In keeping with the theme of airlines and flying, I thought I’d tackle one of the biggest complaints any traveler deals with: flight delays that cause you to miss a connecting flight.
This is bad enough when you’re dealing with domestic flights, where a delayed connection can cause you to spend hours in unfamiliar airports. It’s maddening when it happens to a domestic flight that is supposed to then connect to your international flight — you know, to the destination that airline only flies to once every day. (Which happened to me.)
So, what is the best thing to do when this happens? Well, there’s really not much you can do, except get your flight rescheduled. And complain.
Yet, as it turns out, complaining (hold on for this shocking revelation) does not really do any good.
Now, I can’t play all high-and-mighty. I certainly dislike being delayed. And I really hate it when I have to trot up to the attendant to have my next flight rescheduled — especially when I’m being civil and the flight attendant is less-than-polite. (This also happened to me.)
Maybe complaining worked years ago, when everyone wore their best clothes when they were traveling, when smoking was allowed on airplanes, and when no one had to be strip-searched because they accidentally brought a bottle of water through the security checkpoint. Nowadays, though, the airlines seem to expect to be complained to.
The ugly scenes are played out in varying forms across airports worldwide: a harried patriarch puffing his chest at a ticket agent while his haggard wife tries to herd their three little tourbillions—I mean, offspring. Or the irate businesswoman on her cell phone, her painted mouth twisted in disapproval.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, complains recorded in June of 2006 were 18% higher than over the same period a year ago. And they’re on the rise. Which is why organizations like the Air Travelers Association, headed by David Stempler, get more and more focus in the news.
Now, I’m no sociologist. I don’t really know the statistics when it comes to straws breaking the proverbial airline camels’ backs. All I know is how I’ve dealt with mishaps in my travel arrangements. I’ve complained to airlines, and I’ve played nice with airlines. And guess what? I’ve not really seen much difference in the results that I get.
I’m not saying that you should remain pretty little Pollyanna when travel plans go awry. But airline travel can already be a pretty stressful experience. And it’s cheesy, but if you try and be patient and roll with the punches, you’ll find that you can take off a lot of the stress yourself. Especially if complaining isn’t going to help your situation anyway.
And, who knows? Maybe you’ll get landed in first class when they reschedule your flight. One can only dream …
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