Before the pandemic, I flew every week. I have over 2 million miles on American Airlines.
I get emails every day saying American Airlines can’t wait until I am back flying….when I am ready. They tell me what they have done to make it safe to fly; social distancing, less people on each flight, cleaner airplanes and the requirement to wear a face covering.
Well, the planes are cleaner, but the rest is a marketing lie.
I flew this past week to Phoenix to see the building of a 15-year dream. I thought the risk may be worth the reward. I was also wooed by American Airlines’ promises. As a very frequent flyer, what I experienced makes me question when I will fly again.
The planes were filled except for some middle seats. This is because there are so few flights. The cost of the flight to Phoenix was what I would pay to typically go there in the summer ($300). There is no social distancing in the waiting areas or boarding the planes.
The worst joke is the requirement to wear a face covering by American Airlines. People pretend to wear them when they board the plane; I watched people coming down the aisle and some don’t have it covering their nose or put it just on their chin. Many passengers remove them when they sit down.
The headline on their website proudly announcing their new face covering policy says: “Your well-being is important to us…a face covering is now required when you fly with us. …Be sure your face covering is on before you board the plane and wear it during your flight. Your face covering may be removed to eat or drink, but please put it back on when you’re done.”
The worst part is that flight attendants do nothing to enforce it; They could say “please put your face covering on”, but they afraid to. When I ask them to enforce their policy, they shrug their shoulders. But if I took my pants off or shirt off on the plane, you can be assured that they would ask me to put them back on. I may even be arrested when I landed.
Many people think masks or face coverings don’t work. Unfortunately, it has become a political divide in this country. They may not work, but that’s not the point. A private company requires customers to wear them and if you want to fly, you need to comply.
If I go to a restaurant and I don’t wear a shirt or shoes, they can ask me to leave. I realize you can’t ask passengers to leave at 35,000 feet but they can be fined upon landing.
If a business like American Airlines is going to have a policy, enforce it. If not, don’t pretend it’s part of your marketing plan to safely attract passengers back to your company. Customers like me will depend on it and will be sorely disappointed when they do fly.
Businesses need to reimagine themselves for this new world. We need airlines to make a strong comeback for our economy. Unfortunately, so far, I have only seen marketing jargon and not a sincere change to adapt.
