I Flew on a Plane Without Going Through Security and No One Died

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I Flew on a Plane Without Going Through Security and No One Died (Washington Post)

Imagine if catching an 11 a.m. flight out of D.C. was a matter of hopping on the Metro at Petworth at 10:20, getting off at Reagan/National Airport at 10:43, and boarding the plane at 10:50.

That world is possible. I’ve lived it, and it is amazing. All we have to do is abolish the TSA. Entirely. Just let people walk off the street and onto a plane.

Would this increase hijacking? Probably. But there’s no reason to believe it would increase casualties from terrorist attacks overall. That’s because increasing airport security just leads terrorists to direct their assaults elsewhere.

It is an interesting idea and fun to think about, but it isn’t going to happen. We will see the expansion of PreCheck availability, but as a whole, airport security in its current form is staying where it is. The TSA has firmly embedded itself as part of the traveling way of life.

Are Flyers Getting What They Want?

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This short article from Business Insider seems to suggest we as travelers are getting exactly what we want. From the article:

The reason flying is the way it is is because that’s exactly what today’s fliers want.

Specifically, fliers want:

  • Safe, rapid travel between two cities
  • The lowest possible price

Oh, sure, people who fly won’t say that they’re getting what they want — because then they would reveal themselves to be cheap bastards who care mostly about price.

While it is true that travelers are getting low priced, relatively fast transportation between cities, the amenities that used to be offered on the same flights have been eroded to keep the price low.

I think what travelers want has changed a little in recent years and the above list needs to be amended to include power ports and internet connectivity. These two items have become even more important travelers over the last few years and most of the airlines are just now getting these things installed or playing catch up figuring out how to do so. I would also add “cleanliness” to the list. My last few flights on United have been on planes that were absolutely filthy and it was not a pleasant experience.

Are travelers willing to pay more for a better experience in flight? Based on Delta and United reconfiguring a number of aircraft to remove economy seats that have extra legroom and replace them with regular economy seats, my guess is no. There is a small segment of the traveling public that is willing to pay for more amenities but most just want a seat between two cities.

Fighting Rudeness With Kindness

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There is a lot of attention being paid to the real time retaliation of Elan Gale against a woman who was mad that their flight was delayed. There are now rumors that the woman is dying of cancer and was desperate to spend what she feels is her last Thanksgiving with her family.

I initially read the live tweeting and thought it was somewhat humorous. Then I reached the end. Elan Gale reached a line and then crossed it. Had he left it with the glass of wine and a funny note, that would have been enough. But when the woman responded and he countered, things took a turn. He went from being someone using humor to defuse a situation to someone just making things worse.

The best thing he could have done was just ignore the note from the woman and leave it at that.

Below 10,000 Feet

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As you probably know by now, the FAA now allows use of personal electronic devices from gate to gate. Each airline has to come up with their own policy and implementation plan and a number of have started doing just that. JetBlue, Delta, American, United, and others now allow personal electronic devices during all stages of flight and more airlines are sure to follow.

My personal experience with the new policy has been solely with United. The airline took around a week and a half to implement the policy and I flew with them the first day it was in place. The flight attendants were very upbeat about it and stated that the only two caveats were that heavier devices, computers mostly, needed to be stored for takeoff and landing, and, that all devices needed to be in airplane mode during flight. The ability to use the device for the entire flight felt a little strange. I usually carry a physical book for takeoff and landing, now I just need my iPad mini or Kindle and I’m set. It is one less thing in my bag and that is always welcome. I would also say that it must be a relief for the flight attendants to not have to walk around and police people’s hand movements or worse, make those announcements, you know, “The captain has informed me that a sensor in the cockpit shows 10 devices still being used”. We can also stop policing each other. Passengers no longer have to hide that they are using a device to listen to music, receiving an ugly glare from their seatmate.

If you are flying soon realize that some carriers have not yet implemented gate-to-gate policies, the Express arm of United is one example. Also know that for international flights, most countries and FAA like bodies have not approved electronic device usage below 10,000 feet. Keep all of this in mind if asked to turn off your device. Sure the flight attendant may not have received the memo but they could also be correct when asking you for your cooperation.*

*As I wrote this there was a passenger arguing with a flight attendant about turning off her laptop.

United Award Travel Complexity

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Yesterday I wrote about the United reward miles devaluation. The post focused on the change in the award redemption levels but I came across this post from Gabriel Leigh about how adding a level complexity to rewards is another piece of the devaluation puzzle.

However, and this is the important bit: the connection has to be one class of service lower than the longhaul segment on United. So a United business class booking to Frankfurt entitles you to economy on the Nuremberg connection. It’s just the sort of thing to exasperate thousands of unsuspecting Mileage Plus members when they call up to book a ticket. In a way, it gives you a break of sorts – you can book on partners in some cases when you have to, without paying more miles. But it’s also an unnecessary injection of complexity whose drawbacks are worse than its benefits, if you ask me.

I touched a little bit on this in my post but reading Leigh’s thoughts reiterated the idea that this creating a new complexity that will simply frustrate those who are not mileage runners or advanced mileage redeemers. I think the example Gabriel gives is a little too simple as a business class seat in most of Europe is really just a coach seat. Where it is going to get really frustrating for people is Asia. If I am flying Houston-San Francisco-Seoul on United metal and then connecting to Bangkok, Singapore, etc. on Asiana then I will have to fly that last segment in coach if I want the United mileage redemption price. That is a long segment (some upwards of 7 hours) in coach when redeeming a business class reward. When someone calls in because they found Asiana business class space for that one segment only to find out that they will have to pay the partner reward price, they are going to be a little irritated.

While there is a miles increase for partners, there is a complexity cost that only time will be able to measure.