The airline industry really took a hit during COVID. Thankfully, the money they received from the government kept them flying.
Recently I saw that one of the airlines is cutting all beverages and snacks on flights that are less than 350 miles. That should save some money.
I remember back in the day when the Biscoff cookies that most airlines serve with beverage service were a treat worth waiting for. Now, not so much.
Why? Because at one time only one airline served those cookies and now most of them are. They are wearing thin. But that’s the least of their problems.
Granted, I fly a lot more than most people do and should consider myself blessed to do so. But for the love of God, there has to be another snack to serve besides those cookies and no-name pretzels.
In recent travels I’ve been bringing my own food from home. Cheese, crackers, fruit, etc. I feel comfortable doing this and have not noticed anyone else opting for home made snacks.
And let’s talk about airport food. A totally separate entity than the airlines.
I flew home three days ago from visiting my son and his family. First things first, I purchased a bottle of water. $5 I believe.
My go-to airport snack is a bag of Combos. Those are cheese-stuffed pretzels. Small bag $9. In the airport while waiting for my connecting flight, and seeing that it was late afternoon, I decided to get a sandwich as my supper.
One ham and cheese bagel was $21.67.
Let’s face it, as a traveler the restaurants know you have no other choice but to buy their food if you’re hungry. You’re literally being held hostage. And if you wanted to leave the airport, and you have a long enough layover, you could seek out less expensive food, but it’s not worth the hassle. It’s cheaper to just stay there and pay those outrageous prices.
Off topic for a minute…
I went to a parochial grade school where we were taught that the nuns and priests, in addition to a vow of celibacy, also took a vow of poverty.
What has changed? On my last flight there were two nuns, fully dressed in habits, sitting in first class playing games on their iPhones. Is this the ‘new religion’ like we have ‘new math’?
I work part time at a local auto repair shop and a couple of the local parishes bring their cars in for service. They are all Lexus’s. 🤷♀️
Back to the main topic…
Fuel prices right now are very high which in turn makes airline ticket prices soar. We’re traveling internationally next month and purchased our tickets several months ago. Thank God we did or we would be shelling out at least another $500 per ticket.
Earlier I mentioned that I visited my son last week and returned home this past Monday.
When I got to ORD (Chicago), it was wall-to-wall travelers. Multiple flights were delayed or cancelled. Why? Air traffic control management issues is what we were told.
Found out that 90% of domestic airports have a shortage of air traffic controllers. That is a very uncomfortable feeling.
But what’s the solution? You can’t force people to go to air traffic control school. It’s an extremely stressful job and the money isn’t that good.
I’m also noticing that the more I travel and the more airports I fly thru, the more expansions of airports are taking place to accommodate our ever growing, ever traveling population.
So what’s the answer to the this? I don’t know. All I know is that millions of people every single day are putting their trust into a business with more headaches and challenges than they can count.
Let’s not even talk about the recent multiple government shutdowns that affected the airline industry and its safety.
I’d hate to think that it’s going to take a disaster of monumental proportions to get someone to sit up and take notice.
Back to Basics 