1k-all-the-way

Really, why? I know the industry is having a hard time with fuel costs, but why are US airlines so awful? And it's not just against the strong Euro carriers, but even poorer countries outside the euro zone are light years ahead. Is it just corporate greed? Or does our relatively large country and long/multiple domestic flights make for a different kind of business plan?

coplatua1k

CO isn't.

Have you flown Ryan Air? Alitalia? Transavia? CSA? Euro carriers that are the pits IMHO.

cyberdad

U.S. carriers are pretty awful....but I've used several European legacy and discount carriers and find them to be just as bad.

1k-all-the-way

yes, i have flown many. Ryanair is not great but its not legacy, its LCC. its kind of like the new united no/ AF, LH, BA CS are way better than UA or AA for example. And they have complicated union/labor issues too.

IMOA

Ultimately it comes down to the customers not being prepared to pay an extra few dollars for a better product

1k-all-the-way

Well i think about fares too, but from SFo to europe or Asia you can pay the same on UA/AA/LH/AF/BA/SQ/CX etc and have much better quality on the foreign carriers for THE SAME price (lower if in J or F) so I'm not sure its just that Americans are cheap.....or is it?

Blue20634

1K-American carriers were going downhill before 9/11 it has a lot to do with the economics however expensive fuel hasn't caused this it may add to it but thats it. 9/11 was the nail in the coffin for these carriers putting good ones in Chpt 11 and some of the legacy carriers have just re-emerged from bankruptcy so it will take time if the airlines do show some sembelence of quality again. It may seem liek the airlines are making money hand over fist but that isn't the case. Delta seems to be trying to improve service once again one thing they are becoming well known for is the decent IFE. We all know Continental is probably the best sevice in the US around especially for inflight meals but also for comfortable seats etc..

In short i don't know what caused service to go downhill before 9/11 but I know there was good reason behind it. As a matter of fact

I agree that UA isn't that great one thing they don't do is snack service unless you're practically going X-country however they have Channel 9 thats one thing I like but I digress UA may give you a soda or a drink on short flights if your lucky even Ted gives snacks. Delta on the other hand gave us a snack although not awesome it was more than nothing. 1st class domestically is not really worth the money. However I heard NW Int'l flights especially top europe are a different world its actually pretty nice and some of the other American carriers have decent service on Int'l flights as well.

To put in perspective what 9/11 did to the Airline industry at the time of the WTC terror attacks there are an average of 40,000-60,000 commercial flights a day in the USA air travel was shut down for 24hrs IIRC and in NYC I beleive it was at least 3 days thats quite a blow to the Airline Industry as a whole but the service was already going downhill 9/11 made it worse. I suspect the aforementioned reasons coupled with 9/11 made it even harder to sustain or bring a better quality service in the USA.

Another thing I have heard mentioned is that if people want better service to return to the Airlines raing airfare back to regular prices is one way to do it. Face it people are paying like 200 and less for X-country flights. Another way and it's not very popular is to re-regalate the airlines however poor and some middle class people wont be able to afford flying if that happens.

ByrdluvsAWACO

I would also attribute the culture in the US as being part of the problem. Too many people in this country think they're too good to be in a service position and because of their attitudes, service suffers.


The difference between many of these "poorer" countries and the US being unions. It's very hard to fire an employee in the US compared to the ease with which a "Singapore Girl" can be terminated. When was the last time you heard of a US FA being fired for not being pretty or too fat?

When you know that you can easily lose job you tend to make a better effort. In many of these "poorer" countries there are multiple people in line for those jobs, so you can be replaced easily.

abmj-jr

The American public is getting what it demands - low cost at any price. Flyertalkers are not the "average" in this case. Average Americans buy cheap schlock at Walmart because it is cheaper than quality goods at a local shop. They eat at McDonalds rather than a nice local steak house. And, they fly Southwest, without first or business class, decent legroom, assigned seats or meals because it is a few dollars cheaper. The legacy airlines have to compete for the majority of their customers and so must cut prices to match. They do that by cutting the things that make air travel bearable - just so ma and pa can go to Disney World for not much more than it would cost on Greyhound.

"As ye sow, so shall ye reap." We are getting exactly what "we" have been demanding. Unfortunately, those of us who would pay a bit more for decent air service have been outvoted.

tjl

Most people are not willing to pay for business or first class (though they may upgrade with mileage points). For a non-elite passenger in regular economy domestically, the legacies compare unfavorably to Southwest in terms of legroom, seat selection, snacks (neither serves meals), on-time record, and customer service.

To have a better experience on a legacy airline requires elite status, or a business or first class ticket. None of the non-elites I know likes UA (the largest legacy carrier in the area), contrasting with the loyalty (some of) the elites I know show to it. The difference in treatment between elites and non-elites is huge.

tjl

NW to Europe was nothing special, at least on the old DC-10 that they had for my flight.

Blue20634

I should have clarified more. I have heard that the NW A332 flights to AMS have really good service in WBC.

ewick12

OK. Wal-Mart may be cheaper but it is not "schlock". For example, they have some of the same quality groceries that Whole Foods sells (Pom Tea, Odwalla, etc.).

Otherwise I agree. Most Americans want the cheapest fare, many people even ignoring what airline they're flying. Just look at Spirit Air. If the majority really cared about a quality product, then they would refuse to fly Spirit.

stupidhead

CHEAP!!!!!NOW!!!!!!

That's why.

Wombelero

Cheap thinking is certainly one problem. But from what I can see the bigger problem was (is) that they all underestimated the "higher class" market. If you check many European and Asian airlines the coach section is, well, coach, but in C and F it's getting luxurious to the point of being ridiculous.

It would be interesting to see if an airline in America could make money by offering better products to a higher price. I'm no expert, but I could imagine they would make quite a profit.
W