For those who have been following the news lately, two scary things have been reported in regards to flying. The first is the Southwest incident where the top of the plane pealed off due to excessive use of the plane and poor maintenance practices and the second is the air traffic controllers that are falling asleep on the job causing many planes to have to land themselves.
Both of these issues, while frightening on their own, are just another example of what seems to be a trend in our country. The trend...cutting costs as much as possible to turn a bigger profit. Don't get me wrong, I understand the business model and I know that a business needs to be profitable to stay in business. HOWEVER (and I capitalize for emphasis), there is a fine line between running a profitable business and being negligent in running a business. So who draws the line and monitors it?
We have a lot of organizations with initials - the FAA, FBI, CIA, NSA, etc. As a citizen of this country, I have always believed that these entities (which our tax dollars pay for) were there to protect us. As I've gotten older though, I wonder about those entities. Each entity - be it a business, an organization or a governmental body - relies on the people that work for it. This assumes that the people have integrity, a work ethic, some sort of morals and even perhaps some self-pride in what they do. Call me optimistic, but this is what I believe. So what happens when these people do not do their jobs? What happens when they become part of the problem and not part of the solution?
Going back to the news about the problems with the airline industry - the two current problems (the planes falling apart and the air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job) are in the news but given the fact that so many problems are existing in our country, I'm wondering if we as a country are starting to tune out these negative reports. Sure we get outraged when we hear it but then we change the channel or do something else and forget about it. Unless there is some horrific tragedy where two planes collide midair because one plane is trying to do an emergency landing due to the fact it's literally falling apart in midair and collides with another plane who is trying to land itself because there is no air traffic controller responding, it seems that there is no urge for change. Only in the face of tragedy to we demand change (and, of course, try to figure out who's to blame.)
One may argue that as soon as Southwest had the plane fall apart, that there was an investigation and some 70 or so planes were grounded until they cleared a safety inspection but that's only trying to band aid a larger problem. If you've watched the PBS documentary called "Flying Cheap," you'll note that this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the safety violations that really exist. I won't list the seriousness of the "shortcuts" that are going on in airline maintenance because I don't have enough time but it amazes me that nothing is being done about it.
Regarding the issue of the air traffic controllers falling asleep - after the first report I didn't hear of any repercussions or changes - I only heard of more reports of this happening. Hello??? What is it going to take to get our attention? If we're playing the "blame game", is it the air traffic controller who deserves the blame for falling asleep and therefore should be fired or does the blame lie in the fact that the airline industry is trying to cut costs so they're only scheduling one controller rather than two and making that one controller work longer hours? Right now there seem to be more questions than answers and I just don't see anyone stepping in and taking this seriously. Perhaps they are and they're just not getting the airtime that say some of our ridiculous politicians are getting as they try to scream louder than the other hot head from the other party. With all the noise in media today - are we just not listening anymore?
Tying this all back to flying the friendly skies...the skies are no longer friendly. Sure, you can still get a free soda, but that is about all that is left over from the "friendly" days. Now you have to fight to find a seat on a plane that is serviced in another country which does not have our regulations and has cheaper labor, on an airline name which you trust although has a plane that has their name on it but technically is outsourced to another company to fly therefore avoiding liability should something go wrong, and make your way to a cramped seat which has not been cleaned between flights and is flown by a 23 year old that makes $14,000 a year and is exhausted because his schedule is ridiculous and your flight attendant will try to smile politely at you and offer you a complimentary beverage and remind you that if you are hungry, you can purchase a snack but they can't accept cash because they are a cashless flight but they'll be more than happy to take a credit card so that if you forget to pay your credit card bill on time, that $6.00 can of 20 pringles will end up costing you closer to $10.00 since your credit card company just raised your interest rate to 28%...but hey, you did get those frequent flyer miles that you can redeem for a free flight to an undesirable location on any Tuesday or Wednesday in the dead of winter (but first you'll need to speak to a representative in India named "Brittani" who will inform you that there will be a $15.00 processing fee for talking to a live person.) This, of course, assumes that your plane stays together and that the air traffic controller stays awake long enough to help your young pilot land the plane. Welcome to the "friendly skies."
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