The attendants, who initially opposed the program, would "riot" if the airline tried to return to the old system of free nonalcoholic beverages, President Scott Kirby said Thursday at a Calyon Securities conference in New York.
"Logjams in the aisles, significant trash collection, lines at the restrooms -- all those things are largely gone on US Airways because fewer people are buying and drinking sodas," he said. "We spend less money, we generate a little revenue, and those problems are largely gone."
The spokesperson for the flight attendants in question thinks Scott Kirby is full of you know what:
"Kirby's comment that we would riot is just his way of telling himself they made the right decision," said Mike Flores, president of the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA at US Airways.
"This is the very tip of the iceberg on what they're going to want us to sell," Flores said. "It's going to be everything from pillows and blankets to cellphone chargers."
Fun.
US Airways sees benefits of charging for drinks [LA Times]
(Photo: Jenna Belle )
They never walked down the aisles to where I was seated, about half-way back. Didn't seem like they were too serious about selling the beverages.
]]>Although I missed the days of getting free sodas, I agree with what they're doing. I can't tell you how many times I've sat next to some idiot that, apprently is flying for the first time, keeps asking for sodas and water with no self-restraint whatsoever. Drink them because it's free. Then he makes several trips to the can and I have to get up so his fat ass can squeeze by.
Look, if you don't like paying for drinks, get a small bottled water after you get through the TSA line. You don't NEED a soda or cocktail. Have those while you're boarding. You get more for your money anyway.
]]>I was traveling once a long flight and work up from a nap, my throat was more or less closed, not very comfortable and I asked a flight attendant for some water, she said "We already finished our drink service" and walked away.
That was it, never flown them again. Hope they go under.
]]>AND I would agree that it's not such a huge deal if you didn't already have to pay so much out-of-pocket once you've gotten to the airport: $50 to check 2 bags, $25 for the privilege of making the reservation, $2 check-in fee, etc. In other words, another $2 wouldn't be so bad if you weren't already surcharged out the behind at every corner...
]]>Capitalism in action folks, and I mean that in a good way. The idea that you're somehow entitled to a free drink because you buy an airline ticket is insane. If you don't like it, feel free to travel only with airlines who provide free drinks.
Personally, I'm going to continue making my airline travel decisions based on price and time of flights. If I happen to end up on a flight that doesn't offer a free drink, I'll buy one at the airport. Problem solved.
]]>I told him "yep, it will be the demise of this airline and all of these people working behind the counter know it."
You could tell by the looks on their collective faces they knew it to.
I wonder how many times after taking that $15 (CC only BTW) they have heard "Im never flying this airline again."
Last I heard taking $15 and losing a potential $300-$400 fare in the future is not good business.
]]>@Ben_Q2:
Are you saying you don't fly at all or are you flying your own plane? I don't see any other way to fly without going through an airline.
]]>I've put up with the total lack of legroom (I'm short and flexible, but there's a limit) and the general surliness multiple times, usually with the help of medication, but with the first-bag charge and the soda charge, this is ridiculous. When I fly down next, I'm hoping Delta proves itself to be the lesser of two evils.
]]>One of my friends has started doing a unique solution to the second-bag fee, it works quite well for him. He gets one of the large priority boxes, the ones that you can put an 'unlimited' weight in (well until it is full). I think it costs around $13 for him to ship it anywhere in the U.S. - he uses the decent-sized box (12" x 12" x 5.5) to ship most of his folded clothes in, and takes his laptop aboard the plane. He ships the package a day in advance to a local acquaintance, so that they have his clothes and any other amenities he wants to have on his trip.
The real funny thing is that it is probably safer that way too, you don't have to worry about the airlines losing your luggage! USPS mail is safer than the airlines by leaps and bounds too, way lower chance of a person just walking off with your luggage or bag handlers stealing items from within.
]]>Having to buy drinks/snacks would bother me less if I had the realistic option of bringing my own beverages from home. But I don't, and so I have to choose between getting ripped off at the expensive airport store or ripped off in the air.
I can at least bring my own granola bars and sandwiches, thank goodness.
]]>On my flight from clt to bos last night the flight attendant piped up an hour into the flight to tell us she had something special for us. She proceeded to try to sell us the features and benefits of the usairways credit card. I didn't see anybody take one on last nights flight or other usairways flights I've been on. Yesterday's sales pitch was particularly annoying because it was so nice and quiet and she was so loud and lengthy. I wonder if the FAs get a refereal bonus for any open cards?
Usairways has taken the fact that we are all captives on their flights to a new level. Every flight I think of new ways to hate them - charging for drinks, disinterested FAs, broken seats, broken trays, dirty/sticky trays, the credit card sales pitch, the broken door on the bathroom so that the horrible air freshener smell could eminanate throughout the cabin, 7 loading zones(!)....
The punishment? Tie the executives to chairs. Pump in the pleasant odor of blue disinfectant solution continually. Force cup after cup of that mud into them, despite protestations. Force them to urinate in a square foot room. Do all of this to the soundtrack of a screaming child.
The nerve.
]]>I'd rather take my own drink anyway. Those little cups are two sips and then it's gone.
]]>If USAir really wants to commit to this model, they should look into the ordering system Virgin America has...that'd really make things easy for both the customert and the FA.
]]>On the awkward water-jug + fantasy free ice + grungy water fountain idea:
Is that and this discussion really necessary regarding a $2 bottle of water every 6 months when you fly?
]]>Just my luck, there will be a coin slot for the toilet on my next US Air Flight and no one will have change..
]]>@pulsar0510: I would guess after the first few days of the trial they realized no one would pay. So all of a sudden carrying enough drinks for everyone on the plane becomes carrying maybe a token sixpack.
]]>I'm in Columbus. Any $10 flight to get me out for the weekend was a godsend. I didn't mind renting a car to actually drive to the metro area that was advertised.
]]>sorry, meant to say effin is a sensible person.
]]>a sensible person. I've been saying that all along.
]]>@kidgenius: Do all airport food places let you just fill up with ice without paying for anything? If so, that's a good way to go.
Other choice would be to get an insulator cover for your water bottle.
@TurboWagon: Removing those CRTs was worth it even if just to avoid having to watch cr@appy sitcoms, insipid movies, and third rate travelogues about Syracuse, NY. Considering that many USAir domestic flights are 2 hour or less, missing 2 hours of tee vee is a blessing, not a curse.
]]>What? They went bust? Who'd see that coming?
Eff USAir indeed, but at least they fly from somewhere there are people to somewhere those people want to go.
]]>Here's what you do. Pack a wide mouth water bottle (Nalgene are indestructible). Get through security and go over to a soda machine. Fill with ice. Go to drinking fountain and fill with water. Voila! Thirty two ounces of ice cold water to take with you how you please.
]]>Eff USAir.
]]>Aren't they still loading drinks, ice, carts for same, etc, into the plane? How is all that extra weight saving them money?
]]>It's their company so they can do what they want. I've not been bothered by the charge-for-food thing, but the charge-for-drinks has me a bit irritated.
I can (and do) bring my own food aboard flights. However, it is more complicated to bring one's own drink on a flight. First of all, I can't get a drink past TSA, so I'm stuck buying in the airport. Then in the airport items are often irritatingly expensive. Then, there is the problem of keeping a drink cold.
On the other hand, if the actual method isn't "we come through the aisle once and you have your chance at a drink," but instead the flight attendant is more like a server, then I would warm up to the new policy.
If I can pony up $2 for the right to ring that little call light and get an icy cold Coke whenever I want during a flight (not takeoff/landing/turbulence, duh) then that's perfect.
]]>Sounds like SkyMall is going to be taking a more literal approach.
]]>@effin:
I would be fine with it if I was getting skybus discounted fares. I happily paid to check a bag and drink/snack on the flight I took through them.
I wasn't paying $300 for a flight.
]]>I'm fine with food/drinks being an extra charge as long as its not a 12-hour flight. I have to buy my own snacks when i take the bus or drive in my own car across the country. Why not on a plane?
]]>I flew US Airways last weekend. Despite making several announcements that NA drinks were $2, the guy behind me asks for a ginger ale so the attendant scoops out ice and tells him: "That will be two dollars."
"I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT? NEVERMIND!"
I bet they have been getting a lot of this.
]]>