John Del Signore, gothamist.com: An American Airlines flight from Miami to LaGuardia Sunday night was canceled due to the passengers' collective rudeness. Fox 5 has it that a flight crew was so late getting to the plane that upon arrival they were greeted with raucous booing from the impatient passengers. So the crew decided to teach the rabble a lesson in manners and refused to work the flight for the “hostile mob.”A replacement flight crew could not be assembled, and the passengers were put up in a hotel for the night, which was nice except for all the “barbed-wire all around it,” according to one witness. They didn’t end up getting to LaGuardia until the following evening, on a flight that was presumably marked by pin drop silence and perfect etiquette. But American wasn’t done with them yet – as one final kick in the teeth, the airline sent their luggage to JFK by “mistake.”
LSB: Let me get this right - nickled and dimed for things that were formerly included in the price of a ticket (luggage handling, curb service, meals/snacks, drinks), limited overhead baggage space (because of the luggage handling fees – who was the Einstein that thought that up?), delayed and held in a confined space for hours, rude attendants, and finally lost luggage – it is any wonder the passengers booed? Any retailer knows that the customer may not always be right, but they are always the customer. It is not only supreme arrogance but bad business to treat customers like disposable tissues. Given the rising ticket costs and decreasing services of the airlines, the traffic and parking fees at the airport, the long lines at security, and the unpredictability of departures, I’ll be checking out the Amtrak schedule for my next vacation.
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