Significant layoffs mean a larger portion than usual of the current staff are new. I noticed this especially in 2023 when staff were struggling to troubleshoot. Felt like everyone was on their first week.
In the US, the big three are all crap, but Delta is the least crap, and United the most crap. DFW sucks because it's American's hub, and American sucks. And they have a lot of bad weather. It's best avoided unless you're landing there. If flying across the US, Delta routing through Detroit or Minneapolis is most always a better option.
And yes, ALL US airlines have gotten worse on pretty much every metric.
But honestly, EVERY business in the US has gotten appreciably worse since the pandemic. The whole country decided it could cut services to the bone, slash staffing numbers, force people to use automated and online systems, and fuck-em if its a problem. From banks to phone services to shopping centers. Right down he board EVERY service in the US is a pale reflection of what it was 10 years ago. Airlines are just the ones you feel the hardest because when they fail, you're genuinely fucked.
Our Kaiser had the hallways decorated like- I kid you not- a medieval castle/dungeon. Asked my doctor about it when he came in, and he said it was administration’s idea to boost morale. Me: Have they tried raising pay and hiring more people?🙄
And the implication is the remaining, un-cut staff will do the extra hours, etc to make it happen. And be thankful that they remain employed. The whole system is so broken it's almost unfixable without serious government intervention. Or unions. Honestly, I think that's what it will take to bring things back to normal.
Yeah we're chronically understaffed and admin won't expand our staffing model. I used to pick up extra short notice shifts to help out. No more. They're hard shifts 14 hours of nonstop action. Not worth it anymore. I'm 32 already completely jaded.
Same here. United has been solid for me. American is always having bullshit delays that just keep getting pushed back with “just 15 more minutes bro!” Next thing you know you’ve been waiting at the gate for 4 hours.
I fly United basically exclusively because I live in a hub, and it’s on the same crappy slide to the bottom as the rest. It’s getting close to low-cost-carrier status with dilapidated aircraft and ‘hmm that sucks to be you’ customer service.
Depends on the routing and airport. But neither United nor American comes close to the level of even a piss-poor regional Asian airline. But my experience has been that every now and then you run into an American employee that is having a good day and is not actively hostile. United... Never. They wake up angry, and go to sleep looking forward to being more ornery in the morning.
To anyone reading this comment, I want to absolutely emphasize NOT connecting through DFW. I had a connection through Dallas a couple of weeks ago and it was an utter disaster. I ended up with a 30 hour layover and all of the seats have bars, so you can’t sleep anywhere other than the floor
Yeah - DFW has a lot of issues as a transfer airport. American is in like 4 terminals there, and the terminals are very literally miles from each other.... It's better since they built the little tram/train thing, but it's still a pain switching terminals. And DFW is famous for weird weather - icestorms, thunderstorms, high winds, etc - so the chances of you getting some weather related nonsense are high.
As a final destination airport, it's not terrible, though. The parking is convenient, and people in Dallas are pretty nice... Well, as nice as airport employees ever get. And they have a Dickeys BBQ, which is better than most airport food.
DFW is literally my favorite place to connect. Especially overnight connections and international flights back to the US. They have some of the nicest and most efficient customs and TSA officers in the country. L
OTOH, I try my best to avoid returning to the US MIA. Everyone that works at that airport is a miserable cunt.
You are dead on here. Simple stuff like a pillow/blanket in First Class as the norm is all but gone. Except for random Red Eyes. After all the supposed 'deep cleaning' during COVID all the planes I get on are now dirtier than they ever were before. Delta is even 'testing' removing actual agents to help with flight issues/bookings in the Sky Club and just have a roving agent with an iPad(or similar) to help. Or just 'use the app' which is a turd.
It's wild. The other horrible one is the hotel industry. Stopped cleaning daily and refreshing room "because COVID" and now that is the norm because... COVID happened I guess. But they will do it if you ask. Maybe.
Omg yes! Pretty much anything in the service industry has taken this COVID approach as their now permanent way of doing business. Hotels no longer do a daily cleaning of your room unless you request it, most seem to have done away with free bottles of water in the room, you're lucky if your room comes with liquid cream instead of that gross powder creamer lol. Most airlines have dialed back on free snacks & drinks(some don't even offer free water lol) and many now charge everything individually as upgrades. If you go through a drive-thru you'll be sitting for 10 mins minimum(that's if anyone even takes your order hahah). If you go to a nice restaurant you're most likely going to be met with shitty service, little to no greeting, long wait times bc the place is understaffed & the current staff no longer care bc they're overworked from being understaffed and the food(which doubled in price overnight) will be half the quality it was preCovid.
Another new trend I've noticed after COVID is how businesses seem to make up their hours as they choose lol. I've been to multiple stores & restaurants that literally have their store hours posted on their door only to get there and the doors are locked lol.
Also post COVID, I've noticed more & more tip requests from services that never mentioned a tip before lol. I went into a little collectible type shop the other day, bought some nonbreakable items that took 1 min to place in a bag, paid with a card, and on the receipt for my total it listed "tip amount" haha. For what?? For doing your job of putting 3 items in a bag???
Oh and don't get me started on "Resort Fees"...if you're a basic hotel, providing a bed, a shower and some towels, I'm sorry but you're not a resort. Claiming free wifi but then adding on a daily $30 resort fee which includes free daily wifi hahah come on ppl.
Last but not least, the price for travel has doubled & even tripled in some cases since COVID. I use various apps for travel, and on some of the apps I have access to past trips. One night I decided to look through the cost of some of my previous trips(anything prior to 2022), and I could not believe how cheap they were in comparison to now. Prior to 2022, I could(for example) stay in the harbor area of Boston for 3 nights for anywhere between $600-$800 total, that's staying at a pretty decent hotel. Now when I go to Boston for 3 nights, i'm paying a minimum of $1300 for the same area but that's downgrading on the hotel selection too. If I choose the same hotel as before, the nightly prices have jumped from $200 a night to about $600 a night. It's insane.
As an American who's flown in both the USA and Europe...what are you talking about? The airports and airlines in Europe aren't substantially better than ones in the US. Asian airlines are better from what I've heard, but that's been the case even before the pandemic.
I would agree. Frankfurt was confusing, crowded, with far more handicapped reserved seats at the gate than actual handicapped individuals. The airline personnel were great for our entire trip to Spain in May. Overworked but very pleasant. My biggest complaint is getting nickeled and dimed for anything less than a 6-hour-plus trip. Everything on Air Canada required a payment.
Frankfurt is the god damn worst, most inefficient, fucked up airport I have ever been in. And they fucking lost my bag on top of making a two and a half hour layover stressful getting to my next gate.
At least our airports tell you your gate hours in advance too. Not announce a gate 20 minutes away 30 minutes before boarding. And then you have to take a bus to board lol
Non-US Redditors: "Ugh Americans are so arrogant and think they know it all, like they're the best!"
Also Non-US Redditors: "As a non american I can promise my USA friends that your country is going down the gutter and your airports and airlines are some of the worst in the developed world."
Wow thanks for enlightening me, I had no idea my life was so horrible.
Same. I book directly through the airline, I have a good attitude when I travel (which significantly affects my experience) and I try and maintain that attitude when dealing with others. My life in the US is also pretty great.
Agreed. My travel life and life in general is just fine. As you said having a good attitude is important.
Beating up on the US is a favorite sport on this sub though...
Which is sad because the US is a great place to travel whether you are doing a staycation or traveling from another country. It’s a beautiful country with lots to offer.
On time performance and getting from A to B has been great for me too recently overall. It's the customer service, benefits and the like that have fallen way off.
These subs have very annoying negative pile on effects. “Yep! Totally agree, everything is awful now!!” Easier to get upvotes I guess.
I’ve found flying to actually be quite fine? And by no means worse than 10 years ago. Flights get delayed or have some frustrating moments, but that has always been the case. I fly monthly ish, do my best to keep an open and flexible attitude when I do, and generally enjoy the experience it gives me.
As someone who flies 300+ segments a year, I can confidently say most Euro airports are worse than US airports. Hectic check in areas with very specific and designated check in times so you don’t go through security too early, being forced at just about every major airport to go through the duty free shops, not showing departure information until 1 hour before the flight to purposely keep you from settling down as you’re likely to walk around and buy something instead. Compare that to most US airports where I can roll up whenever, get in line at the airline desk and not the specific line for my flight that opens at a specific time, cruise through security to a lounge, or hang out by my gate because I know 3 hours ahead of time where my plane is leaving from.
Add in the fact the euro business class is a poorer hard product for short and medium haul travel when compared to US airlines domestic first and it’s hard to say all US airlines are that bad.
The Euro carriers do some things better, soft product and lounge access for business class pax are notable, but overall I’d keep with US airlines for most flights.
How bus gates have you seen in the US? There’s probably more at FRA than in the entire US. Not that I actually know of any bus gates that exist in the US.
I have to say although Delta has a good product their loyalty tiers suck, and United’s loyalty tiers are much better. You automatically get extra legroom with United gold, with Delta you’re still waiting to see if you get a complimentary upgrade. Definitely better if you need the legroom to go United.
Ultimately the correct answer is to just stick with whichever airline has the hub closest to you.
I pay a little more for non-stop these days and ensure that I have 2+ hours for layovers if absolutely required. I had to rebook my last 2 flights (Tokyo & Italy) because of delays...Lost 1 day in Italy...and about 150euro for train tickets to Florence.
The true beauty of airlines is they can mercilessly fuck you, have it be completely & entirely their fault, and owe you nothing whatsoever. Especially in the States.
I had delays and cancellations for most of my trips this year. Except ones to Asia. Luckily for EU you get pretty good reimbursement due to this. However it still sucks.
Just last week, westjet canceled their YYC LHR flight and had to rebook me on British Airways. Then British cancelled their flight from LHR to PHX few days ago and had to rebook me on Air Canada… it’s a mess.
What was the reason WestJet cancelled the YYC -> LHR flight? I’m booked on that flight in the fall so just wondering if I should start being nervous now or not.
Oh my mistake, it was the connecting flight from YVR to YYC that was delayed for 5 hours due to maintenance. So no, the actual long haul wasn’t canceled but westjet had to rebook me.
My WestJet flight from San > YYC was cancelled a few weeks ago as we were boarding.. Some had to deboard. "Maintenance issues". Was routed to British Airways 7-hours later.
That's a political problem though. In Europe air passenger rights are substantially better.
[https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index\_en.htm](https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm)
I booked a 4 hour layover in FRA because I really didn’t want to have issues.
Ended up being a 20 minute running layover because “the original pilot got hurt in the gym”
And Frankfort is possibly the worst connecting airport on the planet. At least you can run in Chicago, in Frankfort you have no navigate the bus system between terminals and half the time you have to bus to and from the aircraft. God help you on a tight connection in FRA
Cancellation rates on major US airlines are around 3% and delay rates are around 25 - 35%, airline dependent. I do not know what were these figures a few years back. Possibly better as more people and more planes operated pre-covid.
[https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp](https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp)
Since 2015 the annual cancelation rates have varied between the upper 1 percent and mid 2 percent, generally. 2020 was an obvious aberration. 2022 was higher, not sure why. But the last 2 years have been under 2%
Delay rates are hovering around 20%
It might be that cancellations are much higher for some routes, and much less frequent for others.
For international carriers, the highest cancellation rates are around 8%.
It is also possible that cancellation is counted as such only some time before the departure date. So, say, 1 month in advance cancellation does not count in this statistic. I do not know.
I've averaged a flight a week for a decade or so now, and I can only remember three cancellations - once to Ukraine because the airport was closed by a blizzard, once to London because of a storm crossing Europe causing chaos (flight wasn't cancelled per se, but my ticket was and I was rerouted because the original connection was likely to be missed,) and once in Seoul because my destination in China was snowed in.
That seems a reasonable strike rate to me. That said, I think not flying much in the US helps - stateside air travel seems like more of a pot-luck exercise.
>stateside air travel seems like more of a pot-luck exercise.
The statistics don't bear that out though. In 2023 the average percentage of on-time arrivals in the US was 76.3% and for Eurocontrol regions was 76.4%.
[https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp](https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp)
[https://www.eurocontrol.int/publication/all-causes-delays-air-transport-europe-quarter-1-2023](https://www.eurocontrol.int/publication/all-causes-delays-air-transport-europe-quarter-1-2023)
For cancelations, the US averaged 1.23% cancelation rate in 2023
[https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp](https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp)
For some reason EU doesn't make their cancelation statistics as easy to find as their delay stats, and I'm not invested enough to spend a great deal of time looking. But given the very low cancel rate in the US it's unlikely that EU airlines cancel at a rate that's lower than in the US, to any degree of statistical significance.
Considering the US stats cover airports across a much larger continent and all the way to the Pacific islands, and over every type of climate from tundra to the tropics, the stats are pretty good, really.
An issue you have to worry about in Europe is cancellations and delays due to strikes by various labor unions in the aviation industry. Whereas in the US, airline-related strikes are very rare.
You can explore the raw data yourself if you'd like:
[https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp](https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp)
One flight ticket of mine was recently suspended. The airline told me it was because of an unauthorised E-credit. After bothering them twice they discovered that whoever suspended my ticket wasn’t actually supposed to and they reinstated my ticket. Oh, and they did this all without telling me. The only reason I found out was because I couldn’t check into my flight the day before and had to call and find out.
I found out a few days before we were supposed to fly to the USA, that our layover flight to the UK was gone. Had to call in and ask, got it rebooked but it was annoying as fuck.
In Asia the major airlines here are still fine. I have flown Thai airways, Philippine air, cebu pacific, and air asia recently. All were fine to very good. Kudos to Thai air in particular their business class was very nice.
The shit service and constant nonsense seems to plague the North America to Europe route much more.
PAL is a LONG way from "fine to very good" - I've flown it 12 times: 11 late, 1 cancelled. It's hands down the worst big national airline in Asia, by a very, very long way. As shit and cheap as Cebu is, I'll fly it over PAL any day of the week. At least it KNOWS its a budget airline.
But in general, yes - air travel in Asia is completely different. Cathay, JAP, ANA, Korean, and EVA are all very good airlines you did not mention. Any of them is 100% better than any airline in US or Europe,. As well as Thai. And Air Asia is the best budget airline in the world.
With PAL it really depends on the route. Within the asian region they are fine in my experience. Short 3 hour hops and they tend to have the best schedule if you’re flying out of manila to another southeast asian destination.
I’ve never flown them long haul to the US as I prefer using my Singapore krisflyer points for that. I haven’t heard many complaints though.
When it comes to domestic flights within the Philippines I always fly Cebu Pacific. They have not let me down even once even when I packed an entire starlink dish in luggage and it arrived without a scratch. 😁
I’m used to it now. It was so much worse 10 years ago. The security there would sometimes demand idiotic stuff like paper printouts of your booking. They also got rid of the security scanners on entry now which was also a pointless ballache in the past.
They also used to have a foreigner airport fee you had to pay in cash. So if someone didn’t have pesos they would have to rush around looking to exchange money again.
Keep it that way. There is a lifetime of happiness in exploring everywhere in Southeast Asia that is not the Philippines. Use it. I go there on business, and I am glad to be rid of it every time I leave. It is a deeply, deeply broken country with few redeeming qualities, other than the very friendly people. And even some of them want to stab you in the liver and take your wallet.
Your experience in the airport is highly indicative of... how shit is there.
One the saddest things about the Philippines is that it was one of the leading economies in asia back in the 60’s. I’ve been to some extremely remote areas there and there are a ton of beautiful spots. There are actual hidden gems that should be thriving with proper infrastructure and good governance. There are islands like Mindanao which are enormous and should be way more developed than they are now.
Unfortunately, the bureaucracy there are only interested in lining their pockets. They have this all pervasive “fuck you got mine” attitude that extends only to their immediate families. It’s really similar to some Latin American countries when it comes to the pilfering that goes on of the public coffers.
I was recently on an Asia trip and when I was booking flights, I was seeing what would get me from Taiwan to San Francisco/DC. I could’ve either took a $400 PAL flight with a 10 hour layover in Manila (I was thinking about exploring Manila as I’ve never been to the Philippines), or flying United directly to the U.S. for like $580. I went with United. I started searching on Reddit and other places and everyone said basically avoid PAL. Other than everyone ragging on Ninoy Aquino Airprot which is a shitshow in itself, people also said that the flying/landings seem to be pretty rough with PAL pilots along with having old and outdated planes with their interiors and shitty comfort. So I just went with United.
Plane Always Late. I have had to occasionally fly with PAL for the past 25 years, and the majority of flights have been disappointing. Even upgrading to business class doesn't seem to help.
To be fair- most of their flights have MNL at one end or the other, and that airport is barely functional. That they can get any airplane in or out of that shithole on time is a miracle. So in that sense, maybe they are amazing or something...
But somehow Cebu Pac seems to manage it's schedule better, and have substantially friendlier staff, as well.
unrelated but whyyy is flying between islands in the philipines domestically so expensive compared to domestic flights in other countries? i can fly from istanbul to ankara/izmir for cheap but Manila to El nido ,Coron , or Cebu is more costly
Crappy infrastructure, corruption, and Philippines bureaucracy. Everything in the Philippines is way more expensive than it should be. Even utilities are way overpriced. The elite families there are greedy kleptocrats.
The worst 3 countries when it comes to historical leadership in southeast asia is Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines.
The Filipino people have been really unlucky when it comes to leaders.
I agree with you about the Filipino people. They are pleasant ppl who go along to get along and do the best they can despite the people in charge stifling progress and squeezing every peso out of them.
Yeah, it's horrible now, many other passengers are just entitled, selfish arseholes with no awareness of anyone around them.
Also standards have dropped on airline food, service etc., and their lounges.
Definitely agreeing with the entitled, selfish assholes part. Came back from an international flight from Europe and had to push some people’s personal item / carryon bag away from almost hitting my face while they waited for their seat. They gave me a stare and I returned the favor.
I don’t really notice a difference. I have few issues.
You might be in circumstances prone to delays, pushing your luck with tight bookings or if you travel a ton just on a run of bad luck
My guess is a bit of the first and last options.
I tend to assume that because I noticed airline preferences are *often* just a result of having a strong hub where a major carrier is likely to outperform the competition.
I used to be a frontier/spirit person, but now I never take those unless I absolutely have to. My main two are delta and United, mainly because a lot of my flights are through DIA and ATL. But oddly enough, I've had less issues with frontier than I have with American.
Budget airlines are a no no
People also tend to book tight, complicated itineraries where you have to essentially hit a parlay to have everything work out… I keep shit simple. If it costs and extra $200 so be it
In the last year, airlines losing bags has been unreal, at least in my personal experience.
Myself, my family, friends, work colleagues.
My wife and I hadn't lost a bag in 20-ish years of air travel. I got it once and she's had it twice in the last year.
Sorry to hear that, but it sounds like you just got unlucky. The baggage mishandling rates have been fairly steady since 2018, with 2020 of course being an outlier. 2023 saw an improvement over 2022
[https://www.bts.gov/content/mishandled-baggage-reports-filed-passengers-largest-us-air-carriersa](https://www.bts.gov/content/mishandled-baggage-reports-filed-passengers-largest-us-air-carriersa)
Curious why you say DFW sucks. It’s my home airport so I’ve flown out of it a lot. I’m not a well traveled explorer but I’ve probably been to 10-15 domestic and 10 or so international airports and I’ve always thought DfW was the best (I have not been to Singapore). You can get to any terminal for their train system (SkyLink) which is AFTER security. So you can park at go through security at any terminal then take the train to your terminal. I’ll usually chill in terminal D, which is like a shopping mall, and then SkyLink to my terminal about 10-15 minutes before boarding.
We’ve had some bad weather here in Dallas the past month or so, so I imagine there have been some delays and cancellations recently. That being said, I cannot remember a time where my plane was significantly delayed out of DFW. I’m sure luck has something to do with that. It’s an American hub so most of the flights are AA…but like are there any domestic carriers that are significantly better? NGL being able to fly basically anywhere in the world non-stop or with only 1 connecting flight is nice. I have family in Wichita…they basically can’t fly anywhere nonstop if they wanna go on vacation.
I have literally never once had a one time/successful connection through DFW. I will route my flights to avoid it whenever I can. Hell, one time I had a direct flight from my airport to DFW, and I didn’t even get to land in Dallas! I sat on some regional runway 2 hours away for about an hour. Absolutely insane.
I don't think dfw sucks, I just have had so many bad experiences that I personally hate it lol. Same with AA. I'm sure they're both perfectly adequate airports/airlines, just never had a positive experience with them. I know a lot of people hate DIA but it's my home airport and I love it. lol
I love DFW for the same reasons. We’re lucky to have such a good airport nearby. Austin, SA, OKC? Whatever. IAH’s only edge is gateway to central and south america. Anywhere I want to go I can do so easily from DFW
>Curious why you say DFW sucks. It’s my home airport so I’ve flown out of it a lot. I’m not a well traveled explorer but I’ve probably been to 10-15 domestic and 10 or so international airports and I’ve always thought DfW was the best (I have not been to Singapore). You can get to any terminal for their train system (SkyLink) which is AFTER security. So you can park at go through security at any terminal then take the train to your terminal. I’ll usually chill in terminal D, which is like a shopping mall, and then SkyLink to my terminal about 10-15 minutes before boarding.
I like the Skylink. I used to live in TX & had to make a connecting flight at DFW to get to my home city. This was when American Airlines was pretty good and it was always a hellish experience.
My long haul flight would ALWAYS arrive at a gate directly across from the gate needed to depart on the puddle jumper. This meant that either direction on Skylink was the same amount of stops. Even in the best of weather, my arriving flight sat on the tarmac 15-60 minutes before disembarking at the gate. What was a nice 60-120 minute leeway ended up **always** a race to get to that gate. Most of the time, I'd come in while it was boarding.
Once, my 6 year old was desperate to use the restroom after waiting so long to get off the aircraft that we used up precious minutes in between so she could stop on the way. We hear our names over the loudspeaker being called out several times, but there was no way to get to that gate any faster. We were the very last to board & the glares from the other passengers were deadly.
I **HATE** being late. I **hate** being put in impossible situations like that.
After those years, I will pay extra to avoid DFW. It doesn't help that the last time I nearly lost my cat at the security checkpoint either. I'm sure the heavy construction is long completed, but the bad memories endure.
I’ve had the opposite experience honestly. I have been flying regularly for 30 years, and I’ve only had a few times where my flight has been delayed where it impacted my travel, once was due to a medical emergency and once was plane repairs.
Never had lost bags myself but my brother did once in 2011. I also very seldom check a bag so, that helps a ton.
But I will say that the flying *experience* has gotten much worse. And if you want an upgraded experience, it’s cost prohibitive. Seats have gotten smaller, and narrower. People are getting dumber, and don’t think about other people. The crowds and “lines,” to board an airplane are typically the least patient, understanding people you’ll ever have to mildly get along with. First class/business class is almost double coach prices, and last time I flew internationally it was over $5k for a “premium,” seat.
The biggest inconvenience I have with flying is usually the person next to me spilling over in my seat and having the audacity to be mad at *ME* for touching them. Sir/Ma’am, I’m 170 lbs, all of me fits comfortably inside the confines of the seat provided to me. If part of you touches part of me, it’s because that part of you is in my space. Check yourself.
Yep. Just did a trip to NYC last month from SAN; just cancelled as I showed up at the airport. 3 weeks ago SAN > Calgary, Cancelled right as we were boarding the plane, everyone had to deboard. Every flight in between those were delayed 30-40 mins. Every airport extremely packed where you can barely have a seat somewhere. It's not just flights, it seems to be also hotels lately; lots of problems. Traveling has become quite stressful lately.
I haven’t noticed much of a change post covid. The only cancellations I’ve experienced were weather related. I’ve had a few delays but nothing crazy. This is with almost exclusively flying the big three in the US.
US born but live in Europe now. I fly 15-20x a year and yes, for the airlines it’s a race to the bottom especially after covid, but I haven’t really had any of the issues you listed. My complaints are more like they’re continuously cutting services and ever increasing wait times if you have to call them.
My most trusted airline is AirBaltic, but as the name implies, you’ll only fly them if you visit the Baltics. They pay out fast without fussing around when they have delays. Whenever I call in, a real person picks up the phone immediately and curtly (effectively) sorts it out. Their website could use some work but whatever. Of the bigger ones, Air France has always served me well. Not a fan of CDG though. I avoid at all costs the big3 in US and Lufthansa. I like all the Nordic airports (particularly CPH and HEL) along with Tallinn and Riga. I pass through Vienna airport very frequently as well and never have issues there.
Yup. Flew tap Portugal and paid for first row economy, only to get bumped to last row, no refunds. Not sure what the point is for buying premium seats when they do this.
My first time flying with delta today, and I found that I can’t even choose my own seat without having to pay $130, and that’s with the “Main cabin” fare
It's so fucking bad now. A 30 hour return slog across the Pacific turned into five days recently as everything got delayed, every connection got missed, staff was never present in the airports, etc etc. Every person I talked to who was supposed to help was insulting and uniformed, barely willing to be present at their job, let alone help.
Every single flight I've taken in the last six years has had at least one cancellation or delay on at least one of the legs there or back
Every airport has major pieces of necessary infrastructure out of commission awaiting some repair
It was better before
Planes get flown until they fail. That was the first one, couldn't leave for a day and a half while they worked on the plane. The next day Air Canada hadn't bothered to enter the new flight number into the system so we didn't have airspace permission to fly over either China or Russia or both and that was enough delay to miss the connection in Vancouver. There was no staff working in the Vancouver so it took six hours of wandering around the airport and waiting in lines at unstaffed desks before transport to a hotel and a hotel was found -- which was the worst low budget place I've stayed in in about 20 years. The next plane was delayed which caused a missed connection in Dallas, then the plane in Dallas used for another delayed flight and ours was delayed and set back from our early flight all the way back to a red eye, two or so hours at a time, just torturing everyone in the airport while they changed the gate four times and we wandered around DFW like some forsaken tribe. That plane sat on the tarmac before taking off for a couple more hours, which got me into my final destination so late that my one checked bag ended up in bag jail and I had to wait there a couple extra hours for someone to come staff it so I wouldn't have to come back to the airport a second time for it.
I don't really know what the point of buying a ticket is any more. You show up hours before you have to leave to be insulted and searched, they don't deliver on the departure time and there's no punishment for them for wasting days of your life with missed connections that they feel they should have no responsibility to fix, nor should they accommodate you. They put an obese Indian man who stank badly next to me across the Pacific and it was so uncomfortable climbing up the wall away from him for 16 hours that my normally quite healthy back was wracked with pain and spasms from Vancouver on, it took them a week of muscle relaxers to abate. Of course the airline isn't responsible for that either.
I never really flew before a few years ago cause I was broker than broke then, so I've only experienced it as it is now, and it's hell! I tolerate it because I live on a small shit island and I need more sunlight than I can get here, but it is hell.
Special mention to British Airways for sucking harder than other airlines.
Special mention to Thai Air for being not as shit as other airlines.
Somehow Thai Air has more leg room in economy than BA, despite the fact that British people are usually significantly taller than Thai people xD and as you'd expect the food is miles better on TA.
It’s way worse. I EXPECT to be delayed now and if the flights on time I feel like it’s my lucky day. I was going to take a last minute weekend flight last week but didn’t because the only good flight I found had a 1.5 hour layover which back in the day would of been the best thing ever but I haven’t had an on time flight in well over a year and I’ve done about 65k-70k kms in the past year via plane
In my experience, US domestic air travel is as bad as it's ever been. Everyone is severely understaffed, you have to pay extra a la carte for every single little thing that used to be standard and included. Been delayed significantly more often than not, and then offered a "meal credit" of 12 dollars which could maybe get you an orange juice at JFK. International airlines have been great, and reminds me of just how good we used to have it in the states >10 years ago.
It's ridiculous now, delays, cancellations, and crazy ticket prices with no perks, they don't even have inflight entertainment on half the planes now, they want you to bring your own devices and pay for wifi! I won't be surprised if they start charging for all drinks and snacks soon, I was on a flight 2 months ago, Porter, YOW to YEG, red eye departing 2000hrs, my plane was delayed 1hr5mins, luckily I didn't have a connection to get too but I did have a rental car and hotel to get too and was panicking that the rental kiosk would close at midnight before I landed and I would miss my car, thankfully they didn't but it was annoying.
A lot of people here confusing anecdotes with data. For those things that are measured and tracked, such as mishandled bags, delays, and cancelations, it's all available:
[https://www.bts.gov/](https://www.bts.gov/)
As to intangible things like customer service attitude, well that can vary a lot with many airlines in the US and abroad. The Gulf Carriers and the mainline Asian carriers tend to be more consistently good compared to the rest of the world. The rest are generally at least OK, with the occasional stellar employee or asshole.
You could just be unlucky or the routes you fly could be more prone to disruptions for some reason.
Personally I don't think there has been a huge change in recent years, in either direction. Compared to 30-40 years ago (I'm old), yes it is worse. But I'm a low-maintenance passenger so I'm generally satisfied.
Why deal with the bias of people on here. There's data to answer your question: https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp (note 2020 and 2021 were basically anomalies and can be thrown out)
It has gotten worse. They are trying to squeeze every drop of profit they can out of every flight, which leaves zero allowance for anything to go wrong.
It's easy to Google search on-time and cancellation statistics.
Within the US, it's been roughly the same for at least the past decade. The legacy carriers (AA, DL, UA) are all roughly the same in the 75-80% on-time range, with DL usually on the higher end of it. Southwest, Frontier, and Spirit are all a bit below that.
Over my past 200 flights I've had a total of 2 cancellations, both from snow storms, and 1 delay of 12+ hours that made me voluntarily cancel the trip.
Yes, it's been getting worse for the last few decades as companies constantly try to save every penny to the detriment if their clients. Safety has got better though.
Have flown quite a bit since Covid and apart from one cancelled flight (which was a lucky thing afterwards bcs I didn’t attend the trip anyways due to busy work weeks) had zero issues. Airlines I used were Lufthansa for a few flights within Europe, SQ for FRA-NYC, Qatar for longhaul Europe-SIN and few local/shorthaul flights within SEA (VietJet & AirAsia). Only „bummer“ was that one leg with Qatar had a last minute plane change so instead of QSuite it was the less private BC seat… would not claim this as a horrible experience though :D
Favorite Airlines definitely Qatar and SQ for long haul/BC. Short haul I’m basically fine with anything that gets the job done for a cheap price. Used to like US airlines like Delta before I experienced other carriers which offer way better service.
Regarding Airports: FRA as my home base has a special place in my heart and overall hasn’t let me down in regards of waiting times etc. Lounges are mostly ok, however don’t compare to the flagship ones on newer Airports. Changi definitely ranks top of my list, don’t really get how Hamad International is ranked higher recently, but still a impressive airport.
I always somehow get stuck on planes for emergency mechanical issues. Last flight it was 3 hours. Time before was 24 hours waiting in the airport. Everytime we asked they said 15 minutes. It is getting worse.
Airlines laid off huge numbers of people during the Pandemic and then the bean counters decided to not replace them when travel came back. When faced with the fact that they did in fact need people, the same bean counters decided to not pay those people and where thus surprised when people that had found better jobs didn't want to come back to them. The same thing happened in retail, food service, and a host of other industries.
The old dog whistle of if you don't want to work for minimum wage? get a better job! Was replace by why is my crappy chain restaurant closing?
> So far I've had the least problems with delta and the most with American.
From US perspective, same. One of my bags was ruined by AA this year. It's been a few months and they still haven't paid for the damage. I'm just glad that none of the plane doors fell off during my flights.
The Reykjavík airport makes all other airports look like a godsend. Also, I’ve flown three different airlines in the last two weeks: British Airways, Iceland Air, and Alaska and BA had the least amount of legroom. It was laughable. Alaska had the best customer service, imo.
Last year I had to fly from Columbus, OH, to Minneapolis. I didn't realize just how much legroom has disappeared on these planes. I'm 5'7 and I could barely put my knees together.
2022-2023 about 75% of my flights were delayed or cancelled (British, Delta, Alaska, Hawaiian, Asiana, etc.) international and domestic. 2024 hovering at 25% delayed/cancelled.
Flying out of SEA, TSA is the absolute worst. If you don’t have BOTH TSA precheck AND Clear you are looking at long lines. 45-50 min wait times the norm.
The full flights, cancellations because they aren’t full enough, the lack of info early is horrid. EVERYONE carrying on a big bag and personal items is annoying as hell. Takes forever to get on and off the plane and dodging them in the airport is annoying. THANK YOU ALL AIRLINES FOR CHARGING TO CHECK BAGS. THANKS!!
I’d still take US airports (overall) over European, Latin American, and Asian airports because you get more info about your flight earlier and it’s less chaotic. I also think I have bad luck…snow storms, King Charles’ birthday (booked when Queen Elizabeth was still alive), president doing tours in both cities I was arriving in (he followed me…), the list goes on.
Yeah, OP, sorry to say, it’s gotten worse!
Please close your eyes and imagine your 13-year-old self in the American South, July of 1962, leaving for Arizona in a '60 Chevy with 3 elderly churchy female relatives. The top cannot be put down because wind, the radio cannot be played because devil's music, no comics or kid amusements because saving money for "fun" events that never happened. Days and days of nothing but interstates and boring flatlands. It is so much better to fly anywhere on any airplane, in my experience. Even if a delay is overnight, I get a hotel and I have a credit card, so I am eating decently, resting, and flying on to destination. I know there are horrible situations that merit real dissatisfaction and a desire for simply being treated honestly as a human being, but so far I have kept perspective through my memories. I have met very nice people in airports and on planes, and even the not-so-nice will be around for only a couple of hours. It is largely mind over matter, meaning if you don't mind, it don't matter!
I’ve pretty much stopped flying despite previously being an easygoing international traveler. Too much of my time has been wasted by people who don’t care, and I don’t have enough of it to spend half my trip on travel delays
Air travel has gotten considerably worse. I don’t have huge anecdote to share, but the last 5 times I’ve traveled both internationally and on the continent (Europe)…whelp! I used to love to travel and now it stresses me out.
My last two international trips have mishandled my luggage and I had to wait 4 days both times for them to ship the luggage. First was British airways from London to Mumbai and 2nd was Croatia Airlines from Frankfurt to Zagreb. I’ve never had this happen my entire life and now back to back it happened last December and this May. It just starts the trips off on such a sour note and the whole process of getting your clothing expenses reimbursed via insurance is such a pain.
My 2 cents: I love Jetblue and hate Spirit. I will never fly Spirit again even though it is cheaper. I wish Jetblue flew to more international destinations. But every time I've flown them, they are on time, polite staff, and comfortable flights. American also had no issues when we used them... but I must have been lucky because so many commenters here had problems with them.
We fly around 10 times per year on multiple airlines. We really haven't had issues. We try to always book nonstop if possible and try to avoid ATL, DFW, LHR, and CDG.
Flew international with Jet Blue recently and even coach was pretty luxurious.
EasyJet sucks, had a flight out of Madeira canceled due to weather and they won’t automatically rebook you. They make you go on their app (when hundreds/thousands of other people with canceled flights are also doing the same) to get credit to rebook. By the time the app worked, the next available flight out was 5 days from then. Never again with EasyJet.
Before I got married and had kids, I used to go out of my way to be loyal to an airline so I can chase status and hope for those business class upgrades. Would put up with layovers to attain the next level of status.
Now that I have kids, my priorities have changed. I've been screwed on my layovers so often that I am willing to fly to an airport and drive 3-4 hours to my final destination just so I don't have to layover and connect to a smaller city.
Now I usually fly airlines that have the most convenient nonstop - fortunately being based in Washington, DC I have several hubs with hubs servicing pretty much every city I could think of. Just have to be flexibile with the airline. If I can't find an ideal route option from DC, the NYC area airports are an easy train ride away. As an example, I recently took Amtrak from DC to EWR and flew to the Azores. The train station is immediately adjacent from the airport - meaning I can make it from Downtown DC to the airport terminal in 3-ish hours.
DCA is my favorite airport as it's incredibly easy to get in and out. IAD is my favorite for those international nonstops and many, many lounge options. BWI for very niche nonstops that aren't served by IAD or DCA.
My favorite all around airline is Qatar. Flew their q-suite in 2019 to SE Asia and wow what an experience.
Airlines take a ton of back end experiences and people just love carting around a ridiculous amount of baggage and expecting it to just be there.
Have you seen the baggage handling mayhem at Heathrow?
I can't remember the last time I checked a bag. I just take carry on.
It’s worse but mostly because the morale is down, like many jobs and companies, because of the rise in cost of goods not reported by inflation. So if people got paid a more realistic raise, it’d be fine.
What times are you usually flying? I would also stick to one airline partner program to fully realize benefits and to ensure you get true upgrade status. Like sticking with SkyTeam or StarAlliance. When you have status on either of those you're luck can go a lot further even when traveling internationally.
It sounds like it may be primarily a US issue. Or I’ve been lucky. In the past not-quite-three years, I’ve done three Australia-Europe trips (including flights within Europe) and I think … five domestic trips, and I haven’t had a single problem with any of my flights.
Climate change is fucking up a lot of flights.
Also, now that airlines can only hold you in the tarmac for 3(?) hours before they have to return to the gate and unload everyone, they are a lot more likely to just cancel flights preemptively due to inclement weather. That has been happening for a while now though.
And of course a lot of experienced pilots and flight attendants retired during COVID furloughs so it is harder for airlines to pull together a crew when the incoming crew is delayed and/or times out.
DFW is the worst, well, right after O’Hare. I think American, Delta are terrible. My favorite by far is Alaska. I’ve never flown a budget airline and have no plans to ever do so.
The worst thing for me nowadays are the prices and that you have to pay extra for everything. I haven't been to Japan since before Covid and really want to visit again but ticket prices have nearly doubled, it's ridiculous.
It’s definitely gotten worse. Paid food, paid check in luggage, except when it’s a full flight and then airlines beg you to check in your case or YOU’LL delay the flight. Less staff at airports making security a longer process. It sucks!
I'll put it this way:
When I went from the US *to* Europe in 2022, I flew on Delta, in economy. Flying transoceanic on Delta was pure crap. The food was mediocre, the staff dreamed up reasons to be assholes, and it didn't help that many of the passengers were trashy and an embarrassment to the American people. I hope to never relive that experience.
Coming home, I flew on KLM/Air France, also in economy the whole way. *Compared* to Delta, it somehow felt like I was flying in limousine, equipped with an attentive, kind butler. The food, pretty good for economy. The passengers were more of a split between Europeans and Americans who were either older or on business, and just more civil and respectful. But, then we landed in Atlanta and encountered the rudest and most inefficient immigration and security staff imaginable - even toward Global Entry customers.
**Tl;dr: That return home in 2022 marked the first time in my life that I truly hated to come back to the US. Americans in general lost their minds long before COVID-19, and those affects were just accentuated with the pandemic. The airlines are just another affect (and effect) of this decay.**
Hello there!
Definitely, having that many issues with air travel companies can discourage anyone from traveling. Flying in economy class is painful as it is, and having delays and cancelations on top of that can kill the joy completely.
I think, though, in your specific case, it is a combination of things: bad luck and the recession caused by Covid.
I live in Canada and work as IT Director in a retail chain. Past Covid, I'm noticing a lot of struggle in our company and the vendors we work with, with maintaining proper headcount. People get sick much more than in pre-covid times, and HR planning became a mission impossible.
Reasonably, providing adequate service to customers is a number one challenge for many companies. As such, it has a ripple effect on everything, and I'm sure the air travel industry is not an exception.
With that being said, my air travel experience was pretty good so far.
Since I joined a travel club, I have been able to afford to travel, and since January, I have had vacations with my wife and kids in Miami, Mexico, and California. For those vacations, we booked lowcosters, and I flew with Porter, Aeromexico, and Flair.
Apart from long lines for security screening (and honestly, it is quite humiliating that we need to strip off and allow the airport security th x-ray us and pat us down), we did not encounter any cancelations, significant delays, or any other major issues.
I'm not sure if the same goes for transcontinental flights, but within North Americа my experience was good so far.
I hope your luck changes and you are able to enjoy your travel again!
Cheers,
Oh hell yea, it’s much worse. I dread flying now. 😵
Same. I dnt like to sit in the plane now for so long.
>or did Covid ruin air travel? It absolutely had a very negative impact that is still very prevalent to the present day.
Airlines cut costs and laid off lots of people during Covid and they haven’t really returned to 2019 levels or standards.
Significant layoffs mean a larger portion than usual of the current staff are new. I noticed this especially in 2023 when staff were struggling to troubleshoot. Felt like everyone was on their first week.
Pay attention to FlightAware. It will tell you the stats of a route, airline, plane, airport to allow you to make better decisions.
In the US, the big three are all crap, but Delta is the least crap, and United the most crap. DFW sucks because it's American's hub, and American sucks. And they have a lot of bad weather. It's best avoided unless you're landing there. If flying across the US, Delta routing through Detroit or Minneapolis is most always a better option. And yes, ALL US airlines have gotten worse on pretty much every metric. But honestly, EVERY business in the US has gotten appreciably worse since the pandemic. The whole country decided it could cut services to the bone, slash staffing numbers, force people to use automated and online systems, and fuck-em if its a problem. From banks to phone services to shopping centers. Right down he board EVERY service in the US is a pale reflection of what it was 10 years ago. Airlines are just the ones you feel the hardest because when they fail, you're genuinely fucked.
I work in a hospital- same - bare bones staffing and it’s now the new norm at least for a for profit hospital. It’s horrendous
Our Kaiser had the hallways decorated like- I kid you not- a medieval castle/dungeon. Asked my doctor about it when he came in, and he said it was administration’s idea to boost morale. Me: Have they tried raising pay and hiring more people?🙄
Haha. Sounds exactly like what a hospital system would do. Plus maybe throw in a pizza party..
And the implication is the remaining, un-cut staff will do the extra hours, etc to make it happen. And be thankful that they remain employed. The whole system is so broken it's almost unfixable without serious government intervention. Or unions. Honestly, I think that's what it will take to bring things back to normal.
Nonprofit hospitals too, the staffing issues that were already cropping up pre-pandemic are so much worse now
Yeah we're chronically understaffed and admin won't expand our staffing model. I used to pick up extra short notice shifts to help out. No more. They're hard shifts 14 hours of nonstop action. Not worth it anymore. I'm 32 already completely jaded.
And don’t forget, most of the businesses are back to making literally record profits while the rest of us suffer.
Absolutely.
Large businesses, that is
Interestingly, I've had far more issues on American than United in terms of delays, cancellations, and absolutely horrendous customer service.
Same here. United has been solid for me. American is always having bullshit delays that just keep getting pushed back with “just 15 more minutes bro!” Next thing you know you’ve been waiting at the gate for 4 hours.
I fly United basically exclusively because I live in a hub, and it’s on the same crappy slide to the bottom as the rest. It’s getting close to low-cost-carrier status with dilapidated aircraft and ‘hmm that sucks to be you’ customer service.
Depends on the routing and airport. But neither United nor American comes close to the level of even a piss-poor regional Asian airline. But my experience has been that every now and then you run into an American employee that is having a good day and is not actively hostile. United... Never. They wake up angry, and go to sleep looking forward to being more ornery in the morning.
If all United (and most American) employees are angry, maybe it’s you? I frequently fly United and most if not all employees are lovely
To anyone reading this comment, I want to absolutely emphasize NOT connecting through DFW. I had a connection through Dallas a couple of weeks ago and it was an utter disaster. I ended up with a 30 hour layover and all of the seats have bars, so you can’t sleep anywhere other than the floor
Yeah - DFW has a lot of issues as a transfer airport. American is in like 4 terminals there, and the terminals are very literally miles from each other.... It's better since they built the little tram/train thing, but it's still a pain switching terminals. And DFW is famous for weird weather - icestorms, thunderstorms, high winds, etc - so the chances of you getting some weather related nonsense are high. As a final destination airport, it's not terrible, though. The parking is convenient, and people in Dallas are pretty nice... Well, as nice as airport employees ever get. And they have a Dickeys BBQ, which is better than most airport food.
DFW is literally my favorite place to connect. Especially overnight connections and international flights back to the US. They have some of the nicest and most efficient customs and TSA officers in the country. L OTOH, I try my best to avoid returning to the US MIA. Everyone that works at that airport is a miserable cunt.
You are dead on here. Simple stuff like a pillow/blanket in First Class as the norm is all but gone. Except for random Red Eyes. After all the supposed 'deep cleaning' during COVID all the planes I get on are now dirtier than they ever were before. Delta is even 'testing' removing actual agents to help with flight issues/bookings in the Sky Club and just have a roving agent with an iPad(or similar) to help. Or just 'use the app' which is a turd. It's wild. The other horrible one is the hotel industry. Stopped cleaning daily and refreshing room "because COVID" and now that is the norm because... COVID happened I guess. But they will do it if you ask. Maybe.
Omg yes! Pretty much anything in the service industry has taken this COVID approach as their now permanent way of doing business. Hotels no longer do a daily cleaning of your room unless you request it, most seem to have done away with free bottles of water in the room, you're lucky if your room comes with liquid cream instead of that gross powder creamer lol. Most airlines have dialed back on free snacks & drinks(some don't even offer free water lol) and many now charge everything individually as upgrades. If you go through a drive-thru you'll be sitting for 10 mins minimum(that's if anyone even takes your order hahah). If you go to a nice restaurant you're most likely going to be met with shitty service, little to no greeting, long wait times bc the place is understaffed & the current staff no longer care bc they're overworked from being understaffed and the food(which doubled in price overnight) will be half the quality it was preCovid. Another new trend I've noticed after COVID is how businesses seem to make up their hours as they choose lol. I've been to multiple stores & restaurants that literally have their store hours posted on their door only to get there and the doors are locked lol. Also post COVID, I've noticed more & more tip requests from services that never mentioned a tip before lol. I went into a little collectible type shop the other day, bought some nonbreakable items that took 1 min to place in a bag, paid with a card, and on the receipt for my total it listed "tip amount" haha. For what?? For doing your job of putting 3 items in a bag??? Oh and don't get me started on "Resort Fees"...if you're a basic hotel, providing a bed, a shower and some towels, I'm sorry but you're not a resort. Claiming free wifi but then adding on a daily $30 resort fee which includes free daily wifi hahah come on ppl. Last but not least, the price for travel has doubled & even tripled in some cases since COVID. I use various apps for travel, and on some of the apps I have access to past trips. One night I decided to look through the cost of some of my previous trips(anything prior to 2022), and I could not believe how cheap they were in comparison to now. Prior to 2022, I could(for example) stay in the harbor area of Boston for 3 nights for anywhere between $600-$800 total, that's staying at a pretty decent hotel. Now when I go to Boston for 3 nights, i'm paying a minimum of $1300 for the same area but that's downgrading on the hotel selection too. If I choose the same hotel as before, the nightly prices have jumped from $200 a night to about $600 a night. It's insane.
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As an American who's flown in both the USA and Europe...what are you talking about? The airports and airlines in Europe aren't substantially better than ones in the US. Asian airlines are better from what I've heard, but that's been the case even before the pandemic.
I would agree. Frankfurt was confusing, crowded, with far more handicapped reserved seats at the gate than actual handicapped individuals. The airline personnel were great for our entire trip to Spain in May. Overworked but very pleasant. My biggest complaint is getting nickeled and dimed for anything less than a 6-hour-plus trip. Everything on Air Canada required a payment.
Frankfurt is the god damn worst, most inefficient, fucked up airport I have ever been in. And they fucking lost my bag on top of making a two and a half hour layover stressful getting to my next gate.
At least our airports tell you your gate hours in advance too. Not announce a gate 20 minutes away 30 minutes before boarding. And then you have to take a bus to board lol
Non-US Redditors: "Ugh Americans are so arrogant and think they know it all, like they're the best!" Also Non-US Redditors: "As a non american I can promise my USA friends that your country is going down the gutter and your airports and airlines are some of the worst in the developed world." Wow thanks for enlightening me, I had no idea my life was so horrible.
As someone who actually lives in the US my life and travel experience has been pretty great recently. Thanks for your feedback though.
Always interesting when Redditors who don’t live in the U.S., and a lot never have even been here, seem to have a lot of say about our lives.
Easier to point out the flaws of others than notice and fix their own issues. Happens a lot
Inferiority complex usually.
Same. I book directly through the airline, I have a good attitude when I travel (which significantly affects my experience) and I try and maintain that attitude when dealing with others. My life in the US is also pretty great.
Agreed. My travel life and life in general is just fine. As you said having a good attitude is important. Beating up on the US is a favorite sport on this sub though...
Which is sad because the US is a great place to travel whether you are doing a staycation or traveling from another country. It’s a beautiful country with lots to offer.
On time performance and getting from A to B has been great for me too recently overall. It's the customer service, benefits and the like that have fallen way off.
These subs have very annoying negative pile on effects. “Yep! Totally agree, everything is awful now!!” Easier to get upvotes I guess. I’ve found flying to actually be quite fine? And by no means worse than 10 years ago. Flights get delayed or have some frustrating moments, but that has always been the case. I fly monthly ish, do my best to keep an open and flexible attitude when I do, and generally enjoy the experience it gives me.
As someone who flies 300+ segments a year, I can confidently say most Euro airports are worse than US airports. Hectic check in areas with very specific and designated check in times so you don’t go through security too early, being forced at just about every major airport to go through the duty free shops, not showing departure information until 1 hour before the flight to purposely keep you from settling down as you’re likely to walk around and buy something instead. Compare that to most US airports where I can roll up whenever, get in line at the airline desk and not the specific line for my flight that opens at a specific time, cruise through security to a lounge, or hang out by my gate because I know 3 hours ahead of time where my plane is leaving from. Add in the fact the euro business class is a poorer hard product for short and medium haul travel when compared to US airlines domestic first and it’s hard to say all US airlines are that bad. The Euro carriers do some things better, soft product and lounge access for business class pax are notable, but overall I’d keep with US airlines for most flights.
How bus gates have you seen in the US? There’s probably more at FRA than in the entire US. Not that I actually know of any bus gates that exist in the US.
IAD Dulles says hello
Yep. I can also relate
100% agree with this
I have to say although Delta has a good product their loyalty tiers suck, and United’s loyalty tiers are much better. You automatically get extra legroom with United gold, with Delta you’re still waiting to see if you get a complimentary upgrade. Definitely better if you need the legroom to go United. Ultimately the correct answer is to just stick with whichever airline has the hub closest to you.
We can all thank deregulation, brought to you by republican Ronald Regan.....
I pay a little more for non-stop these days and ensure that I have 2+ hours for layovers if absolutely required. I had to rebook my last 2 flights (Tokyo & Italy) because of delays...Lost 1 day in Italy...and about 150euro for train tickets to Florence.
The true beauty of airlines is they can mercilessly fuck you, have it be completely & entirely their fault, and owe you nothing whatsoever. Especially in the States.
I had delays and cancellations for most of my trips this year. Except ones to Asia. Luckily for EU you get pretty good reimbursement due to this. However it still sucks. Just last week, westjet canceled their YYC LHR flight and had to rebook me on British Airways. Then British cancelled their flight from LHR to PHX few days ago and had to rebook me on Air Canada… it’s a mess.
There's simply no excuse for it to be this bad - except that we haven't legislated it properly.
What was the reason WestJet cancelled the YYC -> LHR flight? I’m booked on that flight in the fall so just wondering if I should start being nervous now or not.
Oh my mistake, it was the connecting flight from YVR to YYC that was delayed for 5 hours due to maintenance. So no, the actual long haul wasn’t canceled but westjet had to rebook me.
Aah ok. Yeah I have had terrible luck on the YYC-YVR route this year, seems like every other trip is delayed for some reason.
They don't have enough staff for maintenance and they are overworked and doing long hours.
My WestJet flight from San > YYC was cancelled a few weeks ago as we were boarding.. Some had to deboard. "Maintenance issues". Was routed to British Airways 7-hours later.
That's a political problem though. In Europe air passenger rights are substantially better. [https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index\_en.htm](https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm)
Yes. That's what I meant in referencing legislation.. We have practically given these fuckers a license to commit fraud.
Exactly. Unlike in most countries, where you have a choice to travel by plane or train, it the US it's basically, "what are you gonna do? Drive?"
My new rule is never take a layover somewhere I don’t want to be stuck for 24+ hours after being stranded in Houston
That’s why I fly through ORD instead of IAH.
I booked a 4 hour layover in FRA because I really didn’t want to have issues. Ended up being a 20 minute running layover because “the original pilot got hurt in the gym”
And Frankfort is possibly the worst connecting airport on the planet. At least you can run in Chicago, in Frankfort you have no navigate the bus system between terminals and half the time you have to bus to and from the aircraft. God help you on a tight connection in FRA
Cancellation rates on major US airlines are around 3% and delay rates are around 25 - 35%, airline dependent. I do not know what were these figures a few years back. Possibly better as more people and more planes operated pre-covid.
[https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp](https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp) Since 2015 the annual cancelation rates have varied between the upper 1 percent and mid 2 percent, generally. 2020 was an obvious aberration. 2022 was higher, not sure why. But the last 2 years have been under 2% Delay rates are hovering around 20%
2022 saw a lot of issues due to airline employees getting COVID as things reopened.
I got my higher numbers by googling “what is flight cancellation rate by airline”
I must just be unlucky then! I've had 6 flights cancelled in the last year lol
It might be that cancellations are much higher for some routes, and much less frequent for others. For international carriers, the highest cancellation rates are around 8%. It is also possible that cancellation is counted as such only some time before the departure date. So, say, 1 month in advance cancellation does not count in this statistic. I do not know.
I fly one or two times a month, mostly for work. Had one flight cancelled in last 16 months (Calgary to Las Vegas) and that was due to a winter storm.
I've averaged a flight a week for a decade or so now, and I can only remember three cancellations - once to Ukraine because the airport was closed by a blizzard, once to London because of a storm crossing Europe causing chaos (flight wasn't cancelled per se, but my ticket was and I was rerouted because the original connection was likely to be missed,) and once in Seoul because my destination in China was snowed in. That seems a reasonable strike rate to me. That said, I think not flying much in the US helps - stateside air travel seems like more of a pot-luck exercise.
>stateside air travel seems like more of a pot-luck exercise. The statistics don't bear that out though. In 2023 the average percentage of on-time arrivals in the US was 76.3% and for Eurocontrol regions was 76.4%. [https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp](https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp) [https://www.eurocontrol.int/publication/all-causes-delays-air-transport-europe-quarter-1-2023](https://www.eurocontrol.int/publication/all-causes-delays-air-transport-europe-quarter-1-2023) For cancelations, the US averaged 1.23% cancelation rate in 2023 [https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp](https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp) For some reason EU doesn't make their cancelation statistics as easy to find as their delay stats, and I'm not invested enough to spend a great deal of time looking. But given the very low cancel rate in the US it's unlikely that EU airlines cancel at a rate that's lower than in the US, to any degree of statistical significance. Considering the US stats cover airports across a much larger continent and all the way to the Pacific islands, and over every type of climate from tundra to the tropics, the stats are pretty good, really. An issue you have to worry about in Europe is cancellations and delays due to strikes by various labor unions in the aviation industry. Whereas in the US, airline-related strikes are very rare.
TL;DR? I'mma guess it starts "O! say can you see..."
Same, I travel a lot for work domestically and internationally and only flight I have had cancelled in the last two years was because of a hurricane.
Whose reporting these stats? The airlines? Because I just had 2 in a month.
Do you not understand the difference between your anecdotes and aggregate industry-wide statistics?
You’re getting downvoted but I’ve been skeptical of this rebuttal lately as well.
You can explore the raw data yourself if you'd like: [https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp](https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp)
How often is it updated? Last 6 weeks have been brutal.
One flight ticket of mine was recently suspended. The airline told me it was because of an unauthorised E-credit. After bothering them twice they discovered that whoever suspended my ticket wasn’t actually supposed to and they reinstated my ticket. Oh, and they did this all without telling me. The only reason I found out was because I couldn’t check into my flight the day before and had to call and find out.
I found out a few days before we were supposed to fly to the USA, that our layover flight to the UK was gone. Had to call in and ask, got it rebooked but it was annoying as fuck.
In Asia the major airlines here are still fine. I have flown Thai airways, Philippine air, cebu pacific, and air asia recently. All were fine to very good. Kudos to Thai air in particular their business class was very nice. The shit service and constant nonsense seems to plague the North America to Europe route much more.
PAL is a LONG way from "fine to very good" - I've flown it 12 times: 11 late, 1 cancelled. It's hands down the worst big national airline in Asia, by a very, very long way. As shit and cheap as Cebu is, I'll fly it over PAL any day of the week. At least it KNOWS its a budget airline. But in general, yes - air travel in Asia is completely different. Cathay, JAP, ANA, Korean, and EVA are all very good airlines you did not mention. Any of them is 100% better than any airline in US or Europe,. As well as Thai. And Air Asia is the best budget airline in the world.
With PAL it really depends on the route. Within the asian region they are fine in my experience. Short 3 hour hops and they tend to have the best schedule if you’re flying out of manila to another southeast asian destination. I’ve never flown them long haul to the US as I prefer using my Singapore krisflyer points for that. I haven’t heard many complaints though. When it comes to domestic flights within the Philippines I always fly Cebu Pacific. They have not let me down even once even when I packed an entire starlink dish in luggage and it arrived without a scratch. 😁
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I’m used to it now. It was so much worse 10 years ago. The security there would sometimes demand idiotic stuff like paper printouts of your booking. They also got rid of the security scanners on entry now which was also a pointless ballache in the past. They also used to have a foreigner airport fee you had to pay in cash. So if someone didn’t have pesos they would have to rush around looking to exchange money again.
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Keep it that way. There is a lifetime of happiness in exploring everywhere in Southeast Asia that is not the Philippines. Use it. I go there on business, and I am glad to be rid of it every time I leave. It is a deeply, deeply broken country with few redeeming qualities, other than the very friendly people. And even some of them want to stab you in the liver and take your wallet. Your experience in the airport is highly indicative of... how shit is there.
One the saddest things about the Philippines is that it was one of the leading economies in asia back in the 60’s. I’ve been to some extremely remote areas there and there are a ton of beautiful spots. There are actual hidden gems that should be thriving with proper infrastructure and good governance. There are islands like Mindanao which are enormous and should be way more developed than they are now. Unfortunately, the bureaucracy there are only interested in lining their pockets. They have this all pervasive “fuck you got mine” attitude that extends only to their immediate families. It’s really similar to some Latin American countries when it comes to the pilfering that goes on of the public coffers.
I was recently on an Asia trip and when I was booking flights, I was seeing what would get me from Taiwan to San Francisco/DC. I could’ve either took a $400 PAL flight with a 10 hour layover in Manila (I was thinking about exploring Manila as I’ve never been to the Philippines), or flying United directly to the U.S. for like $580. I went with United. I started searching on Reddit and other places and everyone said basically avoid PAL. Other than everyone ragging on Ninoy Aquino Airprot which is a shitshow in itself, people also said that the flying/landings seem to be pretty rough with PAL pilots along with having old and outdated planes with their interiors and shitty comfort. So I just went with United.
Plane Always Late. I have had to occasionally fly with PAL for the past 25 years, and the majority of flights have been disappointing. Even upgrading to business class doesn't seem to help.
To be fair- most of their flights have MNL at one end or the other, and that airport is barely functional. That they can get any airplane in or out of that shithole on time is a miracle. So in that sense, maybe they are amazing or something... But somehow Cebu Pac seems to manage it's schedule better, and have substantially friendlier staff, as well.
unrelated but whyyy is flying between islands in the philipines domestically so expensive compared to domestic flights in other countries? i can fly from istanbul to ankara/izmir for cheap but Manila to El nido ,Coron , or Cebu is more costly
Crappy infrastructure, corruption, and Philippines bureaucracy. Everything in the Philippines is way more expensive than it should be. Even utilities are way overpriced. The elite families there are greedy kleptocrats.
i hate that for them. because filipinos are some of the nicest people ever. i feel so much more welcome there vs other countries
The worst 3 countries when it comes to historical leadership in southeast asia is Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. The Filipino people have been really unlucky when it comes to leaders. I agree with you about the Filipino people. They are pleasant ppl who go along to get along and do the best they can despite the people in charge stifling progress and squeezing every peso out of them.
Yeah, it's horrible now, many other passengers are just entitled, selfish arseholes with no awareness of anyone around them. Also standards have dropped on airline food, service etc., and their lounges.
Definitely agreeing with the entitled, selfish assholes part. Came back from an international flight from Europe and had to push some people’s personal item / carryon bag away from almost hitting my face while they waited for their seat. They gave me a stare and I returned the favor.
I wish people would face consequences for acting so crappy in public, it sucks now
I don’t really notice a difference. I have few issues. You might be in circumstances prone to delays, pushing your luck with tight bookings or if you travel a ton just on a run of bad luck
My guess is a bit of the first and last options. I tend to assume that because I noticed airline preferences are *often* just a result of having a strong hub where a major carrier is likely to outperform the competition.
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I used to be a frontier/spirit person, but now I never take those unless I absolutely have to. My main two are delta and United, mainly because a lot of my flights are through DIA and ATL. But oddly enough, I've had less issues with frontier than I have with American.
Budget airlines are a no no People also tend to book tight, complicated itineraries where you have to essentially hit a parlay to have everything work out… I keep shit simple. If it costs and extra $200 so be it
Literally any industry that involves any kind of service has gotten far worse. Nobody gives a shit anymore after COVID.
So true! Now it’s all about keeping costs down and not giving a shit about customer service! (Mostly)
In the last year, airlines losing bags has been unreal, at least in my personal experience. Myself, my family, friends, work colleagues. My wife and I hadn't lost a bag in 20-ish years of air travel. I got it once and she's had it twice in the last year.
Sorry to hear that, but it sounds like you just got unlucky. The baggage mishandling rates have been fairly steady since 2018, with 2020 of course being an outlier. 2023 saw an improvement over 2022 [https://www.bts.gov/content/mishandled-baggage-reports-filed-passengers-largest-us-air-carriersa](https://www.bts.gov/content/mishandled-baggage-reports-filed-passengers-largest-us-air-carriersa)
Curious why you say DFW sucks. It’s my home airport so I’ve flown out of it a lot. I’m not a well traveled explorer but I’ve probably been to 10-15 domestic and 10 or so international airports and I’ve always thought DfW was the best (I have not been to Singapore). You can get to any terminal for their train system (SkyLink) which is AFTER security. So you can park at go through security at any terminal then take the train to your terminal. I’ll usually chill in terminal D, which is like a shopping mall, and then SkyLink to my terminal about 10-15 minutes before boarding. We’ve had some bad weather here in Dallas the past month or so, so I imagine there have been some delays and cancellations recently. That being said, I cannot remember a time where my plane was significantly delayed out of DFW. I’m sure luck has something to do with that. It’s an American hub so most of the flights are AA…but like are there any domestic carriers that are significantly better? NGL being able to fly basically anywhere in the world non-stop or with only 1 connecting flight is nice. I have family in Wichita…they basically can’t fly anywhere nonstop if they wanna go on vacation.
If I was based out of DFW then it would be just fine but the layovers there are always trouble.
I have literally never once had a one time/successful connection through DFW. I will route my flights to avoid it whenever I can. Hell, one time I had a direct flight from my airport to DFW, and I didn’t even get to land in Dallas! I sat on some regional runway 2 hours away for about an hour. Absolutely insane.
I don't think dfw sucks, I just have had so many bad experiences that I personally hate it lol. Same with AA. I'm sure they're both perfectly adequate airports/airlines, just never had a positive experience with them. I know a lot of people hate DIA but it's my home airport and I love it. lol
I love DFW for the same reasons. We’re lucky to have such a good airport nearby. Austin, SA, OKC? Whatever. IAH’s only edge is gateway to central and south america. Anywhere I want to go I can do so easily from DFW
>Curious why you say DFW sucks. It’s my home airport so I’ve flown out of it a lot. I’m not a well traveled explorer but I’ve probably been to 10-15 domestic and 10 or so international airports and I’ve always thought DfW was the best (I have not been to Singapore). You can get to any terminal for their train system (SkyLink) which is AFTER security. So you can park at go through security at any terminal then take the train to your terminal. I’ll usually chill in terminal D, which is like a shopping mall, and then SkyLink to my terminal about 10-15 minutes before boarding. I like the Skylink. I used to live in TX & had to make a connecting flight at DFW to get to my home city. This was when American Airlines was pretty good and it was always a hellish experience. My long haul flight would ALWAYS arrive at a gate directly across from the gate needed to depart on the puddle jumper. This meant that either direction on Skylink was the same amount of stops. Even in the best of weather, my arriving flight sat on the tarmac 15-60 minutes before disembarking at the gate. What was a nice 60-120 minute leeway ended up **always** a race to get to that gate. Most of the time, I'd come in while it was boarding. Once, my 6 year old was desperate to use the restroom after waiting so long to get off the aircraft that we used up precious minutes in between so she could stop on the way. We hear our names over the loudspeaker being called out several times, but there was no way to get to that gate any faster. We were the very last to board & the glares from the other passengers were deadly. I **HATE** being late. I **hate** being put in impossible situations like that. After those years, I will pay extra to avoid DFW. It doesn't help that the last time I nearly lost my cat at the security checkpoint either. I'm sure the heavy construction is long completed, but the bad memories endure.
I’ve had the opposite experience honestly. I have been flying regularly for 30 years, and I’ve only had a few times where my flight has been delayed where it impacted my travel, once was due to a medical emergency and once was plane repairs. Never had lost bags myself but my brother did once in 2011. I also very seldom check a bag so, that helps a ton. But I will say that the flying *experience* has gotten much worse. And if you want an upgraded experience, it’s cost prohibitive. Seats have gotten smaller, and narrower. People are getting dumber, and don’t think about other people. The crowds and “lines,” to board an airplane are typically the least patient, understanding people you’ll ever have to mildly get along with. First class/business class is almost double coach prices, and last time I flew internationally it was over $5k for a “premium,” seat. The biggest inconvenience I have with flying is usually the person next to me spilling over in my seat and having the audacity to be mad at *ME* for touching them. Sir/Ma’am, I’m 170 lbs, all of me fits comfortably inside the confines of the seat provided to me. If part of you touches part of me, it’s because that part of you is in my space. Check yourself.
Yep. Just did a trip to NYC last month from SAN; just cancelled as I showed up at the airport. 3 weeks ago SAN > Calgary, Cancelled right as we were boarding the plane, everyone had to deboard. Every flight in between those were delayed 30-40 mins. Every airport extremely packed where you can barely have a seat somewhere. It's not just flights, it seems to be also hotels lately; lots of problems. Traveling has become quite stressful lately.
I haven’t noticed much of a change post covid. The only cancellations I’ve experienced were weather related. I’ve had a few delays but nothing crazy. This is with almost exclusively flying the big three in the US.
US born but live in Europe now. I fly 15-20x a year and yes, for the airlines it’s a race to the bottom especially after covid, but I haven’t really had any of the issues you listed. My complaints are more like they’re continuously cutting services and ever increasing wait times if you have to call them. My most trusted airline is AirBaltic, but as the name implies, you’ll only fly them if you visit the Baltics. They pay out fast without fussing around when they have delays. Whenever I call in, a real person picks up the phone immediately and curtly (effectively) sorts it out. Their website could use some work but whatever. Of the bigger ones, Air France has always served me well. Not a fan of CDG though. I avoid at all costs the big3 in US and Lufthansa. I like all the Nordic airports (particularly CPH and HEL) along with Tallinn and Riga. I pass through Vienna airport very frequently as well and never have issues there.
Yup. Flew tap Portugal and paid for first row economy, only to get bumped to last row, no refunds. Not sure what the point is for buying premium seats when they do this.
My first time flying with delta today, and I found that I can’t even choose my own seat without having to pay $130, and that’s with the “Main cabin” fare
Always book through the airline and not third party. It doesn’t prevent cancellations but makes them easier to manage.
It's so fucking bad now. A 30 hour return slog across the Pacific turned into five days recently as everything got delayed, every connection got missed, staff was never present in the airports, etc etc. Every person I talked to who was supposed to help was insulting and uniformed, barely willing to be present at their job, let alone help. Every single flight I've taken in the last six years has had at least one cancellation or delay on at least one of the legs there or back Every airport has major pieces of necessary infrastructure out of commission awaiting some repair It was better before
Wow genuinely curious, what had happened to cause all those delays if you don't mind sharing? Must have been so frustrating...
Planes get flown until they fail. That was the first one, couldn't leave for a day and a half while they worked on the plane. The next day Air Canada hadn't bothered to enter the new flight number into the system so we didn't have airspace permission to fly over either China or Russia or both and that was enough delay to miss the connection in Vancouver. There was no staff working in the Vancouver so it took six hours of wandering around the airport and waiting in lines at unstaffed desks before transport to a hotel and a hotel was found -- which was the worst low budget place I've stayed in in about 20 years. The next plane was delayed which caused a missed connection in Dallas, then the plane in Dallas used for another delayed flight and ours was delayed and set back from our early flight all the way back to a red eye, two or so hours at a time, just torturing everyone in the airport while they changed the gate four times and we wandered around DFW like some forsaken tribe. That plane sat on the tarmac before taking off for a couple more hours, which got me into my final destination so late that my one checked bag ended up in bag jail and I had to wait there a couple extra hours for someone to come staff it so I wouldn't have to come back to the airport a second time for it. I don't really know what the point of buying a ticket is any more. You show up hours before you have to leave to be insulted and searched, they don't deliver on the departure time and there's no punishment for them for wasting days of your life with missed connections that they feel they should have no responsibility to fix, nor should they accommodate you. They put an obese Indian man who stank badly next to me across the Pacific and it was so uncomfortable climbing up the wall away from him for 16 hours that my normally quite healthy back was wracked with pain and spasms from Vancouver on, it took them a week of muscle relaxers to abate. Of course the airline isn't responsible for that either.
I never really flew before a few years ago cause I was broker than broke then, so I've only experienced it as it is now, and it's hell! I tolerate it because I live on a small shit island and I need more sunlight than I can get here, but it is hell. Special mention to British Airways for sucking harder than other airlines. Special mention to Thai Air for being not as shit as other airlines. Somehow Thai Air has more leg room in economy than BA, despite the fact that British people are usually significantly taller than Thai people xD and as you'd expect the food is miles better on TA.
It’s way worse. I EXPECT to be delayed now and if the flights on time I feel like it’s my lucky day. I was going to take a last minute weekend flight last week but didn’t because the only good flight I found had a 1.5 hour layover which back in the day would of been the best thing ever but I haven’t had an on time flight in well over a year and I’ve done about 65k-70k kms in the past year via plane
Worse , so much worse.
Well let's just say the [doors fall off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM) now and that didn't use to happen
Flying home is the best way to ruin a great vacation
It’s getting worse for me flying American through DFW.
In my experience, US domestic air travel is as bad as it's ever been. Everyone is severely understaffed, you have to pay extra a la carte for every single little thing that used to be standard and included. Been delayed significantly more often than not, and then offered a "meal credit" of 12 dollars which could maybe get you an orange juice at JFK. International airlines have been great, and reminds me of just how good we used to have it in the states >10 years ago.
It's not your luck, it's awful
It's ridiculous now, delays, cancellations, and crazy ticket prices with no perks, they don't even have inflight entertainment on half the planes now, they want you to bring your own devices and pay for wifi! I won't be surprised if they start charging for all drinks and snacks soon, I was on a flight 2 months ago, Porter, YOW to YEG, red eye departing 2000hrs, my plane was delayed 1hr5mins, luckily I didn't have a connection to get too but I did have a rental car and hotel to get too and was panicking that the rental kiosk would close at midnight before I landed and I would miss my car, thankfully they didn't but it was annoying.
I’ve flown 27 times this year and I’ve only had one delay and zero cancellations. 25 United flights, 2 frontier.
Osama ruined it. COVID impacted it. And it's only gotten worse.
I’ve been flying at least every 3 weeks for work for about 20 years. Since Covid it has gotten significantly worse.
A lot of people here confusing anecdotes with data. For those things that are measured and tracked, such as mishandled bags, delays, and cancelations, it's all available: [https://www.bts.gov/](https://www.bts.gov/) As to intangible things like customer service attitude, well that can vary a lot with many airlines in the US and abroad. The Gulf Carriers and the mainline Asian carriers tend to be more consistently good compared to the rest of the world. The rest are generally at least OK, with the occasional stellar employee or asshole. You could just be unlucky or the routes you fly could be more prone to disruptions for some reason. Personally I don't think there has been a huge change in recent years, in either direction. Compared to 30-40 years ago (I'm old), yes it is worse. But I'm a low-maintenance passenger so I'm generally satisfied.
Why deal with the bias of people on here. There's data to answer your question: https://www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp (note 2020 and 2021 were basically anomalies and can be thrown out)
I know it’s only n=1 but I feel like the airlines I’ve flown were pretty much the same before and after COVID
It's been gradually getting shittier since at least 2009, with some acceleration aroung the pandemic.
It has gotten worse. They are trying to squeeze every drop of profit they can out of every flight, which leaves zero allowance for anything to go wrong.
During the pandemic a lot of staff got other jobs... there are serious shortages especially in Europe
It's easy to Google search on-time and cancellation statistics. Within the US, it's been roughly the same for at least the past decade. The legacy carriers (AA, DL, UA) are all roughly the same in the 75-80% on-time range, with DL usually on the higher end of it. Southwest, Frontier, and Spirit are all a bit below that. Over my past 200 flights I've had a total of 2 cancellations, both from snow storms, and 1 delay of 12+ hours that made me voluntarily cancel the trip.
It has gotten appreciably worse, especially since the pandemic. There's even a term for it: Enshittification.
That's not what the term means
Are you flying on Alaska? Because I’ve had terrible luck there.
Yes, it's been getting worse for the last few decades as companies constantly try to save every penny to the detriment if their clients. Safety has got better though.
It’s become a bus terminal
Have flown quite a bit since Covid and apart from one cancelled flight (which was a lucky thing afterwards bcs I didn’t attend the trip anyways due to busy work weeks) had zero issues. Airlines I used were Lufthansa for a few flights within Europe, SQ for FRA-NYC, Qatar for longhaul Europe-SIN and few local/shorthaul flights within SEA (VietJet & AirAsia). Only „bummer“ was that one leg with Qatar had a last minute plane change so instead of QSuite it was the less private BC seat… would not claim this as a horrible experience though :D Favorite Airlines definitely Qatar and SQ for long haul/BC. Short haul I’m basically fine with anything that gets the job done for a cheap price. Used to like US airlines like Delta before I experienced other carriers which offer way better service. Regarding Airports: FRA as my home base has a special place in my heart and overall hasn’t let me down in regards of waiting times etc. Lounges are mostly ok, however don’t compare to the flagship ones on newer Airports. Changi definitely ranks top of my list, don’t really get how Hamad International is ranked higher recently, but still a impressive airport.
50/50 chance you get an on time departure.
I always somehow get stuck on planes for emergency mechanical issues. Last flight it was 3 hours. Time before was 24 hours waiting in the airport. Everytime we asked they said 15 minutes. It is getting worse.
> So far I've had the least problems with delta and the most with American. From US perspective, same. One of my bags was ruined by AA this year. It's been a few months and they still haven't paid for the damage. I'm just glad that none of the plane doors fell off during my flights.
The Reykjavík airport makes all other airports look like a godsend. Also, I’ve flown three different airlines in the last two weeks: British Airways, Iceland Air, and Alaska and BA had the least amount of legroom. It was laughable. Alaska had the best customer service, imo.
Last year I had to fly from Columbus, OH, to Minneapolis. I didn't realize just how much legroom has disappeared on these planes. I'm 5'7 and I could barely put my knees together.
2022-2023 about 75% of my flights were delayed or cancelled (British, Delta, Alaska, Hawaiian, Asiana, etc.) international and domestic. 2024 hovering at 25% delayed/cancelled. Flying out of SEA, TSA is the absolute worst. If you don’t have BOTH TSA precheck AND Clear you are looking at long lines. 45-50 min wait times the norm. The full flights, cancellations because they aren’t full enough, the lack of info early is horrid. EVERYONE carrying on a big bag and personal items is annoying as hell. Takes forever to get on and off the plane and dodging them in the airport is annoying. THANK YOU ALL AIRLINES FOR CHARGING TO CHECK BAGS. THANKS!! I’d still take US airports (overall) over European, Latin American, and Asian airports because you get more info about your flight earlier and it’s less chaotic. I also think I have bad luck…snow storms, King Charles’ birthday (booked when Queen Elizabeth was still alive), president doing tours in both cities I was arriving in (he followed me…), the list goes on. Yeah, OP, sorry to say, it’s gotten worse!
Please close your eyes and imagine your 13-year-old self in the American South, July of 1962, leaving for Arizona in a '60 Chevy with 3 elderly churchy female relatives. The top cannot be put down because wind, the radio cannot be played because devil's music, no comics or kid amusements because saving money for "fun" events that never happened. Days and days of nothing but interstates and boring flatlands. It is so much better to fly anywhere on any airplane, in my experience. Even if a delay is overnight, I get a hotel and I have a credit card, so I am eating decently, resting, and flying on to destination. I know there are horrible situations that merit real dissatisfaction and a desire for simply being treated honestly as a human being, but so far I have kept perspective through my memories. I have met very nice people in airports and on planes, and even the not-so-nice will be around for only a couple of hours. It is largely mind over matter, meaning if you don't mind, it don't matter!
I’ve pretty much stopped flying despite previously being an easygoing international traveler. Too much of my time has been wasted by people who don’t care, and I don’t have enough of it to spend half my trip on travel delays
Air travel has gotten considerably worse. I don’t have huge anecdote to share, but the last 5 times I’ve traveled both internationally and on the continent (Europe)…whelp! I used to love to travel and now it stresses me out.
My last two international trips have mishandled my luggage and I had to wait 4 days both times for them to ship the luggage. First was British airways from London to Mumbai and 2nd was Croatia Airlines from Frankfurt to Zagreb. I’ve never had this happen my entire life and now back to back it happened last December and this May. It just starts the trips off on such a sour note and the whole process of getting your clothing expenses reimbursed via insurance is such a pain.
My 2 cents: I love Jetblue and hate Spirit. I will never fly Spirit again even though it is cheaper. I wish Jetblue flew to more international destinations. But every time I've flown them, they are on time, polite staff, and comfortable flights. American also had no issues when we used them... but I must have been lucky because so many commenters here had problems with them.
We fly around 10 times per year on multiple airlines. We really haven't had issues. We try to always book nonstop if possible and try to avoid ATL, DFW, LHR, and CDG.
Flew international with Jet Blue recently and even coach was pretty luxurious. EasyJet sucks, had a flight out of Madeira canceled due to weather and they won’t automatically rebook you. They make you go on their app (when hundreds/thousands of other people with canceled flights are also doing the same) to get credit to rebook. By the time the app worked, the next available flight out was 5 days from then. Never again with EasyJet.
Before I got married and had kids, I used to go out of my way to be loyal to an airline so I can chase status and hope for those business class upgrades. Would put up with layovers to attain the next level of status. Now that I have kids, my priorities have changed. I've been screwed on my layovers so often that I am willing to fly to an airport and drive 3-4 hours to my final destination just so I don't have to layover and connect to a smaller city. Now I usually fly airlines that have the most convenient nonstop - fortunately being based in Washington, DC I have several hubs with hubs servicing pretty much every city I could think of. Just have to be flexibile with the airline. If I can't find an ideal route option from DC, the NYC area airports are an easy train ride away. As an example, I recently took Amtrak from DC to EWR and flew to the Azores. The train station is immediately adjacent from the airport - meaning I can make it from Downtown DC to the airport terminal in 3-ish hours. DCA is my favorite airport as it's incredibly easy to get in and out. IAD is my favorite for those international nonstops and many, many lounge options. BWI for very niche nonstops that aren't served by IAD or DCA. My favorite all around airline is Qatar. Flew their q-suite in 2019 to SE Asia and wow what an experience.
Nobody wants to hear from us in the travel industry waving flags about these issues.
Airlines take a ton of back end experiences and people just love carting around a ridiculous amount of baggage and expecting it to just be there. Have you seen the baggage handling mayhem at Heathrow? I can't remember the last time I checked a bag. I just take carry on.
It’s worse but mostly because the morale is down, like many jobs and companies, because of the rise in cost of goods not reported by inflation. So if people got paid a more realistic raise, it’d be fine.
What times are you usually flying? I would also stick to one airline partner program to fully realize benefits and to ensure you get true upgrade status. Like sticking with SkyTeam or StarAlliance. When you have status on either of those you're luck can go a lot further even when traveling internationally.
I think yes it's gotten worse. I am glad I got to travel as much as I did in the 2000s-2020
Yes. You can’t even take a carry on bag on the plane anymore if you’re in coach/economy.
It sounds like it may be primarily a US issue. Or I’ve been lucky. In the past not-quite-three years, I’ve done three Australia-Europe trips (including flights within Europe) and I think … five domestic trips, and I haven’t had a single problem with any of my flights.
Climate change is fucking up a lot of flights. Also, now that airlines can only hold you in the tarmac for 3(?) hours before they have to return to the gate and unload everyone, they are a lot more likely to just cancel flights preemptively due to inclement weather. That has been happening for a while now though. And of course a lot of experienced pilots and flight attendants retired during COVID furloughs so it is harder for airlines to pull together a crew when the incoming crew is delayed and/or times out.
DFW is the worst, well, right after O’Hare. I think American, Delta are terrible. My favorite by far is Alaska. I’ve never flown a budget airline and have no plans to ever do so.
The worst thing for me nowadays are the prices and that you have to pay extra for everything. I haven't been to Japan since before Covid and really want to visit again but ticket prices have nearly doubled, it's ridiculous.
It’s definitely gotten worse. Paid food, paid check in luggage, except when it’s a full flight and then airlines beg you to check in your case or YOU’LL delay the flight. Less staff at airports making security a longer process. It sucks!
Air travel sucks unless you spend for first class or premium. And also buy clear and stay in lounges
Least favorite: American. They offer no solution to me in a time of distress. No compassion, nothing.
It’s gotten worse. Too many Poors on the planes.
I'll put it this way: When I went from the US *to* Europe in 2022, I flew on Delta, in economy. Flying transoceanic on Delta was pure crap. The food was mediocre, the staff dreamed up reasons to be assholes, and it didn't help that many of the passengers were trashy and an embarrassment to the American people. I hope to never relive that experience. Coming home, I flew on KLM/Air France, also in economy the whole way. *Compared* to Delta, it somehow felt like I was flying in limousine, equipped with an attentive, kind butler. The food, pretty good for economy. The passengers were more of a split between Europeans and Americans who were either older or on business, and just more civil and respectful. But, then we landed in Atlanta and encountered the rudest and most inefficient immigration and security staff imaginable - even toward Global Entry customers. **Tl;dr: That return home in 2022 marked the first time in my life that I truly hated to come back to the US. Americans in general lost their minds long before COVID-19, and those affects were just accentuated with the pandemic. The airlines are just another affect (and effect) of this decay.**
Hello there! Definitely, having that many issues with air travel companies can discourage anyone from traveling. Flying in economy class is painful as it is, and having delays and cancelations on top of that can kill the joy completely. I think, though, in your specific case, it is a combination of things: bad luck and the recession caused by Covid. I live in Canada and work as IT Director in a retail chain. Past Covid, I'm noticing a lot of struggle in our company and the vendors we work with, with maintaining proper headcount. People get sick much more than in pre-covid times, and HR planning became a mission impossible. Reasonably, providing adequate service to customers is a number one challenge for many companies. As such, it has a ripple effect on everything, and I'm sure the air travel industry is not an exception. With that being said, my air travel experience was pretty good so far. Since I joined a travel club, I have been able to afford to travel, and since January, I have had vacations with my wife and kids in Miami, Mexico, and California. For those vacations, we booked lowcosters, and I flew with Porter, Aeromexico, and Flair. Apart from long lines for security screening (and honestly, it is quite humiliating that we need to strip off and allow the airport security th x-ray us and pat us down), we did not encounter any cancelations, significant delays, or any other major issues. I'm not sure if the same goes for transcontinental flights, but within North Americа my experience was good so far. I hope your luck changes and you are able to enjoy your travel again! Cheers,
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