Inspired by Alex’s blog on Tuesday, I was hoping to get your thoughts on a situation I encountered quite a few times recently, one caused by airport delays.

When I was on my back-to-back trips to Los Angeles and the British Virgin Islands, I flew in and out of Philadelphia International Airport eight different times in like nine days. Four of the flights were on Delta in first class and four of them were on American Airlines in economy. I think all 8 flights were delayed in some way, either boarding or waiting on the runway. I do not think the following situations are unique to these airlines in any way, and they are more general practices that I began to question.

When boarding was late, I noticed announcements being made that they were going to be eliminating certain services, mostly for first-class passengers, in order to board quickly and take off as close to our scheduled time as possible. They were not going to do the welcome beverage service for first-class passengers or other welcome perks that first-class passengers are technically paying for in the price of their ticket. And I am not complaining because I was in first class; to be honest, I don’t remember which carrier this was on, which leg of the trip it was or where I was sitting (it all kind of blended together!). It just seems to me that by delaying boarding and take off, you have inconvenienced passengers. I completely agree that this is out of the airline’s control, but beverage service is within the airline’s control. Eliminating services, in my mind, would only serve to inconvenience and anger the passenger even more, right? And, let’s face it, those tickets aren’t cheap! There must be a way to incorporate the service and still board the plane in a timely manner.

On another one of those flights, the airline wanted to reduce weight and was having problems with the water system, so they eliminated all hot water, including coffee and tea, and the water couldn’t be used in the bathrooms. This was an early-morning flight. Understandable that they were experiencing problems, but that is a bit disappointing to learn when you are already loaded and on the runway. Plus, can’t bottled water be boiled for coffee and tea? Or supplied in the bathrooms so passengers can wash their hands? With so many changes occurring in the airline industry and so many more charges being incurred by passengers, sometimes you wonder why the airlines don’t go the extra mile to accommodate passengers when things go wrong. I understand they are hurting, but making passengers happy when problems occur will build loyalty and keep people flying certain airlines when times are tough.

And, on a completely unrelated note, celebrities have now apparently jumped on the oil bandwagon. This week, Diddy, formerly Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Sean Combs, music mogul, fashion designer, etc., complained to oil companies that prices were too high and were forcing him to fly commercially rather than on his private jet. I am sure everyone reading this blog feels very bad for him. I bet when Diddy is on board, the carriers don’t eliminate his beverage service or hot water!

-Kimberly Krol, circulation and PR executive