Rodolpho Carrasco: Flying? Don't forget to pack the Golden Rule

Flying? Don't forget to pack the Golden Rule
by Rodolpho Carrasco
August 26, 2000
in the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group

Rodolpho Carrasco is associate director of Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, Calif., which was recently recognized as an exemplary technology program for community centers by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute's Digital Steppingstones initiative.

The United Airlines toll-free customer service representative said a seat was available on the 6pm flight.

"Would you like me to reserve that seat for you?" she asked.

I hesitated. Did I want to run a guaranteed two hours late, given that my 4pm flight from Chicago O'Hare airport to New York LaGuardia had been cancelled, or did I want to take a chance on standby on the 5pm flight?

After a few seconds of hemming and hawing, I said, "Go ahead and book it."

The representative transferred my information to the new flight and told me to head to the ticket counter for my boarding pass. I hung up the phone, relieved.

But when I got to the ticket counter the airline rep there said I was not booked on the flight and that there were no seats available. I would have to take the 9:30 pm flight.

Flummoxed and flabbergasted, I called the 800 number again. A different rep answered. No, he said, there is no record of a Rodolpho Carrasco being booked on the 6pm flight.

I explained the previous conversation, at which point the rep surmised: "It sounds like another person was being booked for that exact same seat and their rep hit the button before your rep."

Be that true or not (why would my rep have told me I was booked if I wasn't?) this rep explained the primary source of woe for summer travelers around the United States: the high consumer demand for airline transportation.

The number of airline passengers is expected to hit 670 million this year, up 20 million from last year, according to a Reuters news report.

As the number of passengers has risen, so has the volume of flier complaints. Complaints doubled between 1998 and 1999 and rose another 70 percent in the first half of this year compared to last year, according to the U.S. Transportation department.

Bad weather, increased competition in the skies, and United Airlines' struggle with its pilots have all contributed to this summer's travelers woes.

I thought the bad weather idea was a convenient excuse until I was delayed three and a half hours, sitting in the plane, because there was bad weather in my destination city. That was odd, because where we sat on the runway it was 85 degrees and humid.

The increased competition in the skies is a blessing and a curse. Yes, there are lower airfares. We all like that. But competition has also forced American Airlines and others to make more room in the plane cabin.

Yes, the seats are roomier, but that means less seats. The planes are fuller, which is good for airline efficiency and profit-making. But there are more standby passengers, legions of professionals trying get home to their families. They are the ones most exasperated when they cannot get on the flight.

Travelers on United Airlines, like myself, have had to add internal conflict to the weather and competition woes.

I got my own taste of this family squabble gone public when my cell phone vibrated late one night while I was at the movie theatre. It was United Airlines calling to tell me that my 8am flight the following morning was cancelled and would I like to be booked on the 6am flight.

That call, at least, was a courtesy. My return flight was also cancelled and I was placed on the aforementioned 9:30 pm flight.

I wandered throughout the terminal, a nomad for five and a half hours. I was at my wits end. Tired, malnourished on airport hot dogs and Skittles, longing to see my three-month old baby boy, I felt like lashing out.

But then I remembered the various displays of ugliness I have witnessed this summer.

A first class passenger is rude to the flight attendant for two hours; the coach passenger almost goes to blows with the teenager behind him who was kicking his seat; the business passengers from my cancelled flight glower at the gate attendant, who is doing her best to deal with the crisis.

We all get frustrated and tired, often for legitimate reasons. But there is no need to lash out at others. Unless, of course, you prefer people to lash out at you when the tables are turned. (Conscience check: What kind of passenger have I been this summer?)

There are things you can do to mitigate summer travel hassle. Best to expect delays and discomfort. Labor Day is coming up and the recipe around the country - by plane, train or automobile - is for snarls, confusion, and lots of overheated passengers.

Fine tune your contingency plan. Bring a little extra cash to use the Laptop Lanes popping up all over the country.

For 40 cents a minute you have an entire office cubicle, with internet, phone, fax and a door to shut behind you. Bring your portable CD player and ALL your CDs. Bring or buy a good book or two or three. Drink lots of water. Read the newspaper.

Most of all, bring the Golden Rule: do unto other cranky passengers what you would want them to do to you.

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