Over the coming four-day weekend, more than 6 million Americans will board commercial flights, a record for this typically heavy holiday. While the EgyptAir crash may continue to blanket the news, fatal crashes are the exception. Last year the death rate on U.S. carriers was zero; by contrast, over last Thanksgiving weekend alone, 598 people died on U.S. highways. And yet, even as the industry rightly touts its safety record, the Unfriendly Skies have increasingly become a source of lesser horror stories.

Consider, for example, the fairly routine August experience of Christine Cunningham, who wanted only to fly from Denver to Albuquerque, N.M., with her two young kids. The short United flight was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. When she got to the gate, the flight status was listed as "delayed"; no one would tell her why, or for how long. Then it was canceled. With two kids in tow, she joined 150 or so other passengers in a mad scramble to the customer-service desk to make new plans. After 45 minutes on line, she found herself booked on an 8:45 p.m. flight. Some of her fellow refugees got food vouchers; some, like her, did not. Her flight finally took off at 9:30 p.m. "Flying used to be a necessary evil," says Cunningham. "Now it's just evil."

As we move farther into the jet age, when even midlevel professionals fly regularly for work, air travel has come to feel increasingly onerous. In a NEWSWEEK Poll, more than half of adult fliers said they were sometimes frightened when they flew; in 1983, only one third said this. Citing safety concerns, 34 percent said they avoid certain airlines, up from just 19 percent in 1983. And nearly one quarter say they "avoid flying whenever they can." Anxiety, too, is up: 43 percent said flying has become "more stressful" in recent years.

Instead of setting us free, flying has locked us in a snarl of mundane irritations: arbitrary ticket pricing, endless delays, bad food, cramped seating, stale air, dirty planes and rude service. In the first nine months of this year, the Department of Transportation received almost 16,000 complaints from air travelers, double the rate of last year (the department estimates that for every complaint it receives, the airlines get 400). There's some hypocrisy here: consumers gripe about lousy conditions but seek out the cheapest fare, giving airlines--already facing ruthless lowball competition, high operating costs and low profit margins--an incentive to cut even more. But it is the airlines that get blamed. In a recent University of Michigan study, Americans ranked 34 industries and public services in terms of customer satisfaction. Airlines finished third from the bottom, ahead of only network newscasts and the IRS.

This is not just a matter of a few passengers having a bad-air day. Changes made by the airlines, along with a rise in people flying and an antiquated air-traffic-control system, have systematically combined to make flying a bad trip. Here's a look at how.

Delays: Nothing takes the romance out of a two-hour jaunt quite like three hours of cooling your jets on the tarmac--except, perhaps, spending more than seven hours on the runway at Detroit Metro Airport without water or working lavatories, as Northwest passengers did during a blizzard last January. When asked what they'd most like to see improved in airline services, travelers say they'd like to get where they're going on time. Yet performance is getting worse, not better. So far this year, delays are up 23 percent, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The average delay is 44 minutes, up from 42 last year. Only 77 percent of flights get to where they're going on schedule.

Why the problem? Airlines blame the FAA's antiquated air-traffic-control system. "It's 1999, and we still have a 1970s system," says David Fuscus of the Air Transport Association, the trade group for the airlines. He quickly corrects himself. "I wouldn't want to imply it's all 1970s. Some of it is 1960s." This year controllers at a dozen centers began using partially updated equipment, with the expected glitches and adjustment difficulties. The FAA, which operates the system, instructed controllers to leave a cushion of as much as 60 miles between planes, compared with the mandated five miles, leaving thousands of passengers waiting for liftoff.

The airlines are complicit in delays as well. Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, for example, can accommodate as many as 180 flights per hour, if the weather is perfect. Yet during peak hours the airlines schedule 200 flights, rain or shine. Need to get in or out of Dallas-Ft. Worth at 6 p.m.? Good luck. The airport can handle 35 flights every 10 minutes; the airlines schedule 57. This means that even under ideal conditions, at least 22 planes (say, 3,000 passengers) are delayed.

Overcrowding: Flying has also gotten more uncomfortable. In 1990, the average flight was just over 60 percent full. This meant a lousy bottom line for the airlines, but lots of empty middle seats to make your own bottom more comfy. No more. Thanks to better computerized-reservation systems, and to seat fillers like Priceline.com, the average plane in 1998 was filled to 70 percent capacity; for the Sunday after Thanksgiving 1999, the "load factor" is expected to rise to 87 percent.

Seats have also gotten closer together, as airlines expand their business sections, or try to squeeze an extra row into coach. Until the 1980s, seat pitch (the distance between your seat back and the one in front of you) was typically 34 inches. Since then, many carriers have shaved that down to 31 or 32. Airlines contend that because modern seat-back cushions aren't as deep, passengers haven't really lost any legroom. "There is no industry movement to decrease seat pitch," says Fuscus of the Air Transport Association. "The seats seem tighter because there are more people on planes." But try finding a regular flier who buys this.

Food: Is it just you, or does the quality of airline food seem to have declined? Answer: it isn't just you. Since 1992 carriers have been serving progressively cheaper fare--if they serve food at all. According to the Department of Transportation, a seat on a U.S. airline in 1992, domestic or international, got you a $6.11 meal, on average. By 1998, the airlines were spending just $4.49 per meal (this is slightly up from 1997). Given the price of an airline ticket, such chiseling may seem petty. But food is one of the few areas where airlines can shave a few pennies to stay competitive on fares. Even in its best year, 1998, the industry turned only a $5 billion profit on more than $100 billion in revenues, a margin considered teensy in most U.S. industries. So shaving pennies counts. And with 614 million people in the air last year, the pennies add up. Travelers like to have it both ways: buy the cheap ticket now, complain about the food later.

Stale air: Air might seem like a free resource, especially up high. But it is not. The air outside a commercial jetliner at cruising altitude is too thin to breathe; any incoming air needs to be compressed. This process, for those of you who remember your gas laws from high-school physics, produces heat. So the air then needs to be cooled in the plane's air-conditioning system before you can breathe it. This, in turn, burns fuel, one of the rising expenses for airlines. So in the early '80s airplane manufacturers devised a cost-cutting measure, by which half of the air circulating in the cabin would come from outside, and half would be filtered and recirculated. In a more recent innovation, pilots now sometimes shut down one air-conditioning pack on underfilled flights, saving fuel but degrading the air quality. Airlines contend that, thanks to filtration systems, the recirculated air is as sanitary and salubrious as before. But the stale-seeming air can exacerbate passengers' natural sense of confinement, adding to flight stress.

Surly staff: You finally arrive, late and stiff, in St. Louis. Unfortunately, your bag just arrived in Denver. Want to bet your airline's customer-service rep will be happy to assist you? "Customer service should be renamed the 'further-abuse counter'," says Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant in Evergreen, Colo. Customer service is the second most common cause of complaints. As airline passenger loads have risen, flight crews, gate staff and service people are often stretched to the point of snapping. Especially as passengers vent their frustrations in the form of air rage (sidebar), some airline personnel approach their job as a battle. Donal Ruth Robison, 50, a lawyer in Fullerton, Calif., describes almost missing a flight last summer because the gate staff wouldn't let her husband board. The ticket agent "kept saying that his reservation had been canceled out from the computer. It turns out she was typing his name into the computer incorrectly. I guess airline workers are overworked, just like the rest of us. But it makes the whole flying thing a lot more unpleasant."

What you can do: To stave off a federal "Passenger Bill of Rights," the airline industry has volunteered its own reforms, which will roll out Dec. 15. Measures include quoting customers the lowest fares available, providing more information about delays and processing refunds more promptly. In the meantime the single biggest favor travelers can do for themselves, say experts, is to budget for delays. Fly in the morning if possible, before airlines get backed up; avoid the last flight of the night. Ask about the food selection on a flight when you make a reservation. If the answer doesn't suit you, request a special meal--kosher, vegetarian, whatever--or bring your own. Trip insurance is rarely a good bet, unless you have good reason to believe you'll have to cancel your trip, says Harold Skipper, an insurance analyst at Georgia State University. Such "specialty" policies return very little for each dollar they take in.

Beyond that, says Dean Headley, an airline analyst at Wichita State, you can complain--reasonably. "I recently saw a guy at an America West gate who was being bumped, and he started yelling and screaming. The ticket agent asked to see his ticket and tore it up in front of him." Headley also suggests putting all complaints in writing, not just to the airline, but to the DOT, the FAA, your congressman, even the media. "And I wouldn't write to the complaint department. I would write to their president or CEO."

However, you don't have to fly. Like Christopher Meyer, a grad student in the San Francisco Bay Area, you could consider a train ride to Chicago next spring to avoid spending five hours in the air. He isn't afraid of flying. He just hates it. "I feel like it's being among cattle," he says. "It's just an incredibly dehumanizing experience." In fairness, the train trip takes more than 50 hours, and comes with its own discomforts. Or you can always drive. Of course, you won't be as safe on the roads. And there'll be no meal service. And the traffic delays can be murder. It's almost enough to make you want to fly.

 

 

Fear: Why People Are Afraid to Fly

The latest NEWSWEEK Poll shows that the fear of flying is on the rise. Media coverage of Flight 990 and other major accidents can add to those fears. But statistics show that flying is one of the safest ways to travel. A look at some of the factors behind flight anxiety:

THE WORRIES

Pilot fatigue: Regulations give pilots time to rest, but not always during hours when the body needs sleep

Passenger fears: A feeling of losing control is one symptom. Others: aircraft noises, claustrophobia and fear of heights.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is flying getting more or less safe? The fatal-accident rate for passenger aircraft has not changed significantly in 15 years

How can chances of being in an accident be reduced? Choose nonstop routes. Most accidents occur during the takeoff, climb, descent and landing phases. The fewer exposures, the better the odds.

What kind of emergency is most likely? A precautionary evacuation using the emergency slides is most likely. Next: having to use the emergency oxygen system.

Which aircraft are the safest? In general, all aircraft have to adhere to strict standards. But larger planes (30 seats or more) were designed and certified under the strictest regulations. And in the event of a serious accident, larger aircraft provide a better chance of survival.

Should parents fly separately? Not necessarily. Parents ride together in cars. The risk of dying in an auto accident is much higher than in a plane crash.

THE AIRCRAFT

Age of the fleet: In 1998, the average age of the American domestic fleet was 12.1 years. One reason not to worry: older planes have many new parts.

Maintenance: The U.S. airlines spend more than $10 billion a year to keep their aircraft safe

ACCIDENT DEATH RATES PER 100

MILLION PASSENGER MILES, 1997



Cars       0.92

Trains     0.04

Buses      0.01

Airlines   0.01

 

 

GRAPH: MAJOR ACCIDENTS* PER MILLION FLIGHT HOURS
GRAPH: AVERAGE AGE OF WORLD JET FLEET

*U.S. AIRLINES

PHOTO: A crew member
PHOTO: Wreckage from TWA Flight 800 crash in 1996

 

 

... And Loathing: Why They Hate to Fly

Deregulation in 1978 ushered in the fierce airline competitiveness we see today. To lure more customers, carriers dropped fares. But to deliver flights at a cheap price--which consumers love--airlines have had to economize on meals, legroom and service personnel

Complaints: Between Jan. and Sept. of this year, the Department of Transportation received twice as many complaints (16,000) as in the same period in 1998

Bumping: Between April and June of this year, one in 1,000 passengers was denied boarding--not bad, according to analysts

DELAY INCREASES FROM JAN. 1, 1998,
TO SEPT. 30, 1999, BY CAUSE

Runway      108%

Equipment    78

Weather      12.7

Leading passenger complaints
FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 1999

Lost, mishandled luggage    53%

Poor service in airport     11

Flight delays                9

Overbooking/bumping          7

Flight cancellation          4

 

Staff: Fewer smiles with the service. With more people flying, personnel are more tense--and bolder, thanks to strong unions and laws that favor them over the passenger.

THE CABIN

Since the ban on smoking, air quality has improved, but aisles can still be too narrow and bathrooms too few

THE SEAT

Not only have seats shrunk over the years, but they've been spaced more closely together

Width

Economy: 17.2 in.
First class: 21 in.

Recline

Economy: 18 degrees
First class: 25 degrees

Distance between seats

Every airline configuration is different. Usually between 31 and 36 inches.

THE FOOD

In 1998, American carriers spent $4.49 per passenger on food, down from $5.51 in 1990

FIVE WORST AIRPORTS FOR DELAYS

1. Newark
2. N.Y. LaGuardia
3. San Francisco
4. Atlanta
5. St. Louis

Delays: In the first nine months of this year, delays were up by 23 percent with an average delay of 44 minutes, compared with 42 last year

Baggage: Between Jan. and Sept. of this year, 5.24 bags per 1,000 were mishandled, compared with 5.12 for the same period last year

 

SOURCES: AIRSAFE.COM; FEAR OF FLYING CLINIC, SAN MATEO, CALIF.; ALPA; ATA; NTSB; AMERICAN AIRLINES; IAPA; NAT'L SAFETY COUNCIL; DOT

DIAGRAM: Boeing 737 Seats

PHOTO: Another delay
PHOTO: Little elbow room
PHOTO: Backed-up runways

ILLUSTRATIONS

 

 

NEWSWEEK POLL

Flying has become more stressful recently, say 42%, and 28% worry that airport security cannot stop terrorists

Everyday frustrations are taking a toll: 53% of those who think flying is stressful expect delays and lost luggage

John Leland, Ana Figueroa, Donna Foote, Lynette Clemetson and Robina Riccitiello