THE MODERN FLYING EXPERIENCE WE HAVE IS LIKE A COLONOSCOPY WE DON’T NEED
Dr. Filippo Cademartiri
Clinical Radiologist Expert of High Tech Imaging. Preventive & Diagnostic Imaging, Advanced CT/MR, Dual-Energy/Spectral CT, DSCT, Photon Counting CT, Workflow, Productivity, Consulting
We are in the age of mass traveling; which is good and also not an easy business to manage. However, to make traveling bearable it must not be like an unwanted colonoscopy.
It’s not a secret that “low cost airlines” suck. It’s actually a factual reality from the beginning. We knew and we accepted that model because it was low cost. What is really interesting for the last 1-2 years is that the standards of low cost airlines are the same or worse as before, while the prices of the “experience” are massively increased (basically the same as previous conventional airlines which we already considered expensive at the time and that low cost airlines were supposed to correct): they have become very expensive, especially considering that 30 years or more have passed. The objective of this “pirate” airlines has been achieved. Dumping prices for 30 years and offer flights for 1€ to kill conventional airlines. Yes I know, National airlines where badly managed and not as efficient (financially), but we all know very well how different was traveling 30 or 20 years ago with KLM, Air France, Lufthansa, Alitalia, British Airways,… So what now?
COVID killed the concept of “low cost airline” which was the standard way of flying before then (or maybe as for many other things it just accelerated the death of an agonizing body). A new concept was introduced: BAD and EXPENSIVE airlines. Bad quality, bad experience, quite expensive, no proper information to passengers, no transparency, no desire to deal with consequences of malfunctions and always sneaky when on the wrong side of a situation,…. no respect for passengers’ individual needs, no accessory services, nothing, zero. Mainly carrying bodies and move them from place to another.
And also: you are never right. You cannot complain or discuss because the attitude of flying personnel is a policing one. They can abuse and exhaust you and your patience and you cannot complain. With the excuse of safety/security (which sadly are incorrectly merged into the same concept) they treat people like shit.
And don’t forget that if you ever had a significantly delayed flight (which nowadays is 50% probability especially after 16:00pm) you know how painful it is. Airport companies play their part in the picture.
The normal experience is: queues. Many queues. Useless queues. Anticipated boarding, then pre-boarding, the actual boarding,… which means at least an hour of standing waiting to follow stupid orders from unpolite personnel. All, to make you spend time and money somewhere while you wait. That’s the deal. I did book a flight, or a day at the Mall? An uncomfortable and inconvenient one BTW.
They convinced us that we were traveling cheap but we gifted to them A LOT of time and extra money while we reached the airport in advance, park the car, waited endless boring hours to board, bought coffe and stupid things with high prices in the airport stores. Afterwards, they raised the prices of flying as they were before or higher. Think about it.
Today, we think about electric cars, AI, automation,… but:
Too much? Maybe. Yet, to see London, Madrid, Vienna or París I need to fly and I like to get there and see the cities. I actually love it and I bring my family with me when I can. But… if you could just get there without this massive theatrical BS? Leave from home, 1-2 hours to get to the airport, get there 2 hours in advance, fly 2-3 hours on average in Europe, get the luggage, travel from airport to city (1 hour)…. 6-7 hours are gone… and so much money, and stress, and fatigue. No pleasure at all, especially if you do it often.
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Is this the best we can do and expect? Off course not.?
In Europe we have a good network of high speed train. It is actually a much better way to travel. Way better. And also successful. It’s a fantastic alternative. When possible and working, much more comfortable and relaxing than flying.
In Italy we were ahead with our Eurostar/Pendolino first and then with Frecciarossa trains (and lately also Italo/NTV); but over the years they made this kind of traveling (which is not cheap anyway) too hypertrophic without an adequate improvement in logistics before and after train traveling (stations, shuttles, taxis). Also the network of high speed rails is shrinking and ageing with regard to the quality of the experience and of the infrastructure; it's insufficient, it's poor, it fails too often. Trains are always late, always late; when nothing happens during this trips you say: “lucky me this time”. Some days, to travel by train from Bologna through Rome or Naples becomes an odyssey. I had many of these odysseies.
Too many people on the trains; sorry, I have to correct myself. Too many people unaware of the behaviour that you should keep while travelling on such trains. No enforcement of rules and education (and respect) on trains. They are becoming a bit like the older trains.?
What now? There should be a newer approach to regulations and protection for travelers’ rights because the things are way out of hand. When you accept to handle someone and make them travel, you MUST take ALL the responsibility to ensure that what is offered is going to be guaranteed. If the company fails to deliver the standards, they must pay heavily. Not a bit. All refunds+expenses+500€ for the distress. And this should happen automatically and enforced by authorities not by the travelers who were victim of the bad service. That’s the only way to make these companies work properly; be precise, be consistent, be on time, don’t overbook, keep the infrastructure oiled and so forth. When you plan a trip of 4 hours and it takes 12, what is the "cost" of that for you? For me is very high and someone needs to be responsible.
All the same game as with social media. Stealing your patience, your time, your identity, your preferences, your money, your rights, your dignity, your essence, yourself.
Maybe I travelled too much in my life and I am tired of companies fooling around with my time, my money and my well being. Maybe. But I started traveling early in my life, before there was even the €. It was exciting, nice, new, moderately stressful. Now it's painful, everything seems difficult and slow. All things have to improve. This, on several aspects, hasn't as it should have.
Aritmologo presso U.O. Cardiologia 2 - Pisa
1 年Unfortunately, it’s all real. Tks Filippo for your amazing picture of the modern flying experience
Global Product Marketing Manager Photon-counting CT
1 年They managed to take all the fun out of travelling! You pointed out correctly, that when budget airlines came to the market, we quickly accepted that their level of service and what is "included" is not the same as for national airlines, because the price was lower. In the meanwhile, not only have they increased their prices to the level of the established airlines, but at the same time some (not all!) of the so called "5 star airlines" have reduced their service offering to the level of a budget airline. I have seen this quite prominently in our German national carrier Lufthansa. So we used to have a choice between "bad but cheap" and "expensive but comfortable". Now we only have "bad and expensive". Gladly a few airlines remain that have understood that customers will continue to expect a high level of service and are willing to budget for that.