Reason #824Q not to fly on the airlines

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0827-12.htmClick here for yet another story of why you should only travel by Cirrus…

Cheers,
Roger

Sample of one,

My own experience in April 2003 (collecting my SR20).

When I got one of my sisters from KMSP Minneapolis-StPaul no bags arrived from Amsterdam.

Called United and real person aswered not to worry. Would
be sent to next desinations. Signature FBO (real friendly people “with nice curves” helped us and took care. All luggage was forwarded and ultimately send to Rapid City and we could collect it from the terminal at United with the help of a friendly FBO driver.

So, buy a Cirrus and meet friendly people, avoid the airlines [:)]

Unfortunate, nobody told us it is a common thing luggage is delayed because of the TSA screening. There was a litle note from the TSA in the luggage.

That’s one of the many reasons to avoid the airlines.
In 15 minutes my wife and I are off to the airport to “SecklerAir” it from Chicago to Boston. Our door to door time will be about the same as if we went to ORD, checked in through security, went to the gate, boarded, flew to BOS and eventually got a car and to our ultimate destination.
Furthermore, the food on SecklerAir is excellent (my wife is, among other things, a professionally trained chef), the view is spectacular, the pilot is always sober and we haven’t misdirected a bag in almost 40 years.
The price is right too.
Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend.

Roger:

Great story. Unfortunately, it is all too common when dealing with ANY large corporation in the US. On any number of occasions I have resorted to going to the Web site of the offending company, locating the page titled “Investor Relations” and tracking down the name, phone number and address of the highest-ranking official they have the nerve to publicize. I won’t hesitate to call them at home if I have to. Since the investors seem to be the only group of folks these large corporations care about I found that talking to the Investor Relations department at the first inkling of a story like yours developing does wonders at avoiding a lot of the chaos.

Regards,
Jim

Jim,

Superb idea — thanks!

Cheers,
Roger

Remember the story a few years ago about a bad-weather day when a Northwest Airlines plane had been stuck on the ground for 8 (!) hours waiting for clearance? The plane still wouldn’t return to the gate to let the passengers out. A desperate woman found the Northwest president’s name in the seatback magazine, got his Minneapolis phone number from directory assistance, and gave him an earful on her cellphone. That finally broke the logjam and got them back to the gate.

The Minneapolis airport should commission a bronze statue to that passenger.

Jim,

Yes, that’s the link to click, “investor relations”. That’s how I find the Arnav telephone number when I need it, for instance. Arnav doesn’t (or didn’t, last I checked) publish a telephone number anywhere else.

To counter the original story at little I’d like to make three points. One, you can’t fly from Paris to Oklahoma in a Cirrus (not easily, anyway). Two, the lost baggage story might seem like an extreme case for the US, but in Europe, inefficiency and inpolite service are more common. Three, just because the customer service is in India doesn’t mean it is bad. I deal with inside customer service people at my employer all the time who are in Malaysia (accounting) and India (IT support), and they are great. I manage engineers in Texas (and California). We make our chips in Germany. They are tested in Singapore (I think). Who cares where they are? I’m happy that they can solve my problems.

But having said all that, I too am so happy to avoid the airlines and fly “Robair” as much as practical.