Hospitalitynet: "Hey, Airline Industry! It’s Time to Care Again"

Above, a Korean Air jet being readied for a flight to Japan.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Many travelers have been griping about the state of the airline industry lately. They complain about the fees being charged, the cleanliness of the planes, the food, the beverages and many other things.

Vikram Singh has a great article on the airline industry at Hospitalitynet. He isn't too happy with the way some airlines are treating people. The title of the article fits just perfectly: "Hey, Airline Industry! It’s Time to Care Again." He is critical where it is warranted and has many suggestions.

Part of his article is as follows:

For quite some time now, air travel has started to really suck. The steady gradual decline is impossible to ignore. Several external factors have been credited for the downfall of service: taxes, fuel costs, government regulations, etc. These are all valid reasons that are beyond the control of the airlines.

But, he also sticks it to the airlines on things they do have control over:

So let's talk about the things that can be changed and controlled by airlines. I have been flying all over the globe for business and personal trips for the past several years. All those miles in the air have given me a front row seat to how airlines operate both in First/Business class as well as steerage (Economy) class.

One example:

First impressions matter, and lingering ones do too! Imagine stepping into a foul cloud at the beginning of a 2-, 3-, 4-, or 9-hour journey! You are already miserable and the doors have not even been shut yet. United and American (again) smell notoriously bad on both shorter and international long haul flights. Asian airlines like Japan Airlines, Singapore Air and others obviously have an aromatherapist that they consult. I know it's not cheap, but it's definitely cheaper than refurbishing the entire aircraft.

Note from that little snippet Singh gives praise to Asian carriers and condemns U.S. carriers. I have flown on Korean Air and Singapore Air to Japan and have found their planes to be quite clean and the service praiseworthy. They still make flying a pleasure.

Singh feels the Asian airlines give a damn and the U.S. ones don't. It sounds like the U.S. airlines are behaving like urban mass transit systems.

To read the full article, go here.