To think that airlines need a complete overhaul, and more regulation?

[mumofoneAloneandwell]

The amount of money theyre charging for flights, where youre sat in a teeny seat and offered a crap meal ..

Other industries have improved their offerings, but airlines continue to operate to the same crappy standards

More seat space should be given as standard. Forcing people to sit in a tiny seat for 8 hours at a time is awful and must have awful effects on the human body?!

WiFi should be free, as its practically a human right atp.

Food should be of a better standard

Where can people lobby for change?!

Are you someone who thinks the poor should not get to enjoy life?

"if they can manage it on the tube, they can manage it on British airways"

This has got to be a wind up 😂

Just in case it's not.

The tube = travelling at a depth of 0-20 metres in fixed rails through tunnels under a capital city, usually at max 50mph

Planes = travelling at a height of 10,000-12,000 metres through the sky and over oceans, seas and foreign territories at about 600mph

Do you see why it might be a bit different?

Even the 'poor' have choices just like anyone else and even they realise airlines are not a charity becasue they dont need someone speaking about them like they are not in the room

But they have WiFi? They just dont give it for free to economy flyers

Surely you can see that that is ridiculous

I dunno girl, we're going round in circles 🙄

??? The poor dont get to choose between flying economy and first class ??

I think the poor will never fly and that one flight uses more carbon than most people in the world's poorest countries will use in a year or more - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/jul/19/carbon-calculator-how-taking-one-flight-emits-as-much-as-many-people-do-in-a-year?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

I think feeling entitled to premium flights but not understanding the cost probably just shows that someone has little idea of how the world works.

Airlines are not a charity

They don’t even give it free to business class would you believe! I know as I regularly travel on business and I always have to pay!

I want a gold ring with diamonds! The amount they charge for diamonds is ridiculous. I don't see why I should have to have a metal ring with glass gems which makes my finger go green and tarnishes. Everyone should be entitled to have nice jewellery and precious gems and metals.

You can fly to pretty well anywhere in Europe for under £200 return. Is that not 'enjoying life'?

Only free in first!

Travelling on the tube most of the time is people standing up and packed in like sardines isn't it?

My god the entitlement from the OP is crazy. Heads up no one individual or company owes you anything, you don’t get everything that you want including cheap flights overseas on a non essential holiday. Wake up OP, there is a cost of living crisis with thousands of people living in temporary accommodation, kids who can’t afford uniform or school lunches, elderly folks who can’t afford decent care in their final years. You think that anyone gives a shit that you don’t have gourmet food and wifi on your £60 flight to Malaga? Cop on to yourself!

You have a very narrow, London-centric view of the world. Am I right in guessing that you were born in London and never left?

Relative to an awful lot of public transport systems, particularly in Europe, the Tube is very poor quality, and quite expensive.

You comparing the Tube to a first class travel experience just demonstrates that you don’t know what you’re on about.

Tbf amidst a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense, I think what OP was trying to say is that you get WiFi on the tube, therefore you shouldn't have to pay first class prices to get something which is free on the tube. Not that the tube is like first class travel.

I mean obviously it does still rather miss the point that WiFi in midair and WiFi in central London are rather different logistical undertakings...

Theres no need to insult me just because you disagree and I dont even know what point youre trying to make

If the tube can do it, surely airlines can do it is mine. Other countries to rail travel better and for cheaper? Thats the exact point i'm making about economy flights

I am alwsys saying that other places in the uk need to do better with their rail travel - but travel all over the UK, although expensive and unreliable, is an improvement on sitting in the crappy seats in economy

I have left london - on a plane - which is why i am speaking about economy flights?? Its not hard to connect those dots.

She refers to better “conditions” on the Tube in two different posts so I’m guessing she’s talking about more than just WiFi.

Though the OP’s inability to grasp that the delivery of (very patchy!) WiFi provided by one provider in a 250 mile network of underground trains traveling at an average of less than 10 miles an hour is different to what would be required in air travel suggests that she likes making up scenarios in her head and then shouting that it’s unfair when those scenarios do not materialise for her benefit.

The wifi argument I don’t get. Every single BA flight I’ve taken in the last 4-5 years has had free messaging wifi for BA Club customers. It takes minutes to sign up using your email address. Sure, it doesn’t always work very well, but neither does the Tube one.

Healthy food options exist - maybe prebook a special meal next time? I usually go AVML (Asian Vegetarian, available on every long haul airline I’ve taken), and get a fresh salad, vegetable curry or dhal and tasty dessert to end the meal. The ingredients are usually fresh and healthily cooked - and I fly a lot, so I’m no particular fan of airplane food.

There’s dozens of different options you can order when it comes to plane food. Maybe have a look next time.

Of course I’d love wider seats but they’re not unbearable surely? Coaches and some trains I find more uncomfortable.

Btw - no need to fly BA either if you don’t like them. I have oneworld status as they serve my local airport best, but even I say that BA are the worst airline I’ve flown long-haul in recent years.

Try Swiss, Turkish, AA, UA, ANA or Iberia… So many choices.

It’s almost like choosing to fly is a luxury.. oh wait - it is! If you want better food and free WiFi then you pay the price for it. You’re certainly not going to find service like that on a bog standard EasyJet to Alicante, it’s cheap for a reason. We flew on Qatar Airways to Australia recently - lovely food and amazing, free StarLink WiFi (I even made a FaceTime call in the sky!!). Set us back £900 per person, one way. You get what you pay for.

Why wouldn’t flying to America be ‘extortionate’ in comparison to short haul? Jet fuel, crew, maintenance, parts, landing fees etc don’t pay for themselves! Airlines aren’t charities.

The problem with your entire argument is that you make out like traveling is mandatory and therefore people who cannot afford business class have no choice but to fly economy.

What you’re not grasping is that the choice isn’t economy vs business for a very large percentage of the general population, it’s travel or stay home.

Just because there’s somewhere you want to go, doesn’t mean that businesses will take you there cheaply.

There is no entitlement to air travel in this world.

Travel is a consumer-driven market. If most people choose cheaper, no-frills options, that’s exactly what businesses will provide.

The industry had a massive financial boost from this Labour government into sustainable aviation fuels. Building SAF plants, offering price stability mechanisms etc.
the alternative was to stop people flying in accordance with our responsibility to the CCA. The British government put into their first kings speech things to enable the industry to keep us all going on holiday, trading and maintaining our familial links.
they could, at the very easy, not charge us to sit on flights next to each other…
a Labour government will never stop people who work hard having a week in the sun. The industry takes takes and takes. I’d not feel sorry for them.

You do have a choice though. You don’t HAVE to travel anywhere.

Airlines have definitely become worse in economy. Seating has been reconfigured to fit in more seats. On the other hand, business class has improved. Flat beds all with aisle access is standard now.

JAL is one of the last good airlines for economy. Seat width and pitch is still good. Food is good for economy There are lots of small dishes as well as the main. This is where other airlines are cutting back. Couldn’t believe how small and bad the food was on Delta. If you can, choose JAL when flying to Japan but it’s usually more expensive than BA.

The thread has taken a funny turn but I sort of get what the OP means. 15 years ago, it would cost about £600 to fly from the UK to Brazil via Amsterdam, you could choose your seats for free, take 2 32kg bags with you, they would serve unlimited Haagen Dazs ice creams as an afternoon snack (day flights) and your knees wouldn’t touch the seat in front . Last month I paid the best part of £1500, some of which was to be able to book my seats and I brought hand luggage only as the £200 they wanted for checked baggage would buy me a whole new wardrobe in my destination… that being said, they did serve a mean Dutch cheese and fig chutney sandwich on the cityhopper for free.

I suppose the short haul offerings have improved as more accessible to most people but the long haul have gone downhill massively.