Air Travel

Question:

> They may be the ones at the pointy end of the stick who have to tell > the passengers what others have decided, but they’re holding the stick > and making those decisions.

Obviously, there should be a NOT between they’re and holding, so that the sentence reads "They may be the ones at the pointy end of the stick who have to tell the passengers what others have decided, but they’re not holding the stick and making those decisions." Normally, I wouldn’t bother with a correction, but leaving out the "not" made the sentence into gibberish. — Mary Shafer    http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/People/Shafer/mary.html Lead Handling Qualities Engineer, SR-71/LASRE NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA

Response:

>For AA , I do not know. >Please post or let me know if you find something about the AA one.

My Aaccess software carries a phone number for tech support:                 800 222 2377 I called at 7:30 am EST yesterday, was given a message that AA was very very busy, and to call early in the morning, or late at night.   I held for 15 min, then went on with life. The last version of the software I had was ver 1.3.  It ran on Win 95, but would not run on Win 98.  If run on win 98, it did not work, and it crashed the tcp/ip stack on the computer.  This disabled all browsers, and required reloading the entire dial up networking settings in the control panel. If you hold long enough to get a human at that number, let us know if a win 98 version is available. regards jer

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> I was wondering if there were any other free software programs (that you can > load on your computer) that allow you to search through schedules and book > flights.  I would like to know if there are programs other than United > Connections, AA’s travel software, and CP’s (which doesn’t do me much good > anyway since you can only book flights that originate in Canada)

Swiss Air has a very cool system wide schedule program which allows you to view service maps, schedules, seat maps, etc.  They have a suave looking dude or dudette on each cover of the schedule. If you’re Preferred on US Airways of get the NationsBank Platinum US Airways card, you get a free copy of Priority Travelworks which lists flights, schedules, reservations, cars, hotels, FF account info, etc. Rich Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

Response:

>> They may be the ones at the pointy end of the stick who have to tell > the passengers what others have decided, but they’re holding the stick > and making those decisions. >Obviously, there should be a NOT between they’re and holding, so that >the sentence reads "They may be the ones at the pointy end of the >stick who have to tell the passengers what others have decided, but >they’re not holding the stick and making those decisions." >Normally, I wouldn’t bother with a correction, but leaving out the >"not" made the sentence into gibberish.

Mary, you are the very last person in the world that any of us would accuse of fostering gibberish. Your are a shining star in the usenet world and an irreplaceable asset in this news group.  Having said that, however, I was somewhat underwhelmed by "Stick and Rudder", which you enthusiastically endorsed.  Surely pilots are not as thick about angle of attack as this book endlessly implies! Keep up the good work! – – – – John M. Hunt

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> Having said that, however, I was somewhat > underwhelmed by "Stick and Rudder", which you enthusiastically > endorsed.  Surely pilots are not as thick about angle of attack as > this book endlessly implies!

I think the angle of attack thing is the product of the time.  "Stick and Rudder" was written in 1919, or thereabouts, and endlessly reprinted without major revision.  It was written by the father (or maybe grandfather) of the author whose article I was referencing–he’s not as old as the book is.  Considering that, the emphasis is a little more understandable, I think. I personally am always astounded to be reminded that airliners, like most bizjets and prop planes, don’t have alpha gauges, though.  I’ve spent so much time around high-performance (fighter) aircraft that I can’t imagine not having one.  It’s vital for air combat, among other things. The use of classic works on flying is fairly common, as another highly recommended work is a manual for student naval aviators, circa WW II. The basics don’t change much, so there’s no need to use newer texts. — Mary Shafer    http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/People/Shafer/mary.html Lead Handling Qualities Engineer, SR-71/LASRE NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA

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> > The attack on the CO gate agent has spawned > several posts citing poor service of the > airlines as partly to blame for pax air rage > etc….  The gate agents and flight attendants > are NOT the ones who: > 1.  set fares  etc etc. > Very true. Gate agents and FAs are not "responsible" for the > policies.  However, they are responsible for their > enforcements. Hence, anger is directed at them.

No, they aren’t.  I’ve never bought a ticket from a flight attendent or gate agent.  They don’t install the seats in the airplane or count out the pillows or order and board the food.  They particularly don’t cancel or delay flights. They may be the ones at the pointy end of the stick who have to tell the passengers what others have decided, but they’re holding the stick and making those decisions.  They have absolutely no responsibility for enforcing fares or seat spacing or food availability or cancellations.  Often, they’re just as surprised and dismayed as the passengers are by these issues. > With proper communications, the vast majority of passengers will > accept a delay or understand why something can’t be done.

The problem isn’t the vast majority, though.  It’s the violent minority.  I thought that was pretty much a given.  It’s not like these incidents involve more than one or two people behaving badly, so the majority is hardly likely to be the problem. — Mary Shafer    http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/People/Shafer/mary.html Lead Handling Qualities Engineer, SR-71/LASRE NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA

Response:

> The attack on the CO gate agent has spawned > several posts citing poor service of the > airlines as partly to blame for pax air rage > etc….  The gate agents and flight attendants > are NOT the ones who: > 1.  set fares  etc etc.

Very true. Gate agents and FAs are not "responsible" for the policies. However, they are responsible for their enforcements. Hence, anger is directed at them. Most imprtantly, they are the agents in charge of representing the airline to customers. (like it or not, they are the ones with the contact with them). That is why I said in an earlier post that it is very important for airlines to train their front line employees on how to deal with customers. It is not an easy job when many airline policies can make customers a tad angry. With proper communications, the vast majority of passengers will accept a delay or understand why something can’t be done.

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For AA , I do not know. For UA you can get the software (United Connection) on ftp://unitedconnection.inter.net/pub/unitedconnection/ I think latest version is 3.0 There is no extra cost, you use your actual Internet connection. THere is also Air Travel Manager (www.airtm.com) but I did not get it towork, it always prompts an error. (and you must have a Travelocity account) Please post or let me know if you find something about the AA one. Thank you. Taichen – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I was wondering if there were any other free software programs (that you can >load on your computer) that allow you to search through schedules and book >flights.  I would like to know if there are programs other than United >Connections, AA’s travel software, and CP’s (which doesn’t do me much good >anyway since you can only book flights that originate in Canada) >– Phil >===== >"How come when we talk to god, we are >praying; but when god talks to us, we are >schizophrenic?"

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The attack on the CO gate agent has spawned several posts citing poor service of the airlines as partly to blame for pax air rage etc….  The gate agents and flight attendants are NOT the ones who: 1.  set fares 2.  design the seats or configure them 3.  decide how many pillows are to be boarded 4.  decide if there will be a snack service 5.  cancel flights Plz keep this in mind the next time you fly. We’re just doing our jobs….usually as best we can.  Sure some of us sometimes get a little upset or lose our cool, but if you walk a mile in our shoes, you might understand why. Thanks. Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

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I was wondering if there were any other free software programs (that you can load on your computer) that allow you to search through schedules and book flights.  I would like to know if there are programs other than United Connections, AA’s travel software, and CP’s (which doesn’t do me much good anyway since you can only book flights that originate in Canada) — Phil ===== "How come when we talk to god, we are praying; but when god talks to us, we are schizophrenic?"

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how do you get the software from AA and UA? how much does it cost to use? robert HAKUNA MATATA! Have a Disney Day!

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Look at Air Travel Management (www.airtm.com).  It’s a very user friendly front-end to Travelocity.  It’s free (until September).  After that, you can use it in some limited capacity or pay $59 (I think). It is very intuitive, does automatic pricing and provides a very helpful print-out of your "plan B" options to take with you (just in case you fly Northwest a lot). The best part is that they respond to e-mail suggestions, comments and help requests (what a concept). Good luck,     Bob

| I was wondering if there were any other free software programs (that you can | load on your computer) that allow you to search through schedules and book | flights.  I would like to know if there are programs other than United | Connections, AA’s travel software, and CP’s (which doesn’t do me much good | anyway since you can only book flights that originate in Canada) | | — Phil | ===== | "How come when we talk to god, we are | praying; but when god talks to us, we are | schizophrenic?" | |

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