The photo that sums up the woes of flying a US carrier

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Written by Nell Alcantara

When it comes to United States carriers’ economics, I just don’t get it.

When it comes to United States carriers’ economics, I just don’t get it. Airports are busy and aircraft are full, but the airlines, by virtue of their actions toward their consumers, can’t seem to make a profit.

First they took away the peanuts, then before we know it: they are charging for anything and everything – from telephone bookings to luggage! As if the “nickel and diming “of customers were not enough, the actual flight service experience has gotten from worse to downright unbelievable. If these actions are taken to persuade the traveling public not to travel by air using US carriers anymore, then they are making very compelling case.

Case in point: the picture below.

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The photo that sums up the woes of flying a US carrier (photo by Nelson Alcantara)

Taken on a very recent flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, the picture above shows a bowl of disinfectant mini towelettes over a broken sink in an aircraft lavatory. The story is simple: the guilty airline had a broken sink in one of its lavatories, so they placed a bowl of mini towelletes in lieu of a working sink. I will spare the name of the airline at this time, but this is undoubtedly one of the most atrocious flight experiences I’ve ever been on. Forget being tacky, this is downright unacceptable because it puts passengers’ health at risk.

If there is one consistent lesson that has been reverberated in global travel and tourism conferences since the outbreak of SARS and swine flu, it is the importance of “washing your hands after using the toilet.” Do US carriers think they are immune to such a lesson? With the threat of an Ebola outbreak a grim but realistic forecast, US carriers clearly have to heed to the aforementioned lesson.

Being confined in an over five-hour journey is long enough, let’s not increase the risk of having passengers’ health vulnerability by being callous. This is clearly what happened with my recent flight. I would have rather had this particular lavatory closed altogether, as there were at least five other lavatories on that aircraft.

Travel by air via a US carrier only as a last resort is what I have come to believe as a frequent flyer. Since taking the picture above, I am more than ever convinced that I should stick to non-US carriers in every opportunity possible for a “seamless” flight experience.

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Nell Alcantara

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