I was shocked when I read that the new United-Continental CEO, Jeff Smisek, said matter of factly, “The back of the product on the 747 that United flies is not an acceptable level of product. I know that.” Coach on United is unacceptable.
That’s coming from the CEO of the company, not one of my readers commenting on a problem with airline service. I don’t even know where to start.
When is the last time any of the the Big Three (United, Delta or American) paid any attention to coach passengers? Why are passengers in the back of the plane treated like second-class citizens? (Oh, they are second-class, or third-class.) Why do we allow it?
Passengers in the front of the plane are being regaled with new lay-flat seats, personal entertainment systems, special lines at the airport, full meals, free drinks, power ports, fluffy pillows, wool and silk blankets, massages and bars. Often in the back of the plane, the seats are threadbare, recline buttons don’t work, reading lamps flicker, seat pockets are filled with crumbs (and worse), wires stick out of the bottom of the seats that scratch shoes, tray tables are crooked and there is no room to even open a laptop let alone work.
Our air transportation system is still mired in the 15th-Century world of peasants and landed gentry. Unfortunately, the airlines have been ignoring the peasants in the back of the plane. Worse, they rub the peasants’ noses in it by only advertising upscale seating that no normal passenger can afford and then humbling the lower-class passengers by having them march through the world of spacious luxury before they squeeze into their allotted space.
How did we get here? Even the terminology wreaks of the old world.
It all dates back to the 15th century in the town of Kocs (pronounced rather like “coach”), Hungary. That’s where a large four-wheeled carriage called a “coach wagon” was first popularized. By the 17th century, stagecoaches were used to deliver mail as well as for transportation. These operations were mechanized during the Industrial Revolution, but the old-fashioned “coach” name stuck.
In the mid-1800s, only first-class railroad cars were called “coaches.” Over time, however, all the cars became coaches. As the exclusivity of the term “coach” declined, it became associated with the cheap seats.
Eventually, when air travel morphed from being all First-Class to becoming an everyman affair, “coach” became part of airline-speak. Sometimes it is called “tourist,” sometimes “back of the bus.” None of the terms reveal the psychological indignity of the situation.
However, the airlines use this mental maneuver to hold out the carrot of good service and more space to their frequent flier program members. Business fliers all crave upgrades (I guess we all like getting something for nothing). Those who actually purchase first and business class seating rarely do it with their own money. The chance of an upgrade leads to slavish loyalty, much like the serfs’ allegiance to their masters in the Middle Ages. (At least in those days, the princes or masters provided protection. Airlines don’t even go that far.)
There are places travelers can go to avoid this class society — Southwest Airlines and JetBlue (or most regional airlines). Here are airlines that strives to provide uniform clean, functional, well-upholstered seating for everyone. JetBlue provides the best in-flight entertainment and Southwest is rolling our free WiFi for basic entertainment and paid service for surfing the Web.
We seem to feel better than others
Even AirTran that started out as a one-class airline eventually put in a business-class section. And now as the Southwest buyout of the airline moves forward, those who had access to business-class are lamenting the lost of their exclusivity.
One commenter to another blog put it this way (some typo corrections):
i just returned from my Europe trip (amazing!) and I flew First-Class (thank you frequent flier miles). I’m not sure how I will ever fly coach again for any flight over 3 hours. It’s like an entire different world up there in the front of a plane! Plus, on Luftansa they had a separate boarding area for the first/business class. You don’t even have to see those lowly (joking) coach people while waiting to get on the plane. Instead you get to eat free food, drink free booze and lounge in extremely comfortable chairs.
One frequent Southwest flier told me that with a new promotion, she would be allowed to fly on Delta instead of Southwest. I asked her why she would prefer Delta to Southwest. Her response, “I don’t want to sit with the normal people.” On Delta I get to sit with other well-bred, well-educated, well-dressed business travelers like myself.
Her attitude is not unique. And the airlines prey on our class envy. Rather than feeling mistreated and ignored by the airlines, most coach passengers envy the better treatment being provided to the business- and first-class passengers. Somehow, we manage look at flying in coach as similar to time in Purgatory. Someday we might get to heaven.
What do you feel?
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
