually leads to the delays that we passengers experience in the air. When people start taking forever boarding the plane I usually yell at them and say "you'll be able to get your bag in 10 minutes when we get up in the air...sit down and shut the f up"....i make lots of friends when i fly :)

There's no excuse for keeping people incarcerated like this in unsanitary conditions. The captain of that Continental flight clearly lacks the wisdom to be in such a position of authority. This is an act of criminal stupidity. The babies may have begun to smell bad, but think about how they must have felt! If I had been on that plane with my toddler, I would have called 911 repeatedly until they were forced to arrest me. Anything to get the hell out of there.

Even if you stand up in the aisle you still have to crouch to fit. Not like being on a 747 would make the whole experience better, but these regional jets are for short hauls only--not for overnight RV trips.

Calling 911 is actually a good idea, or faking a medical emergency. Not that I would do that...

Airport security requirements are crafted in the dumbest ways possible, both because TSA personnel genuinely can't be trusted as anything but automatons and because the fear of offending constituents prevents smart, targeted regulations. The result is a bevy of dumb, go-through-the-motions bureaucratic nonsense that takes away the option for common sense because the people in charge *have none*. If we had a slightly smarter system manned by slightly smarter people, there would be room to say "OK, well obviously this is a place where we can make an exception."