Unhappy Traveler
I’m not a happy camper right now. I’m sitting in a wooden rocking chair located in the atrium at the Charlotte-Douglas airport. Actually, the chair has little to do with my unhappiness, rocking chairs in airports are truly rather nice. My unhappiness arises from the fact that I shouldn’t be sitting here at all. I should be home in my own bed, or just getting out of my bed, preparing to go to work.
Indeed, I have once again become victim that most unpleasant of modern afflictions known as the cancelled flight. My flight home from Washington last night was cancelled due to mechanical problems. This I can understand. As a pilot I know it’s much better to be on the ground wishing I were in the air than in the air wishing I were on the ground. So, I don’t fault the airline (US Airways) for cancelling my flight. However, I what I do fault them for is everything else that has served to make this such an unpleasant experience. Couldn’t they staff the ticket counter at a major airport like Washington National with more than 3 slow moving people? Couldn’t they teach their employees the very basics of civility and customer service? Maybe they couldn’t create a corporate culture where what they tell their customers is what actually happens? I know they have training because I’ve watched a half dozen employees all go flawlessly through the sales pitch for the new US Airway Visa Card that gives you free flights and the unspoken potential lifetime of debt. I’ve watched them do the sales pitch in the airport, and for 5 minutes on the airplane as the flight attendants hand out credit card applications. Is there no shame in US Airways that they want to be associated with predatory credit card industry? Why don’t they just hand out crack on the airplane?
Fortunately, it looks like I’m going to get out of here headed for home in about an hour. I’m tired, I miss my wife and dogs, and I’ve had enough of US Airways to last me for another couple years.