Decent service from an airline costs extra

saxo-archive

Friday, Dec. 28, 2007 | midnight

Albany, N.Y.

As someone who flies economy class -- more aptly described as steerage -- I am acquainted with the rising number of offenses airlines perpetrate on their passengers.

The one that truly heaps discomfort on top of anxiety is the diminution of the already constricted legroom when the passenger seated in the row in front of you decides to lean back.

That's OK with the airline owners. The only time they pay attention to the herd in the back of the plane is during takeoff and landing, when their attendants rigorously enforce the all-seats-in-upright-position rule.

If the airlines continue to refuse to recognize the problem and correct it by eliminating their seats' push-back function, there ought to be a law to make them do it. In fact, last week a New York state law intended to comfort distressed air travelers was upheld by Judge Lawrence Kahn in U.S. District Court in Albany, N.Y. Good man, that Judge Kahn.

Trouble is, the state law establishing a bill of rights for air passengers did not go far enough. The bill modestly required that if a plane sits on the tarmac for more than three hours, then, and only then, the passengers are entitled to have fresh air and lights, waste removal from clogged restrooms and “adequate food and drinking water and other refreshments.”

Kahn ruled: “Fresh air, water, sanitation and food are the necessities in the extreme situation in which this act applies.”

Up to the three-hour demarcation, passengers continue to have the right to sit and stew.

The state Legislature acted to correct an actual and serious problem arising when Mother Nature and more mundane factors keep loaded planes sitting on runways for six, eight or 10 hours. You would think the airlines should not have needed a law to behave rationally and humanely.

The law did not address disembarking the passengers in such circumstances, because that would intrude on federal jurisdiction. So far, Washington has not perceived the need.

However, two bills are pending in Congress, because this problem has obvious national scope.

Even if the flight is on time and facing no unusual delays, just what kind of food is offered on planes these days? Hot meals and cold sandwiches have been replaced, if they are replaced at all, by skimpy servings of peanuts or pretzels. There's no argument they can be classified as food, but in the abstract only.

President Bush, hardly eloquent when speaking off the cuff, recently found appropriate words. He said: “There's a lot of anger amongst our citizens about the fact that, you know, they're just not being treated right.” He was referencing airport congestion resulting in excessive flight delays, but we know the message holds for air travel generally.

None of the service malaise afflicting economy passengers is visited on those flying first or business class. There the food is ample, the wine flows, the napkins are cloth, the seats wide and the legroom extravagant.

It comes down to the bottom line. Even simple food costs money. Fliers who pay less contribute much less to profit margins, even though they constitute the bulk of the passengers, than those who fork over the premium price. Furthermore, the latter tend to be more brand loyal, sticking with one airline, while the hoi polloi shop price above all else.

Money means that some airlines have removed the galleys and their ovens from planes and filled the space with more seats. That earns more money while costing less.

But some aspects affect everyone who flies. First is the danger of collisions on the runways between two aircraft or between two planes with ground service trucks. It's a problem that caught the attention of the Government Accountability Office.

Or consider the shortage of trained pilots that has resulted in the scaling back of stipulated hours of training. This affects regional air service in particular. The government has had to raise the retirement age for pilots five years to 65.

Ponder for a moment the near future when the European Airbus carries 555 passengers and Boeing's 747 checks in with a number just shy of 300. Consider getting on and off, and all the other challenges facing a traveler except, of course, if you pay the premium.

Harry Rosenfeld is editor-at-large of the Albany Times Union.