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Even flying frist class is a misserable joke


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2019 Aug 9, 6:22am   2,413 views  39 comments

by Tenpoundbass   ➕follow (7)   💰tip   ignore  

Why make first class comfortable if the whole God Damned plane is a death trap of rickety cheap small seats?

I think we need airway reform. The FAA is due for new regulations for smaller narrower Jets. The seating arrangements is wild wild west.
I think they need to regulate that those format of Jets may only have two seats on each side of the Isle.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2019/08/09/first-class-fading-rewards-program-upgrades-partially-blame/1963518001/

First class isn't what it used to be, at least according to frequent airline passengers like Bonnie Friedman. She's been flying in the front of the plane for years and has witnessed the slow and sad decline of premium service.

"It was never fabulous," says Friedman, a communication consultant who lives on Maui. "But in the last three or four years, it has most definitely lost what little luster it had. The planes are cheaply made, the seats are smaller, the bathrooms almost too small to get into — and I’m a small person."

In first class. Yes, first class.

Friedman, like a lot of other air travelers, has noticed a marked decline in premium service. Seats have shrunk. Leg rests vanished. The food is barely edible, and the service is unacceptable.

And let's be clear about what we mean by first class: We're talking about domestic flights and generally excluding the competitive transcontinental flights, where airlines still make a half-hearted attempt to put the "first" into first class.

If you're thinking, "What do I care if first class is in a tailspin? I only fly in economy class," then think again.

First class is the best an airline can do, and economy class is arguably the worst. But the two move in tandem, so as first class falls off a cliff, the good people in the back of the plane suffer, too, as airlines reduce seat size and slash service. We're all in this together.

The decline of first class raises two important questions: First, why the cuts? And second, what can you do about it?

Comments 1 - 39 of 39        Search these comments

1   HeadSet   2019 Aug 9, 6:30am  

First, why the cuts?


Because people bargain shop on-line for the cheapest tickets.
2   NDrLoR   2019 Aug 9, 8:22am  

Tenpoundbass says
She's been flying in the front of the plane for years
I've heard or read that in the unlikely case someone survives a crash, it's the rear of the plane that is the "safest", which makes sense.
3   HeadSet   2019 Aug 9, 8:37am  

it's the rear of the plane that is the "safest",

So the safest people are those doing the "mile high club" in the back bathroom.
4   Misc   2019 Aug 11, 2:06am  

First they came for the smokers...I didn't care because I was not a smoker

Then they came for the fatties...I didn't care because I wasn't fat

Then they came for the children (now you gotta pay extra to have them next to you)...I didn't care 'cause mine were grown

Finally they come for 1st Class and you expect sympathy
5   MisdemeanorRebel   2019 Aug 11, 4:35am  

Minimum Seat Size: 19"
Minimum Seat Pitch: 32"on all 2+ hour flights. 34" on 4+ hour flights.
Anybody 6'1" or shorter should be able to stand straight in front of their seat, regardless of whether the person in front is reclined or not. This is a Safety issue.
Minimum Seat Padding: 2"

This is in return for the billions and billions and billions of taxpayer subsidies, bailouts, and tax breaks. Not least of which is paying a fraction of the gas tax every other mode of transportation must pay.

Airlines that do not comply pay the regular gas tax.

This will rid the US of the A380 3x5x3, which is great.

PS No seat on a US domestic flight was less than 19" in the 1990s.
6   MisdemeanorRebel   2019 Aug 11, 5:23am  

The A 380 Sale Glamour Shots:


The Reality:

The man in the picture above is slender as hell, by the way.
7   Booger   2019 Aug 11, 6:23am  

Race to the bottom!
8   GNL   2019 Aug 11, 6:42am  

I have to say that, I agree with HeyYou. I cannot believe I just said that. The free market is supposed to take care of things like this.

There are 2 things I will not ever do again. They are go to the movies and go to a concert. The movies, last time I went, had a special line for concessions for "members" and they go first before everyone else. No matter how long the "nonmember" line is. Fuck that. And concerts? I'm tired of having to empty my pockets and lift my arms. Fuck that.
9   RC2006   2019 Aug 11, 6:58am  

I haven't had to fly for 15yrs those seats above are crazy. Before I saw the plane's windows I thought the seat with the guy sitting were the ones in the terminal.
10   tovarichpeter   2019 Aug 11, 7:14am  

Why we need high speed rail like other first world countries
11   MisdemeanorRebel   2019 Aug 11, 8:20am  

There are two options:

1. Re-regulate airlines like a Utility.

2. National Policy to have no less than 16 domestic airlines and do away with hubs (which create political interest)

And one no-brainer:

Full Ticket Disclosure: Seat Pitch, Seat Width, Seat Padding, and exactly how much baggage you get, and the On-time Overbook percentage for the flight number. That means From AA Website to Expedia to Orbitz, all ticket vendors must list it out.

So you can compare Apples to Oranges.

Then you can decide if $30 is worth booking a seat that includes checked baggage with 1" more seat width, or whether you'd save $30 dollars.

Note: Airline Industry is the ONLY industry where being treated like shit is blamed on the customer.
12   MisdemeanorRebel   2019 Aug 11, 8:22am  

tovarichpeter says
Why we need high speed rail like other first world countries


Not viable outside the NE Corridor.

Since Airlines are our "High Speed Rail", they can't be subsidized up the ass on one hand, yet race to the bottom on the other.

American, Delta, and United are 3 of the 4 most profitable airlines in the World.

Like Insurance Companies, airlines pretend they're barely keeping the lights on, when they're making it hand over fist.
13   marcus   2019 Aug 11, 8:58am  

:

So, just to be clear, you're saying the government is not regulating airlines enough.
14   Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 11, 9:03am  

marcus says
So, just to be clear, you're saying the government is not regulating airlines enough.


That is all a Stalinist would read in my rants about Airline seating.

Of course Marcus it's all so clear now, it needs to be taxed 10 times more and the seats need to be even smaller. Why didn't I think of that?
15   Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 11, 9:06am  

We can regulate a Gas Can to the point they are fucking useless, but lawn chairs on airlines is perfectly acceptable for Liberals shitbirds.

Liberals are a fucking cartoon of a human being trying to be an Asshole.
16   clambo   2019 Aug 11, 9:10am  

I was recently upgraded to business class on a short flight from Cabo San Lucas to San Francisco and it was great.

It wasn't even a fancy airline, just United; go figure.

I hear it called "business class" rarely "first class". I think on some flights there is a "first class" in addition to a "business class".

I think the woman complaining may be full of shit.

Jet bathrooms are not large on some airplanes, that's the design now.

What totally sucks is the experience 1. before you go to the gate 2. people with carry-on luggage slowly filling the plane

I remember back when dinosaurs crawled the earth and people checked their luggage. The airplane filled up and emptied quickly.
17   SunnyvaleCA   2019 Aug 11, 10:20am  

HonkpilledMaster says
2. National Policy to have no less than 16 domestic airlines and do away with hubs (which create political interest)

I could go along with breaking up the airline cartel.

Another idea to bring in competitive pricing: Allow customers to buy and sell their tickets to other potential customers up to a day before the flight. The "non refundable, non transferrable" tickets serve little purpose but to jack up profits and make the system more hectic for customers. Airlines should sell the seats of a flight 3 to 12 months in advance and allow the free market to shuffle the seat holders around closer to flight time.
18   Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 11, 11:27am  

Now if you know your Darwinism. The law of Natural Selection, dictates that Smaller Airlines shouldn't have more seats than the huge hulking airlines they replaced.
19   marcus   2019 Aug 11, 11:55am  

Tenpoundbass says
Of course Marcus it's all so clear now


At least I'm not the kind of clown that chooses to blame the most random things corporations do that they don't like on "the libruls."

Tenpoundbass says
but lawn chairs on airlines is perfectly acceptable for Liberals shitbirds.


Seriously. Are there many folks outside of Appalachia that see the world this way ?
20   marcus   2019 Aug 11, 11:57am  




The guy in photo above says
Liberals are a fucking cartoon of a human being trying to be an Asshole.
21   marcus   2019 Aug 11, 12:03pm  

:
When I walk by first class, it still looks pretty damn awesome to me.

The last plane I was on, coming back to LA from Boston, David Crosby was sitting in fist class when I was boarding, and he looked pretty comfortable to me. Back in coach I watched a couple movies on my private little screen to pass the time. But yeah the seats have gotten about as tight as they can. It's the liberal faults, LOL !!
22   Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 11, 12:10pm  

WineHorror1 says
The free market is supposed to take care of things like this.


That's the problem with the "Free Market" canard. As I think there should be just as much responsibility for Companies as Well as the Government to not do anything that negatively impact an industry. The Free Market folks that thinks it's a security blanket for everything. Sits idly by when Companies buy up all of the competition. Then destroys the whole industry as a whole. They are more than happy to just scale back to accommodate their few loyal customers and users left. While passing the lost revenue on to them in high prices for those products and services.

By you not going to Movies or Theaters again. Will not do anything to their bottom line. They were allowed to consume and close down competition. Dump cheap made crap in markets, for the sole purpose of destroying small competition. Then when the competition on those markets are gone, they don't even open a location or service those areas.

It sure sounds like Regulation to me. It's Regulation that nobody had to get voted into office and nobody had to get a 60 percent majority vote to accomplish.

Free Markets my Ass. We need an Economic System where every and all instances of unethical business conduct is considered illegal. There's plenty of laws to keep small business owners small time and honest. If not drive them out of business over the burden of compliance. There's not much Billion Dollar monopolies can't do. And as Google, Twitter, and Facebook has shown us. There not anything they can't do.

Stop with the Free Market Bullshit, it no longer means what you think it means. It means allow the Companies to correct the Markets. With the plunge protection team's help of course.
23   MisdemeanorRebel   2019 Aug 11, 2:56pm  

SunnyvaleCA says
Another idea to bring in competitive pricing: Allow customers to buy and sell their tickets to other potential customers up to a day before the flight. The "non refundable, non transferrable" tickets serve little purpose but to jack up profits and make the system more hectic for customers. Airlines should sell the seats of a flight 3 to 12 months in advance and allow the free market to shuffle the seat holders around closer to flight time.


Yep.

It's really the "Full Disclosure" for Medical Costs applied to Airline Traffic. You're gonna see the total of what you get.

Now that Fees are 15% of Spirit (and more for others) Airline Revenue, is that $250 ticket cheaper considering the 28" Pitch and 17" Seat, plus $50 for Checked Baggage?
Or are you better off with another carrier with 31" Pitch, 18" Seat, and One Free Checked Baggage for $295?

clambo says
Jet bathrooms are not large on some airplanes, that's the design now.


Just wait until you see the 787 MAX. Even a skinny man of average height can't turn around, and the water splashes everywhere because the sink is so small and narrow.

The toilet seat is small for midgets.We can regulate a Gas Can to the point they are fucking useless, but lawn chairs on airlines is perfectly acceptable for Liberals shitbirds.

Tenpoundbass says
We can regulate a Gas Can to the point they are fucking useless, but lawn chairs on airlines is perfectly acceptable for Liberals shitbirds.


This.

There are regulations for prisoner transport, but no regulations for passenger transport.

Leftists are upset if a prisoner is uncomfortable on a two hour ride, but happy with 16" Seat Widths for paying customers.
24   Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 11, 3:12pm  

HonkpilledMaster says
Leftists are upset if a prisoner is uncomfortable on a two hour ride, but happy with 16" Seat Widths for paying customers.


With no legroom and only a 5 degree incline. I fully expect an article from Salon any day now, saying it's toxic white male privilege to use both armrests because you boarded the plane first.
25   GNL   2019 Aug 11, 3:28pm  

Tenpoundbass says
WineHorror1 says
The free market is supposed to take care of things like this.


That's the problem with the "Free Market" canard. As I think there should be just as much responsibility for Companies as Well as the Government to not do anything that negatively impact an industry. The Free Market folks that thinks it's a security blanket for everything. Sits idly by when Companies buy up all of the competition. Then destroys the whole industry as a whole. They are more than happy to just scale back to accommodate their few loyal customers and users left. While passing the lost revenue on to them in high prices for those products and services.

By you not going to Movies or Theaters again. Will not do anything to their bottom line. They were allowed to consume and close down competition. Dump cheap made crap in markets, for the sole purpose of destroying small competition. Then when the compe...

Got it. I don't think you mean you want more regulation though. Do you mean competition? Regulation means more government and government is the worst of all solutions imo.

This might sound crazy but I
don't think corporations should exist. The revolution was as much about the King of England as it was his corporations. Watch "The Corporation".

www.youtube.com/embed/Y888wVY5hzw
26   marcus   2019 Aug 11, 5:12pm  

HonkpilledMaster says
Leftists are upset if a prisoner is uncomfortable on a two hour ride, but happy with 16" Seat Widths for paying customers.


Really, you're going to humor him that airline seat width in any way has to do with leftists ? You know what this proves don't you ? I mean I knew, but I didn't realize you were that stupid.

IF seats get truly too narrow, then some airline will start having 30% higher fares for wider seats with more leg room. Even now, you can pay a little extra for more leg room, emergency exits which I do for long flights. Not being obese, the seat width doesn't bother me that much, unless I'm next to a large person.
28   Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 11, 5:29pm  

WineHorror1 says
Got it. I don't think you mean you want more regulation though. Do you mean competition? Regulation means more government and government is the worst of all solutions imo.

Not regulations not mandated competition.

It is a crime to work an angle to gain money in every single aspect of your life. Even if there isn't a clear law for it, you can be brought up on ethics charges or even racketeering charges. But businesses can intentionally set out to destroy industries and the companies in those industries for the sole purpose of forcing their industry and product on people.

Free Markets never once got a crack at it, for that it would imply we as consumers had a choice. We never do have a choice.
80% of businesses acquired these days are for the purpose of shuttering them.

In hindsight what has happened with the 1A, the Internet and the phasing out Print for the internet. We should have fought like hell to keep our book publishers, and book sellers in business. There was no reason to do away with books. I came up in Computer Programming at a time before Amazon was even a thought. There was plenty of digital documentation. I preferred going down to Barnes and Nobels and just buying a hard copy book. Most people felt the same, it was only by design all of the book stores were acquired mismanaged and shuttered.

Now we don't know shit Google wont give up in search results. That's not Free Markets. By no stretch of the imagination. Had there been laws there to push back and say "Whoa wait a minute Jim, what's your end game acquiring that business?" Then if they plan to shutter it, it goes in conservatorship and is restored. Should even allow class action law suits for Customers that depended on those products or industry. Put legal ramifications in place for such practice it would stop.

I don't see why we had to do without LP's and Analog Tape, other than CD's and CD player squeak boxes could have never taken off with far superior electronics still available.

It would have been a 5 year fad tops. It would have blown over as quick as the Atlanta Olympics Bombing story did. Which happened about the time CD's just came into fashion and hit the market.
29   Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 11, 5:35pm  

WineHorror1 says
This might sound crazy but I
don't think corporations should exist. The revolution was as much about the King of England as it was his corporations. Watch "The Corporation".


I'm with you there. I think there should be very few industries and services that can be incorporated. Or publicly traded.

We need hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of entrepreneurs and only a handful of Corporations in this country.
30   GNL   2019 Aug 11, 7:16pm  

Tenpoundbass says
WineHorror1 says
This might sound crazy but I
don't think corporations should exist. The revolution was as much about the King of England as it was his corporations. Watch "The Corporation".


I'm with you there. I think there should be very few industries and services that can be incorporated. Or publicly traded.

We need hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of entrepreneurs and only a handful of Corporations in this country.

Bravo bravo. BUT how do we get there? To that point again?

Hey Tenpoundbass, are you a coder?
31   MisdemeanorRebel   2019 Aug 11, 7:40pm  

The biggest bullshit the GOPe promulgated was that Monopolies, esp. in IT, were natural and desireable.

I liked having completely different computer models and OS. Commodore vs. IBM vs. Apple vs. Atari. It also helps to make users and IT guys more valuable and diverse.

I liked having Altavista vs. Yahoo vs. Google vs. "Aol". Bing is actually not bad, and I try to use DuckDuckGo whenever possible, esp. for Political searches. It's extremely palpable when searching for "TQ" (in LGBTQ) results, like mass Trannie Suicides, that Google actively depreciates.

Bullshit that Algos aren't manipulated to give certain results. It's all but proven.

When there's a successful business model, like Google or Amazon, we should be seeing dozens of competitors.

Instead, like Instagram or Whatsapp, they are brought up and either shutdown or incorporated into the Borg.

Google, Amazon, etc. should be broken up big time. Facebook should be banned from acquiring any more social media platforms (but encourage it to start a Youtube Competitor for Video). For starters, rip Android from Google and split it in 3. Rip Instagram and Whatsapp from Facebook.

We need half a dozen Youtubes. The reason Youtube survived is that it ignored IP complaints long enough to be brought by Google, and almost nobody can fight Google unless they are an extremely powerful and united Industry and have an open and shut case. When we have half a dozen Youtubes, they'll be fiercely competitive for content, they'll mostly ignore SJW complaints.

We saw what happened to Gab, 8Chan, Voat, etc.

United and USAir/American and Delta should be busted up. They are 3 of the 5 most profitable airlines in the world, by the way.
32   GNL   2019 Aug 11, 7:48pm  

HonkpilledMaster says
The biggest bullshit the GOPe promulgated was that Monopolies, esp. in IT, were natural and desireable.

I liked having completely different computer models and OS. Commodore vs. IBM vs. Apple vs. Atari. It also helps to make users and IT guys more valuable and diverse.

I liked having Altavista vs. Yahoo vs. Google vs. "Aol". Bing is actually not bad, and I try to use DuckDuckGo whenever possible, esp. for Political searches. It's extremely palpable when searching for "TQ" (in LGBTQ) results, like mass Trannie Suicides, that Google actively depreciates.

Bullshit that Algos aren't manipulated to give certain results. It's all but proven.

When there's a successful business model, like Google or Amazon, we should be seeing dozens of competitors.

Instead, like Instagram or Whatsapp, they are brought up and either shutdown or incorporated into the Borg.

Google, Apple, etc. should be broken up big time. Facebook should be banned from acquiring...

Competition is the only way, really, to put the power back into the hands of consumers. Things would change for the better quite quickly imo.
33   MisdemeanorRebel   2019 Aug 11, 7:50pm  

WineHorror1 says
Competition is the only way, really, to put the power back into the hands of consumers. Things would change for the better quite quickly imo.


Yep, good old Teddy and Trust Busting. I prefer breaking them up to regulating them.

Could you imagine if somebody made the argument: "Who cares if McDonalds brought out Checkers, Burger King, Five Guys, and Chic Fil A? It'll create more efficiency that way. Sure, they shut down most of those outlets or made them into McDs. Think of all the useless extra Burger Kings and Checkers taking up precious intersection real estate and 'confusing the customer' when we just need McDonalds. Frankly, Starbucks should buy out Dunkin Donuts, too."
34   Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 12, 8:24am  

WineHorror1 says
Bravo bravo. BUT how do we get there? To that point again?

Hey Tenpoundbass, are you a coder?


Yes are you a floor coach?
35   RWSGFY   2019 Aug 12, 9:29am  

Misc says
Then they came for the children (now you gotta pay extra to have them next to you)...I didn't care 'cause mine were grown


Correction: didn't care because if my small child is sitting away from me it's not my problem, bwahahahaha.
36   GNL   2019 Aug 13, 11:27am  

Tenpoundbass says
WineHorror1 says
Bravo bravo. BUT how do we get there? To that point again?

Hey Tenpoundbass, are you a coder?


Yes are you a floor coach?

I was asking because I'm working on a business solution for employees tied to an employer. The solution will allow employees to drop their yokes and go into business for themselves in a matter of hours. Anti monopoly. I believe there are many opportunities to do this in many fields.
37   RWSGFY   2019 Aug 13, 12:23pm  

WineHorror1 says
I was asking because I'm working on a business solution for employees tied to an employer. The solution will allow employees to drop their yokes and go into business for themselves in a matter of hours. Anti monopoly. I believe there are many opportunities to do this in many fields.


Interesting.
38   GNL   2019 Aug 13, 8:22pm  

Iranian_Oil_Burse says
WineHorror1 says
I was asking because I'm working on a business solution for employees tied to an employer. The solution will allow employees to drop their yokes and go into business for themselves in a matter of hours. Anti monopoly. I believe there are many opportunities to do this in many fields.


Interesting.

The internet has made centralization easier. I believe it can do the same for decentralizing also. How many industries rely heavily on systems or proprietary software?
39   MisdemeanorRebel   2019 Aug 13, 8:23pm  

One computer glitch can f up air traffic for days.

Funny, lost paperwork never stopped air traffic in the days of triplicate forms.

Efficiency trades off with Robustness.

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