Oh, that Mike Boyd!

But Dough, without something to hype that's not news instead of reporting real news, what would the media do?

I can see it now...just like every year.

"And the lines are long here at XYZ airport. You, sir, how long have you been in line?"

"About an hour."

"About an hour. So we urge you to get here early for your flight."

Whoever that reporter is should win the "no [poop] Sherlock award."

Anyone who's done any flying these days knows the planes are packed. Nothing new there.

It's the once or twice a year Aunt Bessies who are used to less crowded planes that are going to freak.

Those who do more flying? No surprises there.

For the longest time, I never bothered to use my e-upgrades. Now I do because the planes are full. When I had an empty seat next to me in coach, I was fine with it.

Now? Gimme the first class seat, please, since I know the coach section is going to be packed.

this is going to sound totally out there wild idea, won't happen sort of thing..

but wouldn't it work if let's say.. they brought back some semi-small regulation that said on specific routes from like class B to class B the aircraft couldn't be smaller than oo.. 100 seats? Maybe 200?

This way instead of a bunch of "small" commuter 121 aircraft it would force them to fly heavy stuff..and the commuters would go back to.. being commuters and feeders?

Kind of like using public transportation/bus or car pool lane for the skies? IF she's not big she's not using it.

Wild Idea I know..but by this time next year giving airlines time to get ready for it, delays would be..much lower and fares would stay the same? Moving more people in bigger planes but at the same time less flights??? People happy? (I should run for president..)

crazy Idea I know.

Ah, but the airlines would say, no, you're taking away choice from our customers. Our customers want to fly at various times during the day and if we use larger aircraft at fewer times, they'll lose that choice.

Of course, left unsaid is the truth -- those departure and arrival times are just SWAGs because of all the delays that occur with an air transport system that's stretched to its limits.

I'd rather have four flights a day on a 757 to the city of my choice than eight on an RJ if it meant the departure and arrival times are actually somewhat accurate.

Yeah I agree with you.. the airlines would say no it won't happen...

Bush is on his way out, he has nothing to lose..imagine bushing saying this:

I wish he would have just said, "look airlines..it's time to get your act together in the free market because the FAA won't do anything we know that, opening the military routes is just a temp. solution and a security risk, and it's not going to get better that's for sure without us coming in. It's not GA so stop blaming them that's doing this to you..it's the market being competitive.. waaay too cut-throat competitive and it's starting to get into safety issues and that's where I come in..you got this season to impress us or we'll slip in a 121 reg that will fix things TODAY. Oh and *cough* we're raising cigarette tax by like 300% for the heck of it we need some medicare funds *cough*.. cheers i'll be in texas if you need me! Happy holidays everyone!"

That's what I would have said.. right after that speech i'd whip out a polaroid camera and take a pic of Mike Boyd and stuff it in his front suit pocket. Airlines watching this on cspan would freak out and it'd be on every eveing news that night "WOA! NELLIE! This presidents middle name is action!"

(sorry i'm bored.. thought i'd get creative there)

But It can be fixed that's for sure!

I disagree a little bit, not on the difference in delays because of weather, volume, etc....
I disagree because of the aforementioned abundance of "Aunt Bessies".

As a frequent business traveler, I rarely fly on the "civilian" day. I am talking about Saturday. When I do though, it is so much more chaotic than a normal travel day, where most people have flown enough to "know the drill". I recently flew on a Saturday morning, and probably have 3-4 times this year. What a difference.

• Families with wailing kids everywhere.
• Ticket lines a mile long because Aunt Matilda decided that it is preposterous she must pay more for her 74Lb bag that has given the ticket agent a hernia.
• Security lines miles long because, even though they were told a dozen times before getting to the metal detector, half the people cannot seem to hear "Takeoff your shoes, your laptop must be out, No liquids except in 1oz containers".
• At the gate it takes exponentially longer to load the plane because Mom can't seem to realize, while she is "setting up" her seating realm, everyone behind her is just standing there watching.
• Getting off is equally as bad because, inevitably, people decide they are too important to unload front to back and bumrush to the front. Oh and Mom must disassemble her airplane world, once again while everyone that didn't bumrush upfront watches.
• Finally, take it for what it is worth, but it seems the staff, from the guy driving the parking bus all the way to the aircrew, are less experienced themselves. Without going into detail, certain things make that obvious, plus the notion that the more senior types are more apt to get the holiday off. Sure they can handle the normal stuff, but experience pays(as we all know) when it comes to the out of the ordinary.
• Finally, the staff, with experience pushed aside for this, are not going to be ready for this. In my current industry, we have a similar "peak" summer season; we even call it "the 100 days of summer". In our analysis, we see productivity at its' lowest at the beginning, as the employees and processes get "used to" the increased work demand. By mid-summer, Productivity is at its' highest, and slumps to just above what it was in the beginning at the end, as resources are worn out. We have craziness on Thanksgiving and Christmas as well. Inevitably, these seasons are our worst, productively, because noone is really prepared for what is coming, after having almost 3 months off from the "busy" season.

I would think each of these items would contribute, or compound, the big delays, like weather. ATC, etc....

Loadmaster, I think you're spot on. You can tell who knows what they're doing and who doesn't.

I think the people on my flight back from Denver packed more crap than I did INCLUDING my skis for their two day trip. It was absurd.

You learn to pack light when you travel frequently because all that crap you didn't use is just stuff you're lugging back and forth for nothing.

It's kind of the reverse of the 80/20 rule. The 20 percent who provide the airlines with most of their revenue are probably the ones who require the least use of airline resources because they know how to act. The 80 percent who provide the least revenue consume the most resources because they don't.

I also agree with you about not having experienced staff nor enough staff to deal with the "rush" although I question whether it's really a rush if load factors have been in the 80s all year long. In the business I work in, we have certain periods of higher demand than others. We hire extra help and make everyone work additional hours in order to handle that extra demand.

I don't know why airlines don't do this. You may not need it from the folks who are ON the airplanes but you're going to need it for the folks the passengers see before they get on the planes and the folks who load the bags and so on.