Comments negative

Last week, to make a long story short, I expressed my doubts that any airline "Passenger Bill of Rights" would provide more benefits than costs. We received two comments doubting that I knew what the hell I was talking about. First, my old and good friend Clyde McDonald’s comment included the following (see both comments in full on last week’s BLOG): "What is your plan for stopping illegal incarceration (by the airlines) on the tarmac for 2-6 hrs?" Then Mark Mentzer’s comment stated in part: "The implication of your argument is that all regulation is bad—if so, your experiences as an airline customer must have been incredibly charmed. Oh, by the way, deliberately misspelling words to be cute is not an endearing habit." To both Clyde and Mark, I respond… I do believe in regulation but also believe the best, quickest, and meanest regulator is the free market. The market doesn’t have to wait until umpty-ump committees meet, discuss, and eventually decide what to do. The market is meaner than that. It reacts immediately. In this case, the market is already working. For example, I just flew across the country to make a speech. I drove a hundred extra miles to catch a flight schedule that minimized certain risks. The market has taught me that avoiding Atlanta and O’Hare (among others) will lower the risks of delays. Minimizing the number of legs lowers the chance of missed flights and misplaced luggage. I drove the extra miles to get a schedule that avoided those airports and that required only one stop. These are actions I take—even at extra trouble to me—because I have found that they work. Most frequent flyers I know do the same things. Mainly, however, we drive the entire trip when possible, just to avoid the airlines. In the meantime, the airlines certainly do know that delayed flights cost them far more than they cost the customers, and I am convinced that they are working like beavers to solve the problems. Mark, you’re right on one point—calling it the "guvmint" instead of the "government " isn’t endearing. However, over the 21 years that I have written aviation columns, I have received more favorable mentions about that word "guvmint" than about anything else I have written. So far, yours is the only  negative comment on that word. Hmm…what do reckon the market is telling me? We'd love to post your comments. Please click the comment tab at the top.