NAACP warns black passengers against flying American Airlines

[Stonepounder]

5. Back in the day (20-30 years ago) I was a road warrior.

I've still got my American Airlines 'Lifetime Platinum' card, achieved by flying over 2 million miles on American. Back then the airlines competed to give good service and to make your flight pleasant. Free meals and (alcoholic) drinks during the flight, reasonable leg room between seats and so on. I flew almost every week, mainly throughout North America, but occasionally to Europe. Flying was the way to travel.

Then things started to change. Seats got smaller, amenities got downsized, eliminated, or became extra cost. More and more we were treated as cattle and not customers. After a while I started driving to my destination whenever it was less than about 600 miles away. Finally, about 15 years ago I made the decision to quit flying altogether and I haven't flown since. I think the straw that broke the camel's back was when I realized that I could drive from my home in Northern KY to Atlanta faster than I could fly. It is about 650 miles. By the time I got to the Airport 2 hours early to 'leave time for clearing security', flew to my destination, waited 15-30 to get my baggage, got the shuttle to the rental car lot, rented a car, and drove to my hotel in Atlanta, it took a couple of hours longer than to just drive.

I haven't flown since and I cannot think of a situation, now that I am retired, where I would ever fly again. Airlines have been engaging in a race to the bottom and they no longer care about their passengers. I used to enjoy flying. Now I refuse to fly because they figure they can screw over anyone they want and there will be no repercussions, and apparently they are correct.

Unbridled Capitalism. Sad.