I can hardly wait for all of the airlines to begin asking the government to bail them out because business has dropped off so much, never realizing that they actually ruined their own companies by “nickel and diming” their customers to death. 

Now seriously, how did it not occur to the airlines to simply raise the price of each ticket $50 or $100 bucks, with an explanation that the increase was for additional fuel charges (which we all could have easily understood and related to), leaving soft drinks, water, baggage and movies free???  Of course, that wouldn’t have contributed to the airlines lousy image, which they seem so skillful at creating.

The most important thing for airline customers to remember is that you're not alone; if you've had a bad experience flying, so have hundreds of others. Individually, we may not be able to get the attention of airline executives and bureaucratic decisionmakers, but together, we can make some noise.

That's just what one organization is going to do on September 19th in Washington, DC.

The Coalition for Passengers' Bill of Rights, formed by the passengers of several American Airlines planes stranded in Austin, TX for over 9 hours in December 2006, is taking their message to Congress.

The group is hosting a strand-in on the National Mall, recreating the hellish ordeal their founders and hundreds of other paying airline customers have endured, complete with the sights, sounds, and smells of a long-term airline stranding. Members of Congress will be there as well as the national media, and it's all to convince Congress to establish a maximum tarmac delay period, so airline passengers will be treated humanely during flight delays.

Read about the protest in The Washington Post, or read the Coalition's letter to Congress. Most importantly, attend the strand-in in Washington on Wednesday and join hundreds of flyers like you who just want to be treated like paying customers they are.

The details:
Who: The Coalition for Passengers' Bill of Rights
What: Strand-in Simulation on the National Mall
When: Wednesday, September 19, 2007, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Where: The National Mall, between 12th and 13th Streets NW, Washington, DC

UPDATE: Flyersrights.org, The Coalition for Passengers' Bill of Rights' website, was hacked yesterday by vandals who clearly didn't like what they have to say.

These goons are going to learn that they can't silence the movement for Passengers' Rights quite so easily. Show your support by attending the Strand-In tomorrow.

Here are some of the related articles from ABCNews.go.com and CNN.com.

As previously mentioned here in both commentary and the actual report from the Department of Transportation, July 2007 showed the airline industry’s worst on-time performance since 1995 – the year such data was first tracked.

But, alas, we cannot get too excited. First, Ms. Blakey made her announcement during her last official speech as head of the FAA and two, Air Transport Association spokesman David Castelveter reportedly said "No carrier is going to be willing to reduce its schedule unless we see that industry addresses all of the causes of delay."

“ALL” of the causes of delay? You mean the passengers? Sorry, you didn’t mention us…Those of us with children, special needs, and who may only fly once or twice a year and not wise to the ways of the cattle car mentality? (PUBLISHERS' NOTE:  We get the general need for the bovine-like conveyance of large groups of people, but we don't appreciate being branded by the iron-hot stares of arrogant and condescending fright attendants during what should be a customer service interchange.) Hmmm….Can we make a list of "all of the causes of delay," too? How about overbooking, aggressive adherence to impossible but-we-guess-they-look-profitable on spreadsheets schedules and a lack of overall responsibility to those whom you purport to serve as “customers.” OK, send us a list, Mr. “spokesman” for the ATA. We’d like to see it, and we’ll certainly publish it. And our readers will absolutely help complete it.

We have one word for all of you frustrated fliers who took the time to complain…Congratulations! The herd is being heard, and we must continue to do so.

 If we at Aircomplane.com let our ego get to us, we’d like to think that having the DOT complaint form prominently featured in the upper right hand corner of our blog had something to do with it. We hope so, but we’re just glad it’s happening. If you haven’t printed out the form and taken it with you when you fly, do. It gives you the information you need to gather to file a complaint and serves as a guide for when you encounter delays, lost luggage, and impossible fright attendants. It’s also here. http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/problems.htm

 Please, insist that you be treated like the paying customers you are: with respect, with dignity, and as a customer. And take the lead from the 1,455 passengers in July who insisted on having their problems documented.

Be one of the herd getting heard – and maybe they’ll stop treating us like farm animals and more like the people who employ them.

Surprisingly, belligerent passengers were apparently not available.

Read it here.

• Lines: They will be there. Labor Day travelers, like many holiday travelers, may not be as organized and savvy as business travelers. If you see someone overly burdened with their children and taking a little longer getting through, by, or organized; appearing lost; or who really looks like they could use a section of the newspaper you're finished with anyway, help them out.
• Be ready for check in and security. Read the signs, have your identification and documents ready, begin thinking about where you change, cell phone, and your titanium hip are. Security will take as long as it takes. Think about being patient and cooperative as your patriotic duty. It kind of is.
• Keep boozing to a minimum until you hit your hotel. Be rational and don't give the Fright Attendants a reason make you their punching bag.
• Between now and your trip, physically print and take a copy of this form with you. It is the The Aviation Consumer Protection Division (ACPD) complaint form. The ACPD "operates a complaint handling system for consumers who experience air travel service problems." Having a copy of the form at the ready will help you to remember what information about service problem you will need. Take names, flight numbers, times....It's all there and the form is ALWAYS on the upper right hand column of the Aircomplane.com home page. Go, print one out, now.

We also wanted to mention that a website called AirlineComplaints.org offers some valuable airline contact and other information for airline travelers. Check it out.

If we can directly help you with any issues contacting airlines about a problem or concern, let your Spite Crew here at Aircomplane.com know. Also, feel free to vent here. Sharing horrendous stories about how you may have been (mis)treated during your travels in not only excellent therapy, it's a great way to let other passengers know they're not alone...unfortunately. We promise to find all sorts of interesting things to do with your stories. We don't have the budgets the airlines do when they tell you what a FANTASTIC experience you have if you fly with them, but that's OK. Testimonials carry their own special weight.

Sun-Sentinal.com – “On July 29, Continental Flight 1669, a 737-700 with about 120 passengers aboard, was bound for Newark, N.J., from Caracas, Venezuela, when bad weather caused the plane to be diverted to Baltimore. It sat there for about five hours with passengers on board as food and water ran low and toilets became filthy.

But what made the Continental flight somewhat different was that passengers organized and protested by clapping in rhythm and drumming on overhead bins. Finally, the pilot, worried about mayhem, called the police.” Story here.

ConsumerAffairs.com – “It had to happen sooner or later: an airline called police to calm a planeload of angry passengers.” Story  here.

ABCNews.go.com – “"We were not provided with food," said passenger Caroline Murray. "There were passengers who were ill. There was one woman who was diabetic. There was a pregnant woman with small children. It was shocking to me."

"When you've got passengers about ready to riot, you've got an air crew that's not properly trained to communicate," said ABC News aviation consultant John Nance." Story here.

• We are allowed to place you in an area of confinement.
• We tell you when you will be strapped down.
• We are allowed to keep you for hours on end without access to food, water and information about your fate.
• You are not allowed outside contact.
• We have your money, and we control the future of your possessions.
• We are the judges of what is an indignity and what is not.
• We are subsidized by your government and are accountable to few.

Yea, we know. We’re not always part of the solution…sometimes, we just get pissy.

Anyone else bathing with us in the irony that the fines, if paid, will ultimately be done so with fare increases?

Another Air Travel Tricfecta: Arrogance, Apathy, and Entitlement. Your industry is given every break there is -- including those government safety nets that will never really, really let you go out of business. Grow up, stop playing games, and run your businesses like your customers and shareholders expect you to.

Frankly, we're most embarrassed for your parents. We assume they tried with you.

Bah!