Wednesday, January 04, 2006

We're Delta Airlines. How can we make your trip more irritating?

Well, we are back from Los Angeles, where the Peanut had her whirlwind tour of Mr. Fraulein's family. She particularly enjoyed spending time with her Popo (grandma in Chinese), who never stopped feeding her, and her Ye-ye (grandpa). She also had fun with her aunts and uncles and her five cousins, ranging in age from 9 to 19. It's amazing to me how mature they all look since the last time I saw them. Smart, gorgeous kids all.

Delta, as I've mentioned in previous posts, seems to delight in spreading misery, but what are you going to do? This is just how air travel is these days. You stand on line, awaiting the chance to take your shoes and coat off so they can be separately X-rayed, even though I don't think this serves any real security purpose. You think you'll be fed, just because you're traveling all the way across the country? I don't think so. You'll carry a sack of enough food and water to carry you through any contingency (What if we miss the connecting flight and get stuck in the airport for days, and can't face the prospect of eating McDonalds?) -- and you'll like it. Did you say you wanted to board the plane first, just because you're traveling with a 15-month-old? Nice try. Perhaps you can shove the elderly passengers out of the way with your stroller, because it doesn't look like they get assistance anymore either.

Oh, and would you like your luggage to make it onto your connecting flight? Delta can't quite handle that challenge. It's not like they've been in this air travel business for very long or anything. But luckily, they do have a 24-hour delivery service, so our misplaced bags made it back to our house the next morning.

So no real harm done. But it amazes me that the airlines seem not to do one damn thing to make your trip go more smoothly. It's like they deliberately try to make it as difficult as possible to travel, and then they wonder why they're all in Chapter 11.

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