Something desperately needs fixing with airlines in the United States.
An otherwise wonderful trip abroad this month was marred at both the front and back ends by an incompetent and rude airline, which was exacerbated by at least one reversion by the Transportation Security Administration to its bad old habits.
Leaving from Mobile, Alabama, we changed planes in Atlanta, with what should have been an ample layover of nearly three hours. Alas, without explanation or apparent good reason, the incoming airplane that we were to transfer to was an hour late to the gate despite perfectly clear skies throughout the nation. Then it took not 10 minutes, not 30, but a full hour to “clean the plane” for boarding. Then came more unexplained time on the runway.
Result: To make yet another connector in Amsterdam, for which plenty of time had been allotted, we had to sprint through that Dutch airport O.J.-Simpson style to make the final flight to Rome. Alas, the U.S. airline wasn’t as quick as we were: Our luggage didn’t arrive at our hotel rooms for nearly 48 more hours.
On the way back, the same airline again was almost insanely late in loading passengers. Then someone pulled a plug too early (the captain’s own explanation), and all the power went out. After power was restored, it happened again. And, yes, again. Final result: We took off two full hours late.
Arriving in Atlanta, the problems worsened. TSA’s system requires passengers to pick up luggage there, even if they are to be rechecked immediately to a final destination. It doesn’t account for the airline taking 53 agonizing minutes to deliver the luggage to the conveyor belt. And it doesn’t account for the subsequent visit through another security line (why the need for another magnetometer when we never left the airport?) where there were no trays and no working air conditioning (thanks, TSA!), so everything loose in one’s pockets had to be put carefully into carry-on bags we had to reopen to do so. The whole system ground to a halt.
We were in a large group. The first three people through the magnetometers ran ahead, made the gate just in time, and told the gate agents that another dozen passengers were in the concourse, sure to arrive within 10 minutes. The official departure time was 15 minutes away. Sorry. Tough luck. After the airline cost us three hours with delays, it couldn’t wait 10 minutes, for a plane with no tight connecting schedule at the final destination and which, after the gate closed, dawdled at the end of the jetway anyway.
We were rebooked to a flight that didn’t leave for nearly five hours — but only after an hour of haggling while gate agents couldn’t make their computers understand that three members of a 17-person group had boarded while the rest remained stuck in Atlanta.
These were not friendly skies, the airline wasn’t ready when we were, nobody at the airline seemed glad we came, and we certainly weren’t free to move around the country.
What this nation really needs is some fresh air.
