I have come to the conclusion that we have accepted mediocrity as the standard for the airline industry. Long gone are the days when most airlines had higher consumer ratings and customer loyalty.

Maybe it started 20 years ago when American Airlines discovered that by reducing olives in their salads, they would have significant savings over the course of a year. Now salads and most airline food are distant memories on domestic flights. Sure, airline food was comparable to military mess halls, but I am sure as college students we rarely pass on free meals. The great frill reduction certainly has not won consumers over. Most of us are loyal to prices and it seems that the airlines are as well.

Cost cutting measures have affected us all. Many of you were subjected to long lines, understaffed counters and sub-standard conditions. I do feel bad for airline employees – well the ones still left with jobs. Mass layoffs and budget cutbacks rarely equal a better working environment. Couple that with our short patience and more vocal rudeness and I would not want to be working for any airline.

Technology has given us shorter patience and we expect more. We like booking tickets online and this has been an effective change in technology and one of the few areas where it benefited both consumer and the airline business. I also think that the self check-in options are brilliant and effective … if you are not checking baggage at least. Otherwise, the understaffed counter agents are often subjected to a half-dozen people at once. With the ever changing flight restrictions on baggage weight and other policies, it is often no faster than waiting in the normal service counter lines.

Again, it is hard to fault the employees down in the trenches, especially since many of them made large financial concessions just to keep their respective airlines fiscally solvent. I wonder if the baggage handler cares as much after taking a 10 percent pay cut? No wonder the suitcase manufacturing industry is a good business.

Airlines have been less than honest these days. They are master truth spinners and I am sure Stephen Colbert would have a field day with a Truthy Expose. In the Information Age, I am amazed at how much information they lack and how much miscommunication occurs. All the weather predictions, Doppler radars, satellites and just plain common sense can avoid fiascos as the Jet Blue incident. When a Southwest gate agent has no idea what gate a plane is arriving at or the pilots inform passengers of a delay due to weather (when in reality it is due to bad gate management), passengers get a bit annoyed. We expect the airlines to have basic information and back-up plans when things go wrong. They should be experts in this actually. They should be more preoccupied with failure than they are of success.

Instead, we will have Passenger Bill of Rights which will jump-start the careers of several Congressional members passing legislation to help the common people. Of course, a good majority of those people are not flying the same way we do. I would like to see one of my Ohio senators sitting on a cramped 747, stuck on the tarmac for an hour with screaming kids and no air conditioning with a bag of peanuts. Another topic for another time, folks.

These days, airports have never been nicer. I have no problem arriving early and waiting for my flight … airports have become mini-malls, art galleries, playgrounds and nice lounges. I am constantly impressed but do not understand why this has not affected the airlines. Instead of expecting airline excellence, I just expect mediocrity. I expect a dirty plane, late departure, mishandled baggage, disgruntled employees and a shrinking bag of pretzels. When something exceeds this, I am pleasantly surprised. Sometimes shocked. Sadly, we have been conditioned to accept the mediocrity of our country’s airlines.

Seth Fishman is a graduate student. He has eight different frequent flyer programs and misses Song airline the most. He can be reached at [email protected].