A new survey has found that travelers in the US are pissed off: For the first quarter of 2008, the US airlines collectively earned a 62 percent approval rating, their lowest since the September 11 attacks shook up the airline industry back in 2001.
The results of this latest survey reflect widespread dissatisfaction among frequent fliers. The lead expert behind the numbers told Reuters that air travel in America is "getting worse" because a lack of flight options allows poor service. Some airlines received survey scores in the low 50s, which makes them less popular than the IRS. Then again, as Chris Elliott says, "you need a survey to tell you that?"
Given all those new passport woes during 2007, we're sure plenty of you have sob stories about how long it took to get a new passport. But spare a thought for Maria Kostova in Macedonia who had to wait more than 20 years to finally get her right to travel.
Part of Maria's problem was she was born in 1898, and the Macedonian authorities had misplaced the birth records from the nineteenth century. So when she applied for a passport back in the 80s, they said she didn't officially exist and couldn't have one.
Recently, the Macedonians unearthed an old archive and told Maria they could now issue a passport. Whether or not a 110-year-old woman still plans to go abroad on vacation is a question the authorities haven't stopped to consider, and Maria simply said "It's a nice surprise." We're not gonna print what we'd say if we'd had to wait 20 years for a passport.
By now it's safe to say that this is the summer for air traffic delays. You know, the ones that have toddlers screaming, toilets overflowing and calls for a passengers' bill of rights? The seemingly endless string of ground delays and mysterious "weather" patterns that back up flight hubs keeps on keeping on this summer, and as far as we can see, it ain't gettin' better yet.
Of course, we've also heard that this summer is no different than any other--it's just that we're hearing more about it this time around. But the stats quite simply tell a different story: This is the worst summer since record-keeping started. Of course, we don't have to tell you that while your flight's stuck on the taxiway for 10 hours.
So now Howie Mandel would have to say, "OK, the board is getting worse. However, you are going to have to run through all those flights to have the on-time flight be in your case"--audience golf claps, you flip the channel.
13 out of 14 JetBlue flights out of Boston's Logan Airport last night, were delayed. Yes, it was raining, and at one point the rain did turn into sleet for a half hour or so. We checked Continental's flights and they were not having any noticeable issues last night.
Our flight? Scheduled for a 7:50 departure ended up leaving just before 9:30. To the pilots credit he did make up a ton of time in the air and we ended up landing only thirty minutes late--not bad at all.
One more thing to note, the buzz in the JetBlue terminal "I told you we shouldn't be flying JetBlue--they are never on time". Now we know airport delays are par for the course, and watching DirectTV plus having extra leg room sure does help make up for any delays, but at some point JetBlue is going to have to figure out where the bottleneck is at JFK and BOS and right the ship or plenty of customers are going to change the channel.
Howie Mandel would have to work extra hard to be overly encouraging about this board.
Seven out of ten flights delayed out of Boston's Logan Airport last night. Oh, and don't be fooled by the "status" column. These flights left later than posted.
Our flight? Scheduled for a 7:45 departure ended up boarding at around 9:15 and arriving over two hours late. Why? The delays were categorized as "east coast wind delays", not much can be done about that, however, the delays did not seem to have such a widespread effect on other airlines. Furthering the delay--a gimpy flight attendant was a last minute scratch claiming a sprained ankle, though once we got on board, after an able, healthy substitute attendant was located, it was announced that the attendant was "sick". Sick with a sprained ankle? Or simply sick of JetBlue's onslaught of delays and cancellations.
Either way, JetBlue can't catch a break these days.
