There have been a number of articles and blogs out this week regarding the news and I have read a few here and there. With Ryanair's huge position in Boeing's order book, Boeing seem to be the ones unfortunately placed in being the accessory to this heinous crime against aviation. Those of you from the Stateside of the pond may not have flown with the likes of Ryanair and easyJet in europe, but I'm certain that many of you have heard the stories of zero tolerance policies on carry on baggage and check in desk closing times.
This being said, I am not ignoring what low cost carriers in the US are doing; this week Spirit announced that it will begin charging passengers to make use of overhead locker space. So now you have to pay up to $45 for the "privilege"..! This is a world first, but no doubt soon to follow will be Ryanair and other low cost carriers, as it becomes clear that there are some people who are willing to pay for it.
But what next..?
I have only flown on a low cost carrier a few times in my life, thankfully. These have been times when I have been making a cheap student getaway to see friends in other parts of the country or in Europe. So, I have made use of the trips where travelling with a legacy or scheduled carrier have otherwise been too expensive, but having made this decision, I have been subjected to the tortuous airline policies which seem as though they are written purely to frustrate the passenger. There is certainly no consideration to customer satisfaction whatsoever. I can only say that I am thankful that it has not been a start or end to a family holiday for me; although it has been for some. It is exactly the case similar to 'Meet the Parents' where frustration simply grows and grows, until someone finally snaps...
...and then they are removed from the flight further exacerbating the situation..!
Ryanair, easyJet, Spirit and many other low cost airlines have been taking "innovative" steps over the past few years to cut costs and increase PAX loads for the benefit of revenue; but at what cost. This business model has slowly, but surely sapped the fun and glamour out of flying; on my recent trip to Vienna with easyJet, watching the pre-flight demonstration made me feel as though I was being forced to watch two depressed stewards learn to don life jackets. It wasn't long ago that the pre-flights were done with energy and theatrics. You could feel the dreariness and monotony with which it was done. That's not to say that it is always done like this. I hope this isn't contagious with the bigger airlines and that they continue to run a service where customer satisfaction means something.
Maybe this is just me being rather naive as a cadet and am yet to lose sight of the magic. I hope not..
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