Washington Insights: Travel Turmoil

What a Mess!

A number of years ago I worked for PanAm before de-regulation, and I remember when the government very carefully doled out air routes. The airlines didn't all fly to the same places - nor were the airlines able to schedule flights willy-nilly. They were required to file requests for routes.

PanAm only flew to Hawaii and international routes. Northwest only flew the northwestern U.S. routes (what a coincidence!) and Continental could fly no further east than St. Louis.

Weather then, as now, could always delay your flight, but never were you kept circling the airport until the air traffic cleared enough for your plane to land AND there was a gate to unload you and the other passengers. Back then, every flight had its own gate, day in and day out.

But, as competition began heating up, big bucks flowed into Washington to influence the government to allow the airlines (and consumers) to run the show. Because the easy money was so tempting, the government stepped aside and agreed to "let the inmates run the asylum!"

Result? Our travel system is a disaster!

Now, generally, I am not a supporter of big government, but there are a few instances where the adults need to take charge. For airline travel, the time has arrived.

Washington has at least tried to react, albeit meekly, after angry passengers demonstrated on the Washington Mall and after a very frustrating summer with a record number of canceled and late flights, leaving hundreds of stranded passengers on runways for hours without food and water but with overflowing lavatories.

Washington's first foray into "normalization" is to try to cut back on the number of flights at JFK Airport in New York, the nation's worst airport for flight delays. The yelps and foot-stomping "No's" from airline executives (and, unbelievably, some travelers) came fast and furiously.

But, what can you expect when Washington has allowed the situation to worsen for months and years on end?

Realistically, should we believe that Congress will turn its collective back on piles of campaign money that, ironically, continues to flow from a near bankrupt industry?

Congress, in my opinion, is only giving lip service in trying to fix this travel mess to garner our favor -- and votes.

At the end of the day, the "shoot-out at the JFK corral" will do NOTHING to fix the industry's ills.