TRUE.
All I want are bathroom stalls that are designed to accommodate both a person and their carry-on bags.
If the doors open inwards, the stall needs to be longer so that you can maneuver a rollerbag in without hitting the toilet. If the doors open outwards, the stalls can be about the standard size but the bathroom needs to be more spacious. Have heavy duty hooks at waist height that can actually hold a backpack.
This is a great idea.
GiphySleep pods to rent, so when I miss a flight and the next is tomorrow I don't have to sleep on chairs, hoping my stuff doesn't get stolen.
Some airports have those, like in Milan, although you have to book it in advance which makes no sense.
Someone feels strongly about this.
The cost of food in the food courts. F*ck Sydney and Melbourne airport, I'm not paying $15 for a f*cking wrap or a fancy sandwich that's been sitting there all day, so it's always McDonald's or KFC or some mainstream fast food chain because at least they keep their prices consistent, even if I don't feel like it.
That's just unfair.
In the UK airports like Stansted and Heathrow make you walk a full freaking mile along this winding path through the middle of booze and perfume shops before getting anywhere remotely close to a flight gate.
And what takes the piss is you can see the old gap in the wall that takes you right to the gates that they have filled in before you walk the mile to get to the other side of that exact wall.
Would love to put a hole in that wall.
This.
GiphyHave people stand the f*ck back from the baggage carousel until they see their bag.
Oslo has a red line about a meter back, and people stand behind it! After experiencing that, I can't stand this anymore. And how hard is it to draw a line on the floor?
I could not handle that.
More seats, vending machines for cheaper snacks, and better WiFi connections.
Last year I went to Turkey on my own, 2 flights with a stop in Istanbul. I had promised everyone to send them a WhatsApp message in the airport. I arrived in Istanbul and there was not a single wifi hotspot in the airport. Not even Burger King and similar restaurants provided one. I asked the security people and they confirmed they just don't have free WiFi there at all. How the f*ck does that happen in a city this big with a big number of tourists visiting every year?
Good insight.
I actually work in airport management, but moreso on the technical, actual airfield side of things. So I've thought about this a bit. From the traveler side of things, I'd really love more options for people with dietary restrictions. So many of the airport restaurants are operated by some company like HMS host or Hudson News and they are terribly mediocre with high staff turnover and poor training. So they can't be trusted to deal with dietary concerns. And the convenience shops they have usually have no quick meal type thing that will accommodate dietary needs.
Aside from that, I'm with most of you. Good WiFi, enough seating, lots of outlets, etc. And airports are trending this way, it just takes time to adapt. They don't want the terminal constantly under construction to add more outlets which could be a big project, or more bandwidth, or more seating because the small planes are going away. So they have to wait for a large terminal or concourse refresh and do it all at once.
Comfort is everything.
GiphyJust, let me feel like a person. Give me a little more space, a little softer cushioning, an outlet for me and the person next to me. For a place where I'm often expected to exist for hours, let me stay in that space in comfort for those hours instead of scrounging for space, power, healthy food, and any amount of comfort.
Great idea.
Put a post office in TSA security so I can mail the stuff that's over the weight limit or that I forgot was in my carry on.
I'm a frequent traveler but I forgot about my body spray and new bottle of liquid hair product in my carry on once, so that was $50 in the garbage. I would have paid the $10 to ship it.
YES.
I would make food cheaper at the airport. In my experience most airport restaurants serve relatively small portions for a high price. I am hungry when I travel, but the cost of my travel also means I can't buy as much.
Yes.
GiphyYou could probably make each seat itself 50% wider and still seat more people, just because people are weird about sitting super close to strangers. Most waiting areas you'll see every other seat is taken unless it's a family.
Dumb it down.
Make the food and trinkets in the stores cost less and dumb down the organization level to where a 5 years old could find their flight.
Ambitious.
An entirely new way of boarding including new aircraft to make it even faster. I want to be a pilot and boarding is a nightmare for the flights I've been on and I think strides should be made towards making the cabins modular. Example: everyone boards small cabins separated by class, then once everyone has boarded, the cabins would move on rails and attach to the plane.
Sorry about horrible grammar.
Much needed.
GiphyFor signs to teach people about how planes work and how safe they are. Some people are so freaked out because they don't understand how safe planes are and how they work. Like things if a plane looses all engines it can still fly for a good distance if it's at cruising altitude.
Some easy fixes.
- Put clocks in prominent places, so you can adjust your watch or phone properly when you land in a new destination, so you can figure out how much time you have left until you get to the boarding gate, etc. etc. It amazes me that clocks are so hard to find in airports.
- Remove the armrests from between the seats so you can lie down if you're stuck there overnight.
- Put outlets and USB chargers by each seat, instead of in a few designated spots.
- Free, unlimited Wifi (thankfully this is becoming more common). Especially the kind you don't need to register with a local phone number (Hear that, Istanbul Airport?).
After the terror attacks against the United States, the experience of traveling changed around the world. More people were anxious about riding on air planes, but life wasn't going to stop because of the actions of evil men. Though the effectiveness of the TSA and other airport security is debatable, many countries around the world opted to have stricter guidelines at airports to at least make passengers feel safer.
Redditor u/omfghewontfkndie asked people who remembered traveling before 9/11 what it was like, and people discussed how it was overall more enjoyable to go on planes.
20. It was easy to ambush celebritiesΒ
"you could go through security without a ticket. my mom supported my teenybopping days, so 13 y/o me met a backstreet boy when he got to his gate. thanks AOL chat rooms for being the first reddit"
19. Flying was a big even
"My 90 year old dad is still shocked men don't get dressed up in suit and ties, and women in a church dress while flying.
I guess prior to the 80's it was so comparatively expensive that for personal trips it was like going to a formal.
I remember the cheapest price for flight from Houston to Philadelphia my dad could find in the mid 70's on a weeks notice was $650. I remember because that was huge amount of money and he decided to take a weeks vacation to drive there and back.
45 years later you can easily find such flights for less than $400."
18. Painless bag checks
Giphy"Put your carry-on on the conveyor. Walk through the metal detector. Take your bag. Off you go."
t0f0b0
17. Kids often flew alone
"Easy preezy. I travelled back and forth by myself to Washington from Phoenix every year since I was 7. I went through security with a pocket knife and had a really fun time on planes."
16. Gate agents really didn't care
"I once got into Canada using an expired 6 Flags Over Texas season pass as my I.D. in lieu of an actual passport."
15. It was good to be a child on a plane
"McDonald's Happy meals in flight, getting wings from the captain and seeing the cockpit."
14. Planes were BYOB
"I sat with four other passengers in first class and shared half a bottle of Captain Morgan from my backpack.
The flight crew brought us all the mixers we wanted."
13. A picture on a credit card? Wow.Β
"Travelled on a plane from Canada to USA with the picture on my American Express Credit Card because I don't drive."
12. No stressing over ounces
"Oh god, guess I'm an AdultΒ© now.
It was way more relaxed. You didn't take your shoes off, didn't have to take electronics out, and there was no limits on liquids. Overall much better experience."
11. Only surrender real weapons, please
The ticket counter asked if we had any weapons. My dad and I pulled out our Swiss army knives. The lady just repeated, 'Any Weapons?' In an irritated tone."
10. "Security was a joke..."
"Easy. Security was a joke. You could bring small knives on the plane, and everyone could go to the gate.
I once had to turn my cell phone on to prove it was a real phone and I got really annoyed at that level of scrutiny."
9. No hassles...
"Back in the late 90s when I was traveling often for work, I'd wear steel-toe boots and bring a laptop bag stuffed with tools and never got hassled."
8. No ID checks
"I had a 30 minute drive to the airport but could leave the house 1 hour before departure. The bag checked 20 minutes before would still make the plane.
Half empty planes were pretty normal. I once had all 5 seats in a row on a 747 flight, so I laid down and slept. That started changing in the 1990s, more about $ than security.
You could buy a stranger's return ticket because no one checked IDs."
7. Planes actually had a smoking section
Giphy"Let me do you one better: in the late 80s you could smoke on them mother******s"
6. "It was so lonely at the gate..."
"The biggest difference I remember is that my grandparents used to greet us at the gate as we got off the plane, and come to the gate with us while we waited for our flight back home. Obviously you couldn't get on the plane without a boarding pass, but you could get through security without a boarding pass.
It was so lonely at the gate after 9/11."
5. I have vague memories of this happening to me
Giphy"I remember being taken up to see the pilot in the late 90s when i was a kid - later on I assumed i must have imagined it, but my parents assured me that they would genuinely take people onto the flight deck for a look around."
4. Forty-five minutes
"Remember when the McAllister family from 'Home Alone' made it from the suburbs to O'Hare for an international flight in 45 minutes? That Easy."
3. Less racism and prejudice
"There were still people who had flying anxiety but seems like a ton more now. Also you didn't have to show up hours ahead of time and worry that you're still too late. People who looked the slightest bit middle eastern weren't stared at"
2. Everything is checked
"I only traveled by plane a handful of times before 9/11 and I was young (6-8 years old) but the difference was huge from what I can remember, it was just so much more hassle free, and people could wait for you when you got off the plane right where you were getting off! Now you gotta take off your shoes and get EVERYTHING checked, they go through your stuff, it takes so much longer now."
1. It was better overall
"Aside from the security and the process of getting to the plane, the overall flight experience was way better. There was def more leg room which was awesome. Longer domestic flights 2+ hours even had economy meal service if you were flying during a mealtime. Drinks were provided as a full can without having to ask. Flights were actually a bit faster because gas prices weren't an issue. This all started to disappear throughout the 90s and early 00s. Meal service was first to go."
In a YouTube video titled "Why I QUIT being an Airline Pilot," Jon goes into great detail outlining how pilots can be severely overworked and underpaid:
According to Jon, who went from being a private flight instructor to being a airline pilot before switching back to private instructor, the job had its upsides, as described by Inc.:
His fellow pilots and cabin were very nice, he said. Flying a jet was fun, too.
After you watch this, you might not want to fly on a regional carrier: https://t.co/97Yx97XYS0β TProphet (@TProphet) 1536558192.0
But due to the shortage of pilots applying to large commercial airlines at a time when more people than ever are flying the friendly skies, Jon felt the job's demands were very high.
On an average day, "he'd have five legs to fly. He'd be on duty for 12.5 hours. He'd be paid for 5.5 or 6 hours of that time. He was paid $38 an hour."
@TProphet It's also worth noting that this is way better than it was a decade agoβ watrous (@watrous) 1536606485.0
@TProphet This is why I left flight school and went back to tech. The thought of putting up with this for 10-15 yeaβ¦ https://t.co/ddgL8AREKIβ watrous (@watrous) 1536606464.0
That crazy schedule would mean waking up at 3:45 a.m. and driving to the airport so he could take multiple flights just to get to the airport where he'd be working. He was not paid for any of the time spent traveling to his job.
Even after waking up so early, the process of getting to his plane was rushed, which meant Jon often had to go without any real food or coffee.
Surely being a pilot for a regional line can't be this bad? Sounds like a super shitty job from this description. https://t.co/kxPSHi61OOβ Rob Thomas (@Rob Thomas) 1537158439.0
Once he arrived at "his" plane, Jon was pretty hungry, and perhaps a bit peeved at the runaround, but still eager to do his job:
He's flying a jet, after all. Albeit a small one.
But it turns out the amount of "flight time" is pretty short
Some of his actual flying times...were a mere 11 to 18 minutes.
YouTube commenters understood what Jon was going through:
After repeating this process as many as five times a day without ever getting a chance to sit down and eat a decent meal, Jon would eventually break down and stop to eat something, which would often cause a delay on one of his flights. And, after a big 12-hour day, Jon would often "pay for a hotel out of his own pocket in order to find somewhere to sleep on his way home."
@TProphet When I hear about the life of regional pilots I wonder why there arenβt planes falling out of the sky allβ¦ https://t.co/K8kgpqb5kIβ Fred Boggs (@Fred Boggs) 1536587212.0
When you hear in the new about a "pilot shortage," or your flight's delayed/cancelled because crew wasn't availableβ¦ https://t.co/LB9FMIRqQnβ Toxic Megacolon (@Toxic Megacolon) 1537108494.0
He estimated his weekly pay was around $600 after hotel fees, which is livable but hardly lucrative or glamorous. Meanwhile, the constant stress and lack of sleep was causing he and his fellow pilots to age rapidly, and the benefits didn't seem to outweigh the costs.
This is why I flight instruct and corp fly...never want to pay my dues flying regional to become an airline pilot..β¦ https://t.co/IUBlJCO1qQβ John (@John) 1537125780.0
When asked for their take on Jon's situation, American Airlines referred Inc. to PSA, the regional airline subsidiary they own that Jon worked for.
PSA's spokesperson commented:
PSA Airlines offers its pilots the most valuable and stable career path in commercial aviation. The culture, quality of life, and growth at PSA is something few regional carriers can match, and as part of American Airlines, our pilot flow-through program provides a guaranteed and direct path to the largest airline in the world. PSA pilots pride themselves on their outstanding safety and training culture and represent the high-standards of what it means to be a pilot in commercial aviation.
Jon admits in his video that he may have been too "lazy" to make the airline's demanding schedule. But don't worry Jonβit sounds as if we'd all be too "lazy" to comply if we were asked to adhere to the wild runaround you put up with on a daily basis.
@bakshi747 @AtlasAirWW Itβs nice when so many of your pilot colleagues quit EN MASSE from your ACMI airline - so yoβ¦ https://t.co/hW4eFdSqX8β HST (@HST) 1535431108.0
Customers often bemoan how little airlines seem to care about their passengers, but now it seems they also fail to care about their employees.
H/T - Inc., Golden Goose Guide