Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site sdcsvax.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!sdcsvax!brian
From: brian@sdcsvax.UUCP (Brian Kantor)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: A (tourist class) FLAME against Airlines
Message-ID: <3734@sdcsvax.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 3-Sep-83 08:04:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcsvax.3734
Posted: Sat Sep  3 08:04:16 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 4-Sep-83 01:00:24 EDT
Organization: U.C. San Diego, CS Dept
Lines: 72

I've just returned from 4 weeks in Europe, and my record is intact.
In 12 years of flying, I've never once YET been on a flight that was
on time.

This last one was great: after arriving at London's Gatwick airport to
check in on my return flight to the USA, Kiwi Airways (uh, Air New
Zeland, actually) was please to tell me that they were sorry to
announce that there would be a slight delay in the departure of their
flight to Los Angeles, due to operational problems, and the the new
departure time was 10 hours later than previously scheduled - in fact,
it would be leaving at 2 am the next day.

I'm not very good at sleeping on couches in air terminals, but since I
had already checked out of my hotel and taken the long bus ride into the
airport from out in the country where I had been staying, I had little
alternative.  So I staked out a couch where the speaker system had
failed, and tried to sleep.

At 1:45 we started to board the aircraft, and didn't actually depart
until about 2:35.  (NB: When the aircraft gets pushed back by that big
tractor, it has departed, even if it only moves 1.5 inches and then sits
for 25 minutes waiting for clearance!)

Got into LAX at 5 in the morning, cleared customs in a few minutes (boy
have the improved THAT since the last time I went through it!).

Had to sleep in the terminal until boarding at 8 o'clock for 8:25 flight
to San Diego.  It boarded at 8:30 (yes, 5 minutes after it was supposed
to leave!).  We got into San Diego 17 minutes late (minor, but the
flight only takes 40 minutes total!).

And the charter I went over on was late too.  We boarded at least 10
minutes after the scheduled departure time, and arrived over two hours
late.  Many passengers missed their connections (obviously), and while
we were on the way, we ran out of cold water, ice, beer, and peanuts;
there were no pillows or blankets aboard (on a sleeper flight!), and
one of the toilets refused to flush (and the others put a real strong
dose of honey-juice (the sanitizing fluid used in chemical toilets) into
the cabin ventilation every time they flushed!). Last time I travel with
Pacific East Air.  That DC-8 was about 15 years old, and it showed.

But the trains, ah the trains:
   Amtrak got me to Los Angeles on time (1 minute EARLY), and every single
train I took in England, Scotland, France, Belgium, and Switzerland ran
EXACTLY on time.  Not one left more than 30 SECONDS late; and only one
arrived more than 1 minute late (and that one was only because somebody
had tried to kill himself by lying on the tracks in front of the train -
the French police took him away to a hospital --- an understandable
delay, I think!). And they sure are comfortable!

<<< Flame on >>>
Why can't the airlines get even close to their published schedules?
It doesn't seem likely that I'm being jinxed, and if I'm not, what the
bloody hell is going on up there???

I knew there was a reason for taking the train - its usually on time,
and its certainly dependable, and (whisper this softly) its a hell of a
lot more fun.

Now, I don't travel much more than maybe 5 round trips in a year - in some
years less, some more (depends on business, you know), but this is
ridiculous!

If you've got some statistics regarding your experiences, MAIL them to
me, and if I manage to divine something of general interest from them,
I'll post a followup (to net.followup, natch) with my results.

- Brian    (5 am up all night bleahh asdfja&%'&')

-- 
   Brian Kantor, UCSD.  {philabs,ucbvax} !sdcsvax!brian
		        		  sdcsvax!brian@nosc