Opixia

Air Safety

After the recent hijackings (click here), need I say more? Really. Actually, as a matter of principle, I would fly RIGHT NOW as a form of protest against the terrorists who think they can intimidate us!

For the past three years, I have been boycotting air travel (traveling only once a year) for numerous reasons:

Service. Lousy in-flight service. Lousy seating arrangements. Poor ventilation.
Delays.
Logistics. The entire inconvenience of getting to the plane itself including travel to the airport, security, the concourses, check-in, boarding areas, the boarding process, lack of service during boarding, seating, etc.
Maintenance. Concerns about whether planes are being properly maintained due to budget and scheduling issues.
Pilot rest. Concerns about whether pilots are properly rested.
Air rage, including the role of alcohol served at airports and on the planes.
Cockpit security. This came up with the air rage incident where a drunken passenger was able to break down the door. The recent hijackings just confirm this real problem. The irony is that the problem is not new. We had hijackings DECADES ago.
Airport security. It does not surprise me that ANYBODY could get ANYTHING on ANY plane.
Flight security. Terrorists can pretty much do whatever they are MOTIVATED to do and there is very little protection in place to stop them.
Emergency safety. I cringe at the thought of emergency exiting. The aisles are too narrow. The emergency exits are too narrow and there are so many people who just simply are not responsible these days.
Air traffic control system. The FAA knows this needs redesign. The current system adds to delays.
Block box failures. They need to switch to a real-time "broadcast" system so that much of the critical data can be captured by ground stations. This might also help for hijacking situations.
Fares. Completely irrational. I don't use priceline, but some sensible pricing scheme is needed. Why not just have a "base" price for any trip and then a per-mile charge with different bases for trips requiring more expensive planes. Also, "de-regulate" the connection between the fare collection and the flight so you could buy a ticket for a trip and then take whatever airline happened to have an open seat.

Please contact us with any questions or comments.

Updated: January 30, 2006 08:29:26 PM -0500