One of my dreams is to meet the nitwit who thought a good way to load an airplane through a door at the front is front seats first. If things go well, it will be on an airplane, and I will have a heavy carry-on with sharp corners, which I will drop on his toes. Indeed, I will be so distracted apologizing while I pick it up, I will probably drop it on his other foot.
American Airlines plans to charge extra for the first few rows and continue to allow them to board first, with the extra carry-on junk their fees to check bags has motivated. Yet again we see why the civil aviation industry has not made a penny of net profit since the Wright Brothers; has any other such wonderful technology ever been in the hands of such nincompoops?
Is net profit important? The managers and CEOs have done very, very well, and the industry keeps getting bailed out — regularly — with sums that dwarf all spending on AMTRAK since its formation each time.
If you’re in the CEO/CFO/Senior VP class, why would you change a formula that’s working so well for you?
P.S. Look up “On the folly of hoping for A while rewarding B.”
TSAWTD? TAINKTM That Acronym Is Not Known To Me.
TSAWTD = “They Suck At What They Do.”
They certainly act like there’s a competition for who gets to be shot first after the revolution.
“…thought a good way to load an airplane through a door at the front is front seats first.”
It’s for the first class passengers. It makes things easier for them, and makes them feel important. The rest of us are only on the plane because it’s the cheapest fare; i.e. we don’t care about customer service.
It’s for the first class passengers.
I think that’s wrong. The article refers to the first few rows of sardine class.
What they should do is seat through the front door, have people move to the back, and then exit through the back door — doesn’t every jetliner nowadays have a back door?
It seems to me that the airline industry and the financial services industry are 2 of the most deregulated industries in the last generation and they are 2 of the most predatory - as in preying on their own customers.
Wadda coinkidink!
This is the Southwest model, and the only thing I really hate about it is that people put bags in overhead compartments near the front even if they sit in the back.
Not defending that practice, (I don’t do it myself.) but that’s probably because, if you arrive at the back, and there’s no space left in the overhead compartments, heading ‘upstream’ to find an empty compartment isn’t exactly easy.
There is something American about making sure that everyone in coach has to see how the rich live. When I was in Japan this was considered bad taste, and planes boarded in the middle of the jet body, with economy passengers turning right and premium cabin turning left, neither seeing how the other half lived.