On the Fly

There is a new show on TLC called On the Fly and it gives viewers a behind the scenes look of what Southwest Airlines personnel day to day work is like. Personally, I like the show because I like yelling at the dumb dumbs on the TV. The things people complain about truly amaze me; especially when they are expecting to get somewhere.

One thing that people never seem to understand is a "maintenance delay". On almost every episode there is someone complaining that they missed their connecting flight because their last flight had a maintenance delay… Well, wouldn’t you rather them fix the problem and you be late then have the possibility that you could be dead because something on the plane failed??!?! Come on people! They are looking out for your safety! On the last show a guy was delayed 6 hours and he was given a $50 voucher for food at the airport. I think that’s pretty good, at least he got something. But he just kept complaining about how that wasn’t sufficient enough and he couldn’t believe he had to wait 6 hours! If you are running that late check another airline and see if they can get you there sooner.

If you can't reach your destination on time because of a flight delay with the airline you bought the original ticket from, that airline it is obligated to put you on a competitors' flight if that flight will get you there sooner than the original airline's next scheduled flight.

Another one that my husband and I seem to disagree on is when passengers are wearing something that is offensive (usually cuss words or profanity). Now, I'm not going to get offended if someone is wearing something like that but I can see where people with children would find it offensive. Also, typically when someone finds that sort of stuff inappropriate they choose not have it in or around their life but then all of a sudden they are being forced to be on a plane with someone who is wearing their "life choices" literally on their sleeve. And the people that make a fuss about taking it off… are you really going to let a little thing like that be the reason you don’t get to your final destination on time? If so, you are dumb!

There is also weather delays; snow, lightning, heavy winds, all things that can keep you from your final destination. If you are traveling to an expensive vacation and you didn’t get travel insurance that’s your problem. Travel insurance is one of the best things you can get and something I will always get when we travel for a vacation; you're protecting your investment. Your travel insurance will cover missed connecting flights and weather delays and will compensate you if you need to stay overnight and can't get to your luggage. We typically pay about $100 per person per trip for our insurance. One couple on the show was flying to Florida in the morning to catch their cruise that was leaving at 5:30pm… (WOW, don’t you think you're cutting it close?!?!?). Their flight to Florida was delayed a few hours and they were in jeopardy of missing their cruise. If you're traveling for an event or are catching a cruise/tour I would advise always traveling the day before to be on the safe side.

Now here is a frustrating one that I actually would complain about if it happened to me; the airline overbooking your flight. I understand from a business stand point why they do it but it is very frustrating to the customers. They will overbook a flight in an attempt to cut losses/make profits from passengers that don’t show up. It's something that they do and all I can say is check in on time and get their early to make sure you have a seat and they can see when you checked in.

Tune into TLC's On the Fly Thursday nights at 9/8C

Happy Travels!