American Airlines Cancels More Flights
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Green Maned Lion
Engineer
Why do people put up with this?
I would rather a plane be on the ground in case there is a problem then in the air with something wrong with the aircraft.
Aloha
Aloha
stlouielady
Lead Service Attendant
People put up with it because there is no other option to get across the country in 3-4 hours due to business commitments. If I could take the train for all of my work, I would. However, that is not an option for me, as we fly to many areas NOT serviced by train, including overseas and the caribbean. I've spent more time in an airport than I care to talk about, and, in fact, just last week was 'inconvenienced' by the grounding of flights.
Green Maned Lion
Engineer
I wouldn't stand for it. I refuse to fly unless it is an emergency. I'll take a train, or, if needed, a ship (whatever cheapest). And if I can avoid the trip altogether for something other than pleasure, I will. Not flying is an expensive extravagance, unfortunately.
Many business people have no choice but to fly. I did for 35 years in my work. I would have a meeting in San Francisco on Monday, Houston on Tuesday, and Cleveland on Thursday. No way to take any train on that schedule, even if the trains operated on time. Business people 50-100 years ago did take the train. They just had to schedule their meetings further apart, which usually isn't an option in the fast paced world of today.
amtrakwolverine
Engineer
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Green Maned Lion
Engineer
People should slow down, at least in my opinion.
Welcome to 2008.
Yes, maybe people should slow down, but slowing down in today's business world means you're at a competitive disadvantage--not something most businesspeople want to be at. It may not be ideal, but it's reality. Until society decides quality of life is better than quantity of money, we're going to be stuck in the workaholic corporate rat race mindset. And I don't see that changing, at least in this country.
Remember when people predicted videoconferencing would kill the airlines? For better or for worse, it hasn't, and business air travel continues to increase (despite doom and gloom predictions of our supposedly shattering economy). There's just no substitute for being at a meeting, making a live presentation, or simply shaking your client's hand in person. Airlines allow you to shake people's hands in 10 cities per week (though it'd be the week from hell), whereas a long-distance train might let you shake one or two.
I'm glad you've chosen the quality-of-life path, and maybe you can convince those in your sphere of influence to choose the same, but it'll be a long time before we materialistic Americans calm down and decide a slower pace is better.
Green Maned Lion
Engineer
The problem stems, I think, from people equating quality of life with quantity of money. Money is a nice thing to have, for sure. But I'm willing to sacrifice it for other things, and low stress is one of them.
amtrakwolverine
Engineer
Green Maned Lion
Engineer
Why do I think American is going to be number 5 gone?
The intnernet has probably increased flying - you can now work with people all over the globe, but as anyone who's tried to do a video conference or teleconference will tell you, they is no subsitute for a live meeting. With a multi-way teleconference at least, you often get no feedback from other people (usually they mute their phone unless speaking to avoid background noise), which makes speaking a lot harder as you're just 'taking to the wall'.
I think it's mainly a social thing, and I don't think technology will ever really offer a full alternative. In business there's also a view by some that 'the more you travel/fly the more important you are'.
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amtrakwolverine
Engineer
Green Maned Lion
Engineer
Its funny how these things seem ore desiged to show effectiveness of a government agency then to help either the safety or comfort of the common traveller.
