Pentagon officials have begun talking with United States’ airline companies about the possibility of mobilizing a fleet of commercial and air cargo planes to aid in a war with Iraq.
In the event of a war, airlines would be responsible for a limited mobilization, involving 78 passenger and cargo jets and up to 2,000 crew members. The deployment would serve as a great source of revenue for the airlines. During the Gulf War, the Pentagon spent $1.5 billion on air fleet use.
However, Americans should be worried about commercial airlines carrying troops and equipment to the Middle East. If airlines cannot even keep up with the luggage of its normal passengers, why should the government permit them to carry weapons?
Luckily, American troops will not have to worry about the vast troubles of the airline industry. There will be no long lines at the ticket counter, overbooked flights, delayed planes or lost luggage.
Having just returned from a trip to Nashville, I know these problems all too well. With two airplane delays, a missed flight and lost luggage, the itinerary turned into a complete disaster.
It seems very bizarre that airlines can lose someone’s luggage. Not just send it to the wrong place or have it arriving on a later flight, but lose it completely — sometimes for days, weeks or even forever. Think about the trust passengers place in the airlines, turning over many of their personal possessions to a stranger who assures them their baggage will be safe as long as the passengers keep up with this little piece of paper with a tracking number on it.
That has to be one of the most asinine beliefs in the world. When passengers arrive in their final destination, everyone gathers around the carousel at the baggage claim area like wolves surrounding an injured deer.
As their bags appear, the passengers pounce on them and whisk them away without anyone being sure they are taking the right suitcase. It is shocking that baggage theft is not more common in airports.
Once passengers have picked up all the baggage, there are always an inevitable few who are left standing there, looking helplessly at the empty conveyor belt spinning around and wondering if their bags will come soon.
One by one these people finally give up hope, dig in their pockets, purses and briefcases for their baggage claim tickets and head to a “customer service specialist” for assistance.
It is always reassuring when the specialist can scan the ticket and say the luggage will be on the next flight in from the departure city and the airport will deliver it by a certain time. Unfortunately, not everyone falls into this privileged category.
At this point of vulnerability, the worst thing the specialist can say is “Well, I can’t find it right now, but I’m sure it will turn up. I’ll place a tracking notice on it.”
What? Excuse me? I’ve entrusted your company with many of my personal possessions, and they have disappeared. Sure, eventually most of them turn up; however, there are many suitcases never located again. They just made their way to the lost suitcase graveyard on some remote island not on any maps other than the airlines’ one-way flight schedule.
There is always the toll-free customer service number to call to find out the status of the inquiry. However, the voice-activated menu system has its own flaws, the most notable of which is its complete inability to understand the caller. When the computerized voice asked for my arrival city, I stated “Fayetteville, Ark.” (The place where most airlines seem to believe that Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport is located).
The computer never recognized that statement the 12 different times I tried; rather, the computer thought that I had landed in Newark, N.J.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Gainesville, Fla.; Anchorage, Alaska; and Atlanta, to name only a few.
Still, losing the military’s weapons is not a major concern. The flights will be chartered, and the supplies will be loaded and unloaded on each tarmac by military personnel. Yet there is that unsure feeling about entrusting airlines with advanced equipment when they cannot keep up with my socks.
Zac HaginsArkansas Traveler (U. Arkansas)
