When you board, a smiling stewardess shows you to the window seat you paid an extra 16.99 for. Our, excellent views - of the wing! Whilst you physically squeeze yourself into the spring-less seat provided, making plenty of contact with the chubby northern chav with the fake tan next to you, you are then subject to a helpless stare at the cost of the in-flight drinks and gifts. Trust me, by the end of the three hours, you are so desperate for a splash in the Costa Del-Sol sun, you would consider jumping out of the plane before it touchdowns on the tarmac.
OK, so the above might be an extreme example, but the basic facts are true. With Ryanair charging for just about anything; whether it be using your credit card, booking online, booking in-store and so on, you're spending money soon goes. Now I detest Michael O'Leary, but I admit he is not the only one to blame. Monarch, Easyjet and Aer Lingus - all who I have recently flown with - offered lame and petty excuses for delays and cancellations. Only one provided me with a food voucher, which barely stretched to a sandwich and a bottle of water.
The planes themselves are a cause for concern to. On a recent holiday, I was so squashed I felt the deep-vain thrombosis hit my ankles as I sat down. Like a game of sardines with 200 other people, all coughing and spluttering, the conditions can be likened to a third-world slum. And what about plane safety? If you have been watching the news over the last few years, you will have noticed a number of high profile plane incidents. Remember the Air France plane that crashed in the Atlantic, with no survivors? Or the British Airways plane narrowly missing the motorway? Recently, Australian airline Qantas has seen a number of its planes suffer faults mid-air. For the companies, it is millions of pounds down the drain, but for the passengers, it is a dent to their flying confidence, and a further strain on their flying loyalty.
But it is not only passengers who are disgruntled. Around the globe, more and more flights are being disrupted as planes are grounded whilst cabin crews take strike action. Qantas staff recently held industrial action, not to mention British Airways - where the number of strikes and staff ballots would be enough to confuse Pythagoras.
I was even more alarmed, shocked and angered by today's news that one airline, Comtel Air, having reportedly not received payment from tour operators, decided to hold passengers to ransom and charge them around £23,000 to continue their journey! What's more, British Airways and Virgin are both being imposed millions of pounds by Nigerian aviation authorities for price fixing selected routes. It just gets better and better.
Because, at the end of the day, a flight can be the make or break of a holiday. We do not always want to be dashing for the emergency exits!
Pictures Courtesy of Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment