For a bit more than a half century, I have been a frequent passenger on airlines in every state in the United States and on every other continent except Antarctica. (The other continents have had radiology meetings, but there have been none in Antarctica.) My range of planes has been from Boeing 747s with more than 300 passengers to single-engine, four-seat commuters. I started out in propeller-driven aircraft in 1955 and gladly began to switch to jets in 1961. I have landed at many of the largest, most obnoxious airfields in the world. I have struggled to get my baggage and to get a taxi that does not charge more and take longer than my flight into that city.
For years, I kept track of all of the airlines and feeders on which I flew. But with all of the bankruptcies and mergers, I found my memory blurred and the list of departed airline companies getting longer than the dwindling bunch of survivors. As a commercial flier, I traveled first class when the difference in price was very small. I collected airline club memberships and mileage, and I relished going to the shorter line at the check-in counter. In those days, check-in counters had real-live humans who greeted me, seated me, and indulged any requests. For the first few decades, along with everyone else, I walked from the check-in counter to the assigned gate without pausing for security checks. Almost all airlines served food and drinks at no charge.
When an airline had a delay or cancelation, it arranged another flight, even on a competing carrier, to make the best connection. Sometimes, when the weather was difficult, I was put on a train, a few times in a Pullman compartment or berth. No extra charges and a free telephone call home to alert my family.
In my earliest flying days, when I lived in Chicago, some of my neighbors were airline crew members. With their help, I got to where I wanted to go despite any complications. I dated stewardesses, and a bit later, I married one. We have been together 40 years, and she still knows her way around the system. When we travel together, I stand back and let her ply the system so we get better seats and more legroom.
But, as you are thinking to yourself, many things about airlines are not much like what I have remembered so fondly for so long. Mostly, they are not so good. I wonder and doubt if they ever will be as gracious again.
If you are a jet-setter, you know that many of the major airlines have cut back on almost everything nice, with the assertion that they are losing money. It is hard to dispute that. Some have filed for bankruptcy and emerged after further trimming. The money losses are widespread among the government-subsidized carriers in Europe and Asia. We read occasionally about some of them getting fined for failure to perform regular maintenance on planes. Some of them farm out maintenance to contractors in other countries, where wages are lower. And we wonder if those mechanics really know what they are looking for.
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