We made the mistake of flying an American airline company to travel to the U.S.
Before, when traveling between the U.S. and Japan, C and I would always buy an American Airlines ticket. Not that we ever wanted to fly on American Airlines- but, every time we flew AA before, we actually rode on a Japan Airlines jet. So we got JAL service, a far superior product, for the slightly cheaper AA price, plus we could rack up JAL frequent flier miles.
This sweet arrangement has ended apparently. This time when we flew back to the States, we rode on a combination JAL/AA flight. However, we had the misfortune of riding on an AA jet. (I feel really bad for the poor saps who bought a more expensive JAL ticket but were suckered into an AA flight.)
In addition to the lack of free alcohol (and I generally try to recoup the cost of my ticket on international flights by consuming an equal value in liquor) The AA flight we took was like spending a day in a rest home. Well that is not a fair comparison, and I apologize to rest homes everywhere.
The average age of the flight attendants was maybe 65 years old, and most of these golden girls didn’t look a day under 60. At least one of them was old enough that she probably got her start as a flight attendant for the Wright brothers.
Now, I do not have anything against senior citizens in the work force, as long as they can do the job. However these flight attendants, in addition to being incredibly surly, asked their customers on more then a few occasions to assist in their duties. I do have to admit that the plane seemed very new. It was so new in fact, that the food they served on the plane probably outdated it by at least six months.
My biggest complaint however, was about my carry on. I play a Japanese musical instrument slightly smaller then the average guitar. On the AA website they claim that guitars would be allowed as a carry on bag. I contacted the airlines and described the instrument, its dimensions, and the flight I was taking to make sure I could bring the instrument as my carry on bag. They replied saying that it would be no problem. Of course, when I got to the gate, I was forced to check my instrument. In addition to being lied to when I contacted AA, the staff member at the gate insulted me and laughed at me for being indignant about insisting on bringing on my carry on.
So my question is, why does the U.S. government insist on bailing out the airline companies? It is not just American Airlines that has poor service, in the last two years I have had the misfortune of flying United and Southwest as well. I have flown on several different companies from several different countries. Airline companies based in the States have an almost uniformly poor service. In fact, everyone I know that flies more then once a decade does everything they can to avoid flying on a U.S. carrier. The airlines do not need more bail-outs. They need to offer a service worth buying.
Next time I have to cross the Pacific if faced with the choice of taking a U.S. airline or swimming, I think I would try the latter.
Repatriate 