Yesterday should have been the easy part. According to the shotgun
promise they made in June, all the nation's major airlines had to
do was meet a self-imposed, Sept. 15 deadline to tell the traveling
public what they were going to do to clean up the Godawful mess
they'd made of their own house. They've got another three months
before anything actually has to be done.
But if people were hoping for some meaty reforms from the
airlines' announcements, well, they must have come away pretty
hungry. United served up gadgetry, with promises of hand-held
baggage scanners and "Mobile Chariots" that would race to the gate
of any overbooked or delayed flight to assist frazzled passengers.
Continental, going for a warmer, fuzzier panacea, promised better
communication in all things.
One question: Or what? If the airlines want people to believe
they're serious about improving service, they need to put it in
writing, right on the back of the ticket where it's easy to get to
in a pinch. Something like, "We, Eddie's Airlines and Grill, will
get you where you're going on time, without torturing you, or we
will buy you a brand new car."
Let's start there and work our way up to something
realistic.