According to The New York Times, airplane manufacturer Airbus is quietly suggesting to Asian carriers that they increase profits and capacity by developing a section in aircraft where passengers will have to stand up, harnessed to a wall, for the duration of a flight. Youve heard of packing them in like sardines, havent you? This is more like packing them like penguins, if you ask me. First, carriers invented frequent flyer programs, which were a nifty idea. But then, all of those miles accumulated, unspent, so they established use-them-or-lose-them deadlines. Then, they reduced the number of reward seats available on most flights, and added blackout dates. In other words, they took a perfectly good reward program and transformed it into a punishment program. And, of course, carriers have been manipulating legroom for years, and theyve charged portly people for two seats instead of one. Now this: standing room only. Whats next? Packing us in below decks, along with the baggage and cargo? Bolting us to the wings? I think its fair to say, in this era of airline inconveniences, when we have to hassle with long lines, numerous security burdens and special time requirements, and a zillion other intrusions and hassles, this is the worst time to stretch the envelope, to force customers to handle yet more burdens. |
