Air travel sucks, and isn't going to get better via the magick of the Free Market as far as I can tell.
James Surowiecki concurs:
The Unfriendly Skies:
In the summer of 1999, after a series of highly publicized customer-service debacles, the nation’s major airlines collectively promised Congress that they would revamp their operations, offering a “service commitment” that they dubbed “Customers First.” Eight years later, airline passengers are waiting in vain for any sign of that promise's being kept. They're also waiting in vain, period. This summer, nearly a third of all flights have been arriving late, more flights have been cancelled, many planes are overbooked, and, in June, reports of baggage problems were up twenty-five per cent from last year. A service commitment like this should probably be called "Customers Last." . . .
In other words, we're stuck with the current system, because it isn't really in any airline's interest to try to change it. As long as no airline makes a dedicated effort to distinguish itself from the pack, all the airlines can stay lean, even at the expense of quality. In that sense, the most honest thing about the airlines may be their advertising, which tends to emphasize the flying experience--lulling us with talk of leg room and fully reclining seats. You may end up waiting on the runway for a couple of hours, the message seems to be, but at least you'll do it in a comfortable chair.
I wouldn't call that a comfortable chair even.
The NSA and the TSA have been unfriendly to us. My son came back from France with two boxes of delicate items, and when he unpacked his suitcase, there was tape covering the older tape written: Transportation Security Administration. His civil rights are being violated before he can vote.
My husband looked uncouth and African descendant. At IAD, we were stopped and taken to Level 2 of the CBP. Although they had his information, they made us miss our flight, threatend me, handicaped and a US Citizen.
Hail the Land of the Free,
And the Home of the Brave.