Biopsy's airline gripe thread

I wish people that have small bags would have the courtesy to put them under the seat instead of taking up overhead space so that I can get my roll aboard up there where it belongs. If that is you Biopsy... that is why your shizz gets smashed and I have no sympathy.:p

I like when the last person gets on the plane with a guitar and complains their is no space
 
Boarding procedures... I commented on this some time ago, but if you want to see it work to perfection go to Japan and fly a leg there that is made up of largely businessmen. From Haneda to Oita I was amazed at how fast a 747 was boarded and in such an orderly manner. They understand how to stow, get out of the isle and buckled up.

Then you come back to stateside and the majority of folks spend far too much time playing around in the isles, clogging up the process. And everyone wants to bring larger carry on bags and have a hard time jamming into the overhead. There is no fix for this until airlines change the rules.
 
I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone complaining about people bringing smelly a$$ food onto a connecting flight. I once sat next to a woman eating some kind of salad... I've smelled better farts than what she was eating and it took her 45 minutes to finish it.
 
I wish I had known about this thread before now. This is where I came in and I wanted to comment on these posts before reading the whole thing and throwing in my $.02.

Diversions. Medical diversions in particular are tricky things. First a short story: Going to Beijing via a polar route and through eastern Russia. Our divert fields at this particular point in time are Fairbanks Alaska, and I don't remember if it was Magadan or Petropavlovsk and finally Beijing. We were literally at the equal time point between Fairbanks and Beijing and had a passenger in pretty serious trouble. Magadan or Petro were closer, no doubt. We have a medical person on board that has an opinion but says she cannot make a real diagnosis without lab work. We have the capability to hook up an on board medical person with a medical service we use (I call it Doc in a Box). I don't want to get into too much detail on that. We hook them up on SatCom and they discuss possible diagnoses and what our potential divert situations are. Now if I am on fire, I am going to land in Eastern Russia. For medical reasons... probably not because we might very well have better equipment on the airplane. The other part of this story is the fact that the cockpit crew has to coordinate the diversion process with ATC, and while not that difficult, even with the Russians, buy the time we would have coordinated it with ATC, and our dispatcher (who tracks every facet of our flights) we would have been past the ETP anyway and going back to Fairbanks would have taken longer. We proceeded on to PEK which was still 4.5 hours away.

A little epilogue to this particular story: When I was going back to my rest break I went back and talked to both the passenger and the doctor. The passenger was a very nice man who was obviously in a lot of pain, but he looked at me and mouthed that he was sorry for all the trouble. I felt terrible, but there was nothing else I could do for him at that particular point in time other than to tell him not to worry about that and that getting him quickly and safely to the best care we could was a top priority. We were met by an ambulance and he was taken to a hospital. As I saw him getting off, he seemed much better, but still not feeling the best.

So... from MY perspective in the cockpit. I want to go wherever I can get the passenger the best care as soon possible but if I am in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean or over Eastern Russia it is not always close. It might be 3 or even more hours away. So you are probably asking what about over Nebraska. A lot of times, the FAs will call for a doctor before they ever let us know up front about it. And 'doctors' can be any health professional from EMTs to OB nurses to neurosurgeons (I have had all of those). The Doc in the Box helps us to make not only the decision to divert, but WHERE to divert to, depending on what help is needed. That is information he has at his fingertips. For example if it is a heart issue, we might want to go to a city that has a good heart center as opposed to finding the first piece of concrete available. Oh, and cost never enters the equation.

Sorry for the length. I understand tldr if that applies.

Highly informative and well-written sir!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
Get a window seat. I know the airplane probably has TVs, but turn off the electrical **** and enjoy the miracle that so many take for granted.

Many years ago I used to always take a road atlas in my carry-on because it was a fun pastime to look out the window and try to identify towns, highways, rivers, whatever, and pinpoint where you are. To be a proper challenge it was best to start at just some random time in the flight after you’ve reached cruising altitude. My wife always thought I was a bit of an idiot when she saw the atlas come out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 people
I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone complaining about people bringing smelly a$$ food onto a connecting flight. I once sat next to a woman eating some kind of salad... I've smelled better farts than what she was eating and it took her 45 minutes to finish it.

Usually ita the stench of the passengers.. some have not discovered soap or deodorant
 
Boarding procedures... I commented on this some time ago, but if you want to see it work to perfection go to Japan and fly a leg there that is made up of largely businessmen. From Haneda to Oita I was amazed at how fast a 747 was boarded and in such an orderly manner. They understand how to stow, get out of the isle and buckled up.

Then you come back to stateside and the majority of folks spend far too much time playing around in the isles, clogging up the process. And everyone wants to bring larger carry on bags and have a hard time jamming into the overhead. There is no fix for this until airlines change the rules.

I'd say 2/3rds of the people boarding an airplane do so as if the plane is just for them. Putting small bags in the overhead bin instead of under the seat, generally dilly-dallying around in the aisles and taking a long time, etc. Just put your stuff in the overhead bin, or under the seat, then sit down. No wasted time or motion. You aren't strolling around your own house or something.

It's really no different than how people act generally in public. One of my biggest pet peeves is people loitering around entrances/exits/thresholds where people are coming and going as if they are the only people in the building, etc. I went on vacation recently and it drove me absolutely nuts. No matter where we went, people in front of you would walk into a room, over a threshold, etc., take about one more step, then stop and look around with a huge crowd of people behind them, who now can't get in.
 
One more related issue... escalators. In Japan the norm is to move yourself to the far right of the escalator to permit those in a hurry to run up the steps. This little curiosity is followed 100%, no one deviates from this unwritten rule. Again, efficiency at play. Here in the States... no way. Even those moving walkways, folks get on em here and think it is a carnival ride. They stand side by side and block the path for those who like to double their speed to the next gate.

Interesting stuff.
 
One more related issue... escalators. In Japan the norm is to move yourself to the far right of the escalator to permit those in a hurry to run up the steps. This little curiosity is followed 100%, no one deviates from this unwritten rule. Again, efficiency at play. Here in the States... no way. Even those moving walkways, folks get on em here and think it is a carnival ride. They stand side by side and block the path for those who like to double their speed to the next gate.

Interesting stuff.


:p
That’s because over there the idea of that particular convenience is that it gets you there quicker. Here the idea is that it allows you to not have to make an effort.

It’s ingrained in our society.
 
One more related issue... escalators. In Japan the norm is to move yourself to the far right of the escalator to permit those in a hurry to run up the steps. This little curiosity is followed 100%, no one deviates from this unwritten rule. Again, efficiency at play. Here in the States... no way. Even those moving walkways, folks get on em here and think it is a carnival ride. They stand side by side and block the path for those who like to double their speed to the next gate.

Interesting stuff.

I've never been to Japan, but it seems like they have an extremely polite, respectful culture, and are particularly respectful of elders.

One thing that really grinds my gears is people being disrespectful of "old people," and I don't mean getting annoyed at them because they drive to slow, etc. I mean when they might be telling a story about an experience they had, trying to dispense good advice, etc., and it is blown off by somebody as being behind the times or no longer relevant in today's world. Times change but there really isn't anything truly "new."

If somebody is more experienced than you in general, or in a specific area, it rarely is a good idea to ignore them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
I've never been to Japan, but it seems like they have an extremely polite, respectful culture, and are particularly respectful of elders.

One thing that really grinds my gears is people being disrespectful of "old people," and I don't mean getting annoyed at them because they drive to slow, etc. I mean when they might be telling a story about an experience they had, trying to dispense good advice, etc., and it is blown off by somebody as being behind the times or no longer relevant in today's world. Times change but there really isn't anything truly "new."

If somebody is more experienced than you in general, or in a specific area, it rarely is a good idea to ignore them.

Lol talking about Japan and escalators in an airline thread and you turn it into how people treat the elderly in USA.
 
This thread has a history of veering off topic.

Why, when I was a kid we'd come to this thread and start talking about horse tradin' and old cars and tuna sandwiches and anything we thought of. And people liked it back then! We'd spend half the summer in this thread...

HEY! I'm still talkin' here, you bunch of disrespectful little... aaahh, damn kids today....
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Delta allows anyone who need extra time to board early.. really means If you bought a cheap ticket get on the plane early see you can put your suitcase in the overhead
 

VN Store



Back
Top