In Passing

Hi Readers: On the way to the March 2008 accident count ( and we'll view with some alarm) the current Airline Cancellations of flights and the rush to complete the required airplane inspections that should have been accomplished progressively in the past instead of being delayed to a convenient time or overlooked entirely. As airline passengers, the travelling public is upset over the cancellation of flights for this reason, as do the pilots and flight attendants as well. Nothing like spending hours preparing and waiting for a flight that will be cancelled in minutes. American Airlines advises that the cancellation of flights is now over - well, we'll see. There are other airworthiness issues that will appear in the near future.
The current air travel picture seems replete with one problem after another (one problem comes to mind - one day we are hiring pilots and flight attendants, and maybe some mechanics, and the next day they are dropped because of aircraft inspections, fuel problems, and scheduling problems). Why? The faults, at the moment, appear to be across the entire aviation spectrum- Airline, DOT, FAA, You and I, and Congress itself.
In fact, Congressmen are upset over the Airlines lack of comittment to serve and its service and are threatening a reorganization of Airline operations. Additionally, passengers are getting fed up with Airline additions of service costs ( on fares and following) which should be the Airlines cost of doing business. All the while it appears that Congressmen have failed in their oversite of aviation operations, depending on "think tank groups" to point out the problems and failures, rather than conduct their own committee studies and investigations.
Thanks for listening. R.S.

Air Travel Eye-opener

Hi Readers: On Sunday, 11-4-07, I caught CNBC's 8-9 PM PST program on TV, Inside American Airlines. Narrated by Peter Greenberg, NBC's travel editor, a week of American's operations across the country was highlighted, pinpointing 18 flights across the country in a Boeing 767 (and one overseas flight) in one week.
The piece covered aspects of air travel problems, including luggage, security, fares, airline costs, fuel costs, and cargo. It was revealed that only 10% of the cargo carried on passenger flights were inspected before flight.
American Airlines carrys 2 million passengers per week and makes 2,000 flights per day.
Peter Greenberg's discourse on the strange science of airline ticketing, frequent flyer miles manipulation, and attempts to keep fuel costs down was particularly interesting.
It was reported that the same program will be repeated on 11-26-07. Watch for it!
Thanks for listening. R.S.