Airlines

[j1b]

The fact that the majority of airlines are going bankrupt really doesn't surprise me. To be truthful I'd be surprised if any of them could tell the difference between their ass and the hole in the ground they continue to dump money into.

As some of you know I went to Tucson this week on business. I was planning on taking a blaster and shooting a small match. Got to the airport and the sh*t hit the fan. After rule x and rule y I ended up taking the blaster back out to the truck and leaving it behind. After we determined there needed to be more locks, and we determined where the locks needed to be, the "service" agent decided he would make the call on whether or not the lock I had was an acceptable one. First - he had no freakin' clue what the regulations were, and then once he decided what direction he was going to take he then became a lock expert. This idiot wouldn't know a good lock from a twisty tie (maybe I should have used one of those) but I'm sure he's worth the salary the airline pays his worthless ass.

I was just wondering - what in the hell happened to customer service? I'm reading this business book and one example is about a hospital that is really Patient focused - I mean they REALLY take care of their patient. The Hospital has got a lot of press over its new "revolutionary" approach to business. One nurse is quoted in this book as saying "How bad is society when treating a person with dignity and respect is revolutionary"

Clearly the airlines haven't picked up on this.

JB

[EricW]

Jack, at least you didn't get to your destination and have them start making up new rules so you couldn't get your gun back home. Some dickweed in PHX wouldn't let me check my gun because he didn't like that I left my surplus ammo in my magazines. (Nobody had ever said boo about using my mags to hold my leftover ammo before. They *were* designed to hold ammunition the last time I checked...)

I said, "OK, here's my ammo, you can throw it into the garbage for me."

"Uh....well....uhhhh...I guess it'll be OK this time."

"I knew it would..."

FWIW, I'm really surprised that anyone gave you shit about checking your gun. I've only ever had two real "issues" and they both worked out fine. Even post 9/11, I would declare my gun and the gate agents 9 times out 10 would give me this hopeful look and say, "to carry on board?" They looked really dejected when I said, "No, I'm just checking it as luggage."

[TDean]

Jack, sorry to hear of that. I had a bad-bad-bad event flying out of Spokane w/gun into Phx last year. Just thinking about it makes my BP jump.

I can deal with regulations, but the damn agent/TSA people better frick'n well know them! Ask 10 different agents what "hard sided" means, or "in locked case" and you'll get a variety of answers.

The airlines are the only game in town that gets you there quick.

They know it, their attitude seems to be "we don't need to be nice to you, where else are you going to go.."

I'm driving to all my matches.

I hear JetBlue (east coast) is on board with the customer service approach.

[Paul B]

I bcame Platinum on 2 airlines and Gold on a third at the same time because of all the business travel I used to have to do. It always amazed me how the major airlines could treat their passengers like dirt continuously and then cry about reduced profits and passengers.

It may be time for a few new airlines that have actually heard of customer service and for the old arrogant ones to simply go away.

[3quartertime]

I'm not defending in any way the horrible service that caused this rant but being a former employee of a couple of airlines my opinion is the companies are getting the personel they are paying for. The major airlines are crumbling from the top down. Most of the employee's that cared about their jobs are gone and replaced with a low cost/low effort version.

Unfortunetly I think the friendly skies are gone. ( maybe with a few small exceptions) Not sure if good customer service will ever return but it will surely have to start with the morons running the companies treating the employee's with some sense of decency. Right now the crap is still running down hill.

Until then I agree with TDean, If you want a pleasant ride you gotta drive!!!

Again, just adding to the rant. Not questioning it.

[David Benzick]

While TSA was initially very rude, I have never found the airline personel to be a problem. Sometimes they are quite ignorant of their own regulations but you can get around that by bringing a printed copy of their regulations to help them along.

Lately, TSA has been quite polite while rumaging through my gear. While traveling to 3-gun nationals Sue and I hauled along an arsenal of weapons. One TSA agent in Sacramento wanted to check them out, but by the time I got him the key the other agent had sent them along to the bagage handlers. In St Louis, both travel cases got inspected. The agent asked us for the keys and then complimented us on our hardware.

Tips to make travel easier with firearms. Use cases that are obviously well built and locked. Why put a $1000 rifle in a $50 case. Pack ammo to airline spec which with American Airlines means the rounds are held in original factory containers or aftermarket boxes so that individual rounds don't contact each other. Check the weight limit for ammo also. And finally, loosen up, smile and act like you do this every day. Your attitude goes a long way towards influencing how the agents treat you. You can always hate them later.

Later

[Detlef]

act like you do this every day

very good tip! I have traveled quite a bit with my toys since 9-11, but not encountered much resistance. Was stopped twice, once for having 6 pairs of scissors in my carry on, once for a pocket knife in my waste pack (carry on). Threatened me with arrest on the first occasion (the trip to the WS, of all things, where I also had a good [high number] lb of ammo in my checked luggage, permitted were 11...), then shift change and the next crew forgot about me. Just got the choice to put the knife in the checked luggage or to donate it to TSA on the 2nd occasion (I picked the latter).

Indeed, neither the airline employees nor TSA know the pertinent regulations well. They often rely on the traveler to know them ("Yes, my gun is in an airline approved locked container, the ammunition is separate and in original manufacturer's containers").

There must be something wrong in Phoenix, it's the only place where I was ever hazzled about my guns...

Overall, I felt most comfortable with SWA, they are very matter-of-fact about most things.

--Detlef

[EricW]

There must be something wrong in Phoenix, it's the only place where I was ever hassled about my guns...

There's a lot wrong going on in PHX. I spoke with the FAA about PHX once. (On an issue besides checking of firearms...) There's a very "cat's away...mice will play" phenomena there. When the FAA or the city cops are visible in PHX, it's very business-like. When neither are there, anything goes. I know we all think "big guvment" is our enemy, but if you're having problems - especially consistent ones with a particular airport or airline, you need to contact the FAA or the TSA and talk to someone. They didn't make me fill out any BS forms or refuse to respond. I actually got a phone call back from a responsible FAA person who was concerned about what I had to say.

FWIW...

[IPSCDRL]

I have flown with my toys several times though not recently. I've never had much of a problem mainly because of the attitude I have. I'm friendly and non-threatening and buinesslike. Know what the rules are and help guide the counter people along.

I was once flying from Toronto to CA with my G21. The young lady at the AirCanada counter had no clue so I simply explained the procedure to her. She went and found the orange tag and I filled it out and placed inside the locked hard case with the pistol. She then went away for a few seconds. She came back and sheepishly said "I need to inspect it to ensure that it's unloaded." No problem. I took the case out of my luggage and unlocked it. I then turned it around facing her and opened the lid to obstruct the view of other people in the line behind me. I then asked her, "Would you have any idea how to tell if this was loaded or not?" She admitted that she did not. I nicely showed her what she was looking at and she was visibly relieved. As I was locking the case back up again, she asked me (quite seriously) "Will you be checking that or carrying it on board?"

True story.