MaxTOW

OK - so everyone wants to pay the lowest common demoniator price; pilots can understand that. But how long is it before Airbuses turn into *real* bus services - ala Bus Air? with local government type attitudes? Cabin crew become bus conductors, you don't even get to speak to a person for any problem, no toilets (or filthy grafitti infested ones) etc. People will be weighed for their ticket price & if you don't watch it, the kid near you with ADHD (and more) absconding from his day program, probably has a weapon he wants to use on you.

Passengers Forced to Stand for Five-Hour Flight: Russian Airline Ran Out of Seats - ABC News

Its not far off I suggest.

AA SLF

Max -

I see you have flown either on Southwest or Ryanair then.

As a pax of over 30 years, flying every week, I lost the "allure" factor in the FIRST year. T

MaxTOW

The Ryanair & Southwest bit made me laugh.

Yeah - you have to laugh it off don't you. . but then for people who have flown as much as yourself, maybe its not so funny.

I'm waiting for Reg Varney (did you ever see 'On the Buses' - UK) to come down the aisles . . . showing my age there.

Haven't a clue

I used to love flying. Once at the airport I would relax as the airline took over responsibility for getting me to my destination, and it's staff looked after my every need.

Now I find stress levels rise as I approach the airport. Will I have been bumped? Am I confident my hand baggage fits the gauge for this particular airline? Is my hold baggage within limits? I must remember to pull out the liquids, laptop and other electrical items for security, and are my pockets empty? Will I have a confrontation at the gate because my hand baggage which has been flown many times with this airline is now considered too large by the sub contracted ground staff? If there's a cancellation can I get rebooked today or will it have to be tomorrow or worse? Will I arrive in time to catch my second onward flight (I've left a six hour window, is that enough?). And so on.

And that's all before I climb on board and have to deal with the conscripted sales people who are really there for my comfort but primarily my safety (!)

For those of us who have enjoyed and happily paid for full service in the past, the present is a nightmare.

crewmeal

I have to keep watching that old film 'Out of the Clouds' with James Robertson Justice as a grumpy old BOAC Captain to realise that flying used to be glamorous with very high standards of service back in those days. Sadly I have to agree with Haven't a clue's comments.

JWP1938

As SLF, and due to the way my life has turned out, I had my first commercial flight in (I think) 1978 when I was 40. Before that just the usual one trip round the bay on an old single engined holiday joy ride type thing. I have always been obsessed with flying, particularly commercial jets and so had read a lot about it all. Wife and I then were going LGW to Rhodes and were very excited. It was a BA flight and was on the last (or nearly last) flight of their last 707. The captain told us the a/c was due to be retired in the next few weeks. The flight was everything I had read about and most enjoyable. Very comfortable. Plenty of leg room. Cabin staff and food great. Clean and comfortable seats and surroundings. Fancied another drink and pressed the call button as instructed by the staff. "Can I have another drink please?" "Of course sir, what would you like?" Back in seconds with said (free) Scotch and American. A really wonderful experience just as I had read and seen in the films. These days I use easyJet and Monarch.

MaxTOW

My first memory of flying was BOAC when I was seven years old in 1967. London to Sydney 32 hours total, 26 hours flight time in a B707 from memory. I will never forget the beauty and kindliness of the cabin staff - they made you feel really cared for. The flight was embued with all the things that have become iconic in airlines; toy model aircraft, information cards of the aircraft in the fleet, maps etc. There was an extreme genuiness of their demeanour; everything was done so completely professionally. I kept asking "Is this Australia yet" every time we had a wait on tarmac in various countries. Finally, in Darwin we disboarded & a guy in kahkis & akubra came over in the sweltering heat (very hot for a young 'aussie - never seen Australia since age 1') & I knew we were there. I believed we were going off to live in a cave with kangaroos, koalas and kookaburras as I had seen in an Australian kids movie in UK.