Air travel is very stressful and time consuming these days. I’m not talking about being on a plane and worrying about it falling from the sky. i’m talking about all the hassle and hoops one has to jump through just to get on the airplane in the first place. You have to arrive hours before your flight and wait in long security lines. Often your flight is shorter than the time you spent getting to the airport and through security. Then you are waiting for your flight in a cramped area at the mercy of price gouging bars and restaurants. Here are 3 ways we could improve the experience.
Charge People for Carry-on Baggage
One of the biggest annoyance is not being able to exit the plane because everyone in front of you is trying to get their bags down from the overhead bins. Instead of charging to check bags, do just the opposite. Charge people to carry a bag onto a plane but incenticize them to check their bags for free. Also, push to standard the carry-on bag size.
Board the plane from back-to-front (FILO)
There really is no reason anyone seated in the front of the airplane needs to also board the plane before anyone else. The plane takes off when the designated time arrives regardless of how many passengers are already on board (I need to fact check this but since most flights these days are delayed I’m not gonna make that a top priority). If you’re in First Class, your seat will be there for you whether Walter the Unwashed boards before or after you. And guess what? being in First Class means you do get to deplane first, so you still have some eliteness going for you.
Get rid of the TSA
You never know how long it will take to get through security at the airport these days. Most of the time, you get there 2-3 hours before your flight and you get through the humbling, humiliating and annoying task of taking your shoes, belt and other metal items off in 20 minutes. Other times you might actually miss your flight because so many people didn’t get the memo. There is an attempt to mitigate this with software, but there is an easier solution. Eliminate the TSA.
Seriously, let’s just accept that they are a big fat waste of money and that they contribute more to the problem than to any solution. I mean really if we are going to allow people to walk into a Walmart with an assault rifle, we can let people bring more than 3 oz of liquid on a plane.
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