Flying in 2022
November 29, 2022
IS IT JUST ME, or is the entire air travel experience broken right now?
Security lines are endless, terminals are noisier and more crowded than ever, airport lounges have become overcrowded feeding troughs, onboard service isn’t half of what it was pre-pandemic, delays and cancellations are rampant. And so on; it’s across the board.
Initially, as the COVID-19 fiasco wound down, most of the trouble could be blamed on a lack of staffing. Passengers came back faster than expected, and the industry wasn’t ready. The resulting chaos was unpleasant, but was expected to be temporary. Yet here we are on the cusp of 2023, and although things aren’t as dysfunctional as they were six or eight months ago, they still feel badly off-kilter.
What troubles me most is that we seem to be resigning ourselves to it. I fear that we’re plateauing at a sort of “new normal.” Much as I hate that expression, it’s worryingly apropos in this case. The traveling public seems to be shrugging its shoulders and adapting.
It reminds me of what happened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Initially there were howls of outrage over the establishment of the TSA and the excesses of its policies: the agonizing lines, the illogical rules and hostile enforcement. It simply wasn’t sustainable, people declared. Things would mellow out in time, they said. They would have to.
Except that’s not what happened, really. Instead, we got accustomed to it all. Two decades later, security theater, with all of its extravagant waste, and despite the millions of hours it steals from us each year, is simply taken for granted. We endure it.
Is the same sort of thing happening again? Most people have always hated flying. Now they’ll just hate it a little more?
Where and how things are wrong is easy to see. But let me cherry-pick one example: onboard service. Food, wine, amenities. If you ask me, service hit its nadir somewhere around 2004, in the thick of the post-9/11 industry downturn. The airlines were going bankrupt, one after the other, and inflight offerings were scarce. But then it got better. It was a long, slow climb, but by 2019, in the premium cabins of the US legacy carriers, the levels of luxury and pampering at long last rivaled the better Asian and European carriers.
In fact, air travel by that point had entered a whole new golden age. Service, safety and convenience had reached unprecedented levels, and tickets were as affordable as they’d ever been — an achievement I celebrated in this New York Times article in 2017.
Then came COVID-19, and now the whole bar seems to have been re-set. Today, even on long-haul flights, a first class meal is often slung at you hurriedly on a tray, and they’re giving out champagne in plastic cups. At fares that aren’t any cheaper.
Will it get better this time, as the industry regains its footing? I’m not so sure. I’m sensing this is more of a paradigm shift — a change of expectations — than a simple correlation between profitability and service levels. Customers are more or less happy with things they are, I’m told. At least it’s not 2020, the thinking goes, when they got nothing at all.
Thus the benchmark, it seems, is the pandemic-panic realm of two years ago, rather than the golden age of 2019. By this logic, even the crappiest experience is a win. The bar has been re-set because expectations have been re-set.
We can look at this situation more broadly, too. It’s a decline, I think, that extends beyond flying.
This is a nitpicky example, but why do so many hotels, even five-star places, still not stock their rooms with cups or drinking glasses? Apparently guests are supposed to stick their faces under the faucet when brushing their teeth? I was in a Hyatt recently. No glasses, anywhere. So I call the front desk. “Would you like us to bring you some glasses?”
Hell, why not skip the pillows and sheets as well. If guests want them, they can always call.
I’d also like my Uber drivers to stop canceling at the last minute, and otherwise charging me double the normal fare. And don’t get me started with the hellishness of QR menus in restaurants.
And we should probably stop there. This is trending in a rather whiny direction.
These are, I realize, first-world complaints of a selfish, perhaps even gluttonous order. The world is spinning into ecological collapse, the specter of war looms large, and so on. I understand that. But everything has its context. And it’s possible that my gripes are symptoms, warning signs, of something more consequential gone rotten.
Welcome to post-pandemic America, 2022. The land where everything seems to be settling into a half-assed, slightly shittier, and more expensive version of what we had before.
Or, I’m just impatient. I’m known to be, and you’re free to judge my dooming and glooming as unfair.
Hopefully it is, and, at the risk of sounding manic, I’ll close with something more positive, and maybe more rational:
Flying remains, if nothing else, affordable and astonishingly safe. The business just went through the most traumatic two years of its existence, racking up tens of billions in debt. Recovery, which was never a sure thing in the first place, remains a long-term work in progress.
I, indeed all of us, should probably be thrilled with things as they are. It could’ve turned out a lot, lot worse.
And so, give it time.
Related Stories:
FLYING: A LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE.
THE MAD, MAD SUMMER OF 2022
TWENTY YEARS AND COUNTING.
Airline cabin photo: Hanson Lu/Unsplash.
Hotel room photo by the author.
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35 Responses to “Flying in 2022”
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I have a 1 acre property with airstrip access for sale. Perfect for a small plane!
Patrick, sorry if this comment/ question is somewhat unrelated.
I’m not sure if you would have heard about the Jetstar incident the other day. The flight from Melbourne to Bali was turned around not far from the destination because the airline apparently didn’t have permission to use the 787 for the flight.
Obviously there are rules in place and someone seriously stuffed up but why does the aircraft type matter with clearances etc? I’m not going off at Indonesia but just curious about the approval process etc and how it can go so wrong
Patrick,
Normally your comments are really insightful and well thought out. Now I feel compelled to rant a bit because the whining presented here really needs some real world context. There are many reasons for the decline of service quality post Covid. The one you are missing is the plight of what I call the invisible workers. These are the people who stock the shelfs, drive the trucks, offloads bags, update all things in hotel rooms and many more for very little upside but simply a job to make ends meet. We are the lucky ones who get to do what we love and use air travel and hotels as part of the jobs or fun we do. The reality of the invisible workers is not that exciting. So when the labor market is strong they are the ones who leave for better opportunities and rightly so. So between the government help that is absolutely deserved, better potential wages somewhere else they have left their current jobs and moved in large numbers. Just look at the help wanted signs everywhere. Thus the lack of glass in your room.
The question you should be asking is how we create and support an environment where any work is valued, rewarding, pays fair wages and benefits so people feel pride in their work and thus do it the best way they can. The expectations we have from the world at the expense of suboptimal outcomes for others is not the path. Sorry for being all philosophical but wanted to give some additional context.
Regards,
Anand
And so, the clear question is, if nobody is working at these jobs, where did these people all go?
Are they sitting home playing video games and smoking weed? Did they find other, better jobs? Where are they?
Service workers have been always been an integral part of the workforce. If, in fact, this is a labor shortage issue, where has this sector been displaced to?
I’m with you on this one…all the way. Merry Christmas, anyway. Your columns are always a good read. Thank you!
Unfortunately, your assessment is spot-on, Patrick, and not just for airlines. “We can’t offer (fill in blank) because of COVID” has become the excuse du jour, mainly because it sounds better than, “We’re trying to skimp on staffing and amenities, and we know you sheep will accept it.”
Man, I just fly easyJet, the European low-cost carrier. Twice in the past three months, most recently a return flight to Tenerife (which, at ~4 hrs each way, is over half the time it takes to fly all the way to Montreal).
It’s absolutely no-frills: you just pack a sandwich & buy a drink on board.
But all four flights left on time & checking in & security were a breeze.
And flying is always fun; got photos of the PS10 Solar Power Plant, ships at sea & the Rock of Gibraltar.
Anecdotal, I know. But it was great.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS10_solar_power_plant
This is a good time of year to watch Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil.” Speaking of declining customer service …
Peak everything is the real issue. Covid just accelerated it.
I’ve probably seen that film ten times. Recently I watched it again, for the first time in ages. This time I was a little disappointed. I don’t know that it’s aged well, and it kinda goes on forever. Certain scenes really lag.
I suspect that, in a lot of these cases, when an airline or hotel or other service provide tells you that service is reduced “because of COVID,” what that really means is “We let go of or lost a lot of staff during COVID, and not enough of them have come back.”
So, for instance, your room is only cleaned every three days because the hotel doesn’t have enough housekeepers to clean the room every day.
I’ve only flown once since 2019 and the results were ok. The flights were SEA-YUL and back on an Air Canada A220. On the plus side you can now reserve a spot in the TSA line in Seattle and breeze through in less than 5 minutes, the A220 was nice and with it’s 2-3 seating arrangement there is only on middle seat per row, the seats are wide and mostly comfortable and the overhead bins were huge. Everything ran like clockwork at SeaTac and we departed a couple of minutes early even. In-flight the choices were decent but Canada required masks at the time and the FA’s were very serious about enforcement which was great for me. Immigration was not too bad with my only complaint needing to take my mask off for the photo. So I’d give the outbound flight 5 stars.
The return was not so good. Even though it was a Monday and YUL was quieter than normal security was fairly slow and then US Customs took a while, not quite an hour total but long enough I was getting antsy. The terminal was small, fairly packed, had few shopping/restaurant choices but worst of all probably 2/3rds of the toilets were broken or mis-functioning which still wouldn’t have been bad if it weren’t for a three hour delay caused by lack of gate agents and ramp workers with a little bad weather tossed in. Once we were airborne things were fine again so no complaints about Air Canada itself but lots of complaints about the Montreal Airport!
You touched a sore spot with the QR codes for menus at restaurants. I don’t own a smart phone, so on the occasions I’ve been told to “scan the code to see the menu”, usually at a brew pub or similar yuppie/hipster vibe place, I say “I need to see a printed menu please,” and if they can’t or won’t provide one, I’ve left. These eateries are leaving my money on the table by this prissy refusal to print a few menus.
Recently flew coast to coast in business on JetBlue and United. Thought UAL was much improved, and JetBlue was just great, nice food and service. Regularly fly SWA for shorter flights, works great for a commuting a couple of hours. Efficient and you know exactly what you get. Guess I’ve been lucky, only one recent delay, flights mostly got in early. No waiting at TSA precheck. Likely will run into more issues as I eventually resume travel overseas, but generally not much to complain about (except what’s with late night food options at JFK? Why charge for the AirTrain? And why don’t more people wear a mask during a triple-demic?)
Re: flying. I’m fortunate that I fly only Jet Blue and they’ve done well. Hotels on the other hand are down right miserable. Stayed at a well know hotel in Albuquerque in the spring and it was horrid. From virtually no housekeeping (until I had to threaten in order to get my room cleaned)to just a plain seedy environment. Stayed in another brand hotel outside of Boston and paid an exorbitant rate for the same crappy, seedy experience. To be fair, stayed at a lovely tiny motel in northern Maine this summer and a spectacular small hotel in Quebec City this fall. Alas, I think they are the exception and not the rule.
I am interested to hear your take on the most brazen cutback attempt of all…. one pilot in the cockpit.
Patrick, by the way my middle name, perceptive of you to notice the end of Empireas being the root cause in the diminution of standards everywhere. 37 years at UAL , (66-03) employee of the year award, pension cut and benefits get more expensive, yet not as bad as many who have been aced out completely. Society seems to be ruled by a nouveau aristocracy, whose goal is to do no actual work , but be as Marx said, ” Coupon Clippers” . The wealth managers for this class of elites are as corrupt as can be, and the lack of education, decent wages, pensions, for the hired help is causing worldwide unrest as a result. What is ironic or moronic, actually, is that they they will eventually cause their own downfall. Let’s hope we live long enough for the proverbial worm to turn!
Yes, these are first world problems. And I agree that there is a reset. The biggest reset needs to be with people (like me) who lived through the era when flying was still a little special to now, where flying is a simple, safe and affordable means of transportation. I have no expectations when I fly my monthly commute between CLT and DCA other than “hopefully I get there more or less on time”. It is a 50 minute “experience” in flight (perhaps 3.5 hours in total door-to-door) and I truly don’t care about food, drinks, seat pitch, etc. As I fly to Europe once or twice, I will spring for a premium economy seat on the cheapest “bus” available, and know that – regardless of airline – my choice will be chicken or pasta, no sleep, and hopefully an on-time arrival. That needs to be our expectation, unless you fly first or business, when expectations are valid and choice or airline might make a difference.
When it comes to air travel, the majority of the flying public have made it clear that NOTHING matters to them more than the lowest fare. Not blankets, pillows, drinks or meals. Not legroom, wider seats, or free checked baggage. Nothing. Until the flying public is willing to pay a little more, nothing will change. But in example after example, airlines try to sneak perks back in, for a slightly higher fare, and customers stampede to the carrier with no perks but a lower price.
In 1990 I went on a Europe backpacking trip with my buddy. Our el-cheapo student economy fare to Heathrow was $1000 more than a comparable fare today (in inflation-adjusted dollars). No wonder we got all the perks, despite being scruffy college boys.
Thank you for your perspective and I could not agree with you more.
I would rather just not travel than deal with this sub par experience, however, our youngest wants to fly to Cayman, so we’re flying in the spring…needless to say I’m dreading it.
I do pray that the flying experience improves significantly or else I will just be happy driving.
I always look forward to your emails.
Regards,
Sheri
Frisco, Texas
The world is going through a reset right now…. mainly the first world. For decades of rich living we have gotten used to being served, and we became entitled. Now, the economy is recorrecting to a point where the true costs are becoming clear to everyone. Being served, in any way, is a LUXURY and not a right.
It ain’t gonna be fun, but it is necessary, and everyone will have to adjust. It will also be a very awkward adjustment. Every systematic capitalistic “downturn” that causes this kind of distress is yet another necessary adjustment to an extremely unsustainable and unequal global system. And people don’t like it, and they react in horrible and violent ways. Such is history.
I just wish everyone peace and the necessary social/personal support to adjust, because governments and businesses sure as hell ain’t going to step in and make things better unless you are a billionaire.
Find friends, family, and lovers and build yourselves support networks. And enjoy the time we have on earth.
Love and compassion :,(
Kindergarten Santa Pilot would be a pretty cool movie. But they don’t have airborne schools nowadays.
I did eight flights earlier this year in economy on Qatar Airways, and what you’re saying – that the “half-assed, slightly shittier, and more expensive version of what we had before” was the new normal – was exactly what I thought. Service was terrible. Food was at best indifferent. And they’d even – on their A380s but not their 777s or A350s – got rid of about 75% of their IFE content “because of Covid”. It was rubbish, and I very much feared that this was the new normal. Qatar used to be a great airline, even in economy, and this was absolutely not.
But then I did four flights on Emirates and one on Qantas, and they were just as they used to be (very good on Emirates, OK on Qantas). I followed this up with some domestic Australian flights and they were fine too.
However, in Australia, hotels are definitely following the pattern you describe. Beds are only made every three days “because of Covid”. Rooms are only cleaned every three days “because of Covid”. And we get charged the same as, or more than, we used to get charged. I’ve seen the same in Dubai, but not in the UK or Thailand. How far the countries are into or out of the pandemic seems to have no impact on the relative quality of service.
“Because of Covid” seems to be a great way to charge people more for less.
Fly foreign carriers. I have been on Turkish, EVA, Swiss and ANA, with only delight.
> Welcome to post-pandemic America, 2022. The land
> where everything seems to be settling into a half-assed,
> slightly shittier, and more expensive version of what we
> had before.
You’re absolutely right, Patrick. We are being treated to less and less service and when we call them for it, we’re given BS excuses like pandemic and inflation.
The lack of housekeeping in hotels, no water on flights, QR menus in restaurants without waiters, the crummy Uber/Lyft response rate, … It’s all the same scheme to see just how far customers can be shoved. Well, it’s time customers point out that line was crossed long ago.
So I think there should actually be way more whining. Obviously, the industry hasn’t quite gotten the message yet just how shitty customers feel being treated these days. So whine on! And don’t forget to vote with your feet and $.
I was thinking about the problems around passenger violence recently. I’m a gracious flyer. I sympathize with the staff getting from point a to point b safely. I still enjoy flying actually. Having said that, I still want to scream over the constant Nickel and dime stuff the airlines pull. Just charge me fifty to one hundred dollars (hell two hundred more. I’m practically paying it anyway,) and let me check a bag and have a free sandwich and a drink or two and enough legroom. Quit making us competitive for overhead space. I think if the airlines did this, they would be surprised to still find their planes full and their customers nicer. And the people looking for a super bargain, let them take the bus. Better they take the bus than turn the airline into one, which seems to be happening.
I began my professional flying career in military flight school in 1969. In those days, airline travel was reserved for only the wealthy. The US Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) controlled flight routing, frequency, and pricing. Government subsidies were substantial in the form of “essential air service” contracts for underserved communities. Customer service and courtesy were the primary discriminators between carriers, and the industry was very stable.
Then in 1978, Congress passed the Airline Deregulation Act. Air carriers became free to determine their own routing, frequency, and fee structures. Many undercapitalized low-fare startup air carriers entered the market and failed a few years later, dragging many legacy carriers down with them. Unions were busted and employee pay and benefits were degraded along with employee morale and customer service. Internal business functions were outsourced in the name of cost control. By the latter 1980’s, the race to the bottom in the airline industry, as well as in many other US industries became the norm. What we are seeing in almost all US industries and businesses today is the logical consequence of laissez faire capitalism and the phony “free market” it was touted to promote. There was no “golden age” of commercial aviation in the 2010’s. If there ever was a golden age of commercial aviation, it ended in 1978.
You may be right. I don’t fly often enough to know. But when I do fly, the sheer thrill of flying is enough magic for me. The roar of the engines, the acceleration down the runway, followed by the leap into the sky–there’s nothing like it. I’ll put up with a lot for that.
Then again, I may change my mind if I get on a flight that’s long enough that I want something to eat.
As you put it, “The traveling public seems to be shrugging its shoulders and adapting.” That’s exactly what’s happening. It was beyond my comprehension how people could accept the whole “facemask in flight” fiasco so willingly. The question was “How much airborne misery will people endure?” and the bureaucrats, airline executives and bean counters got the answer they wanted: The traveling public will put up with just about any amount of BS. And I predict that they will continue to do so.
You left out one horror of the airline experience that’s near the top of my list:
In the midst of the interminable verbiage that are airline inflight announcements comes the sales pitch to sign up for their credit card. I say to the airlines, “How effing dare you?!” In addition to all the downsides of flying on airliner, they then take the opportunity to treat paying customers as a captive audience to peddle nonsense wares? This is why I stopped going to movies – when they started showing commercials. I refuse to be advertised to when I’ve paid to be there.
This is why I have no “loyalty” to any airline. But I say here and now – the first company that makes a point of stopping this infuriating practice will get more of my business.
I think we are in the midst of a post-pandemic euphoria…we had been cooped-up for almost 2 years and as a nation we are not used to being told “you can’t do this or that”, like travel, go out to eat, see family friends, etc. Now that most restrictions have ended there is this feeling of having to make up for lost time. In the midst of this feeding frenzy, we trade-off certain things to be able to achieve whatever the ultimate goal is – getting to Paris is more important than the service on the plane, the fact that the hotel does not offer daily room cleaning – and cost be damned! My feeling is that this euphoria will begin to fade and reality will begin to set in…all exacerbated by the fact the economy will be in a recessionary decline. We all know the bean-counters always run the show, and this is more true now than ever before. However, I think even they will begin to realize that a reinvestment in the quality of the experience and service provided will have to be brought more to the fore if they are to remain a viable enterprise. After three trips to Europe this year, I can attest to missing the “good ole days”!
A few weeks ago, I had a late-night American flight from Reagan that was only around 60 percent full. Turned out I was the only person in my row. Couldn’t recall the last time that’s happened–the two dozen or so other flights I’ve taken this year have been 95-100% full. I had forgotten how much more pleasant the flight could be when I wasn’t entirely scrunched in. I’d be more OK with poorer service overall if I didn’t have to feel claustrophobic for the entire flight. Realize we’re never returning to that era, but still…
I was a United Airlines pilot for 36 years, so I go back to when flying was good. It was special. The latter half of my career I witnessed the creeping intrusion of idiotic bureaucracy and rules and regulations that benefit no one except the bureaucrats. Now, it’s not special. It’s a miserable ordeal, and I will have nothing to do with it. If I can’t get there in my RV or motorcycle, I’m not going.
Two important factors …
1. High debt load
2. Fewer passengers
Reuters … “Reducing debt is a priority for an industry that went on a borrowing binge to survive the pandemic. The big three national carriers – American, United and Delta Airlines – had $85 billion in net long-term debt at the end of the second quarter.”
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/rising-costs-fuel-worries-about-us-airlines-heavy-debt-loads-2022-09-09/
Statista … “Total revenue passenger miles of U.S. airlines from 2004 to 2021”
https://www.statista.com/statistics/690466/total-us-airline-revenue-passenger-miles/
It’s kind of like a two-income-household when one of the earners loses his/her job. No more steak or fancy wine.
Maybe one day it will come back in the USA, but in the UK it will take much longer, if ever. We always lived under the pretence of a free market economy, but industry has woken up to the lie and is now just gorging itself on ripping its customers off because they have nowhere else they can go. We’re not only living post-Covid, but (shhh, nobody wants to talk about this) post-Brexit. I swore, as I wound very very slowly through a three quarter mile long security queue at Heathrow, a few weeks back, never to fly again until they sorted the mess out. Sadly a lot of the measures in place to cope with the current situation seemed far from temporary. But it’s not only corporations playing the game here but also now staff; if you can go on strike or ‘go slow’ then that’s just fine, just go ahead and rip off the rest of us who can’t. I don’t see how this will end well over here. Guess I’m not going to be flying much in the near future, but at least I can afford to heat my home and buy food, which more and more people in the UK can’t (and they’re not the ones who can go on strike)
I think you answered your own question. Things after 9/11 didn’t snap back right away. It took years. Likely the same thing now.