To be honest, the airline industry has never been one of my favorite institutions, because they (along with modern automotive corporations) have discovered that their business is really a commodity service — therefore with the concomitant low operating margins — and like the car people, are finding evermore-devious and unscrupulous ways to fleece and gouge money from their hapless customers.
However: I see that Delta has suspended their practice of privileged treatment for members of Congress, to which I can only say: good. Leave aside for the moment that politicians should never have any kind of privileged treatment or service given to them in the first place — they get more than enough of that as it is — but this is very much in the spirit that lawmakers should have to live with the effects of the laws they pass, just as we the citizens do.
So if you assholes wish to pass a law which bans private ownership of guns, for example, be aware that such a ban would extend to your own private security as well. And if you pass a law which mandates such-and-such in the name of “safety” or “security” but causes massive inconvenience or cost to the ordinary citizenry, there’s no way that you or your staff (or family, don’t get me started) should be exempt from the same.
So a pat on the back for Delta this time, with the caveat that they should never reinstate this policy, ever.
I hope the other airlines follow suit. politicians should be forced to ride in the middle seat on all flights or cargo
“This is going to get worse before it gets better, particularly if we don’t have a resolution within the coming days and weeks,”
I have a resolution for this.
Disband the TSA and fire every member, from top to bottom. No transfers to other Federal service. That’s a nice reduction of what are mostly leeches on the taxpayer. Then require airlines to each deploy their own security. We’ll get some good and some lax. Let the traveling public decide between more safety or more convenience. They can all go to school at El Al.
Fares will increase, but maybe that will filter some of the pajama clad riffraff that so annoy civilized travelers from future flights.
As to politicians’ privileges, fuggemall.
Many years ago, Eastern Airlines ran an hourly shuttle between DC’s National Airport, Boston and New York, leaving hourly. The neat feature was you didn’t make a reservation, but just show up, no check-in, board and they guaranteed a seat, and you could pay cash on the flight. If need be, they’d roll up another plane, a DC-9 or a Lockheed Electra turboprop.
I recall two things about using it when I worked in DC:
About fifty parking places just steps from the main entrance, the very closest to the terminal, were reserved for members of Congress.
The Electra had an unusual seat at the very rear of the cabin. It was a semi circular one, with no armrests, that held maybe six people. I was seated in that on one flight and even though the plane was full, our departure was delayed, we were told, for a late arriving passenger. We all looked at one another in puzzlement – the plane was full, why didn’t this tardy person catch the next one, or why didn’t Eastern roll out the next plane? Well, he arrived, strode down the aisle looking left and right at all the full seats and arrived at our semicircular couch in the back. We all scrooched around and made room, he sat down in the center of the couch, stared straight ahead for the entire flight, and even though we all recognized this famous person, he never spoke a word, not even a thank you for us for making room and tolerating his inconveniencing us.
It was Ted Kennedy, he of swimming infamy.