https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100210682355Oh my.
It seems the primitives, like Brother Lamond, never run short of things about which to gripe.
A HERETIC I AM (17,728 posts) Fri Jun 1, 2018, 12:28 PM
"American Airlines' Tiny New Bathrooms Test Limits Of What U.S. Passengers Will Put Up With"
Sink only large enough to wash one hand at a time!
after which a photograph
25 seconds.
24 inches.
Neither is very large in terms of time or space. But both are huge indicators of just what travelers from different cultures are and are not willing to endure.
Last week the rail company that operates trains that pass through Notogawa Station in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, just east of Kyoto, apologized profusely for one of its trains departing the station – get this – 25 seconds EARLY. Most embarrassing, it was the second time it had happened, apparently ever. Back in November, a train departed Notogawa Stations 20 seconds early, triggering a major outcry among passengers who depend on those trains to get to work and back home again.
Meanwhile, the airline that flies more people more miles than any other in the world is, for the most part, ignoring the complaints of its own flight attendants -- and those of airline bloggers and consumer advocates -- that at just 24 inches wide the tiny restrooms installed on its brand new Boeing 737-MAX airplanes are too small and problematic for use by most adults.
In the former case, the deeply and swiftly apologetic response of the Japanese rail line tells us just how much market power Japanese rail travelers have, and how very demanding and exacting a group they are. Japanese rail travelers expect their trains to leave precisely on time, not one second late and not one second early. In fact, they organize their lives around such high degrees of operational precision and hold their service provider to a very high standard of performance.
But the latter case tells us that American Airlines officials believe – and may well be right – that they hold most or all of the cards and can get away with forcing 156 coach passengers to share just two lavatories that are so small a passenger only has room to wash one hand at a time. Indeed those restrooms are so narrow that passengers reportedly must decide before entering whether to walk in facing the toilet or to back in. That’s because once inside with the door closed there’s not enough room to turn around.
American Airline companies treat their passengers like cattle and those cattle just continue to put up with it.
I used to fly 6 to 10 times a year. I'm glad I don't have to fly anymore. The last time I did I paid for the 1st class upgrade, even though the flights weren't that long (Jax to Charlotte, Charlotte to Phoenix). It was worth every penny.
More here;
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielreed/2018/05/30/american-airlines-tiny-new-bathrooms-test-limits-of-what-u-s-passengers-will-put-up-with/#1ad5b6d55fc2
ProudMNDemocrat (1,637 posts) Fri Jun 1, 2018, 12:34 PM
1. Obese passangers not welcomed......
it appears. Even seats are narrower too in order to cram in more rows. Less leg room on longer flights.
csziggy (25,193 posts) Fri Jun 1, 2018, 01:36 PM
13. This is only one of the reasons we are taking a cruise ship to the UK next year
An 18 day voyage on the Queen Elizabeth that stops several places along the way is CHEAPER than flying first class on an airplane. With both my husband and I aging, my joint replacements and heart problems, family histories of blood clots, my size, and my husband's long legs, there is no way we would want to fly any way other than first class. Add to that TSA and the other inconveniences of flying today and I decided we would take a transatlantic cruise both ways.
The trip over will cost about three quarters of a first class flight to England, the trip back about one quarter (repositioning cruise so well discounted). Though the cruises add a month to our trip, we're retired and have the time. If we were in a hurry, there are cruise that only take six days rather than two weeks.
^^^the primitive who's told lies about her local library in Massachusetts.
^^^was a hippiechick way back when; got married wearing a dirndl and with a flower in her hair.
Finally, one primitive gets it right:
The Velveteen Ocelot (60,708 posts) Fri Jun 1, 2018, 01:01 PM
10. But everybody wants low fares.
I'm not defending this - it's ridiculous and I hope other airlines don't do the same - but airlines are extremely expensive to operate and have fixed costs that they can't do much about, particularly fuel (that's getting more expensive again), and the operation and maintenance of aircraft. They can keep costs down only by reducing wages (usually by outsourcing ground personnel), eliminating services, reducing aircraft empty weight and increasing passenger loads. Making lavs smaller means there's less non-revenue weight to carry and a little more room to squeeze in another revenue-creating passenger.
But they can go only so far with these measures, and at some point they are going to have to raise their fares, which they haven't done because they don't want to lose customers. American Airlines' current passengers might have to decide whether they want to pay a little more to fly on another airline that has bathrooms they can turn around in, or maybe they'll decide that a cheaper ticket is worth it. Isn't capitalism wonderful?
This all reminds me of the cooking and baking primitives who plaintively whine that groceries, such as tomatoes, aren't as good as they used to be.
And at the same time, the cooking and baking primitives are screaming for cheap food, and the food manufacturers are valiantly trying to provide that, low prices, at the "cost" of lesser quality.
