Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Those are interesting photographs of the Korean Air configuration of the A380 that have been posted; of course, looking at the 1st class and business class seating, I couldn't help but think of the aging MD80's and 757's of American Airlines that I've recently flown in. In the past year I've flown from Chicago to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; from Chicago to New York's LaGuardia, from Chicago to San Juan, et al. Even seated in the 'best' class of service of those aircraft, they are - quite simply, thoroughly antiquated. The quality of the 'complimentary' ear phones on those flights was such that they actually hurt one's ears. There were no seatback video displays, no wifi and the lavatory facilities up front were being used by those seated aft.
While it's one thing to have to take an aged MD80 for a couple of hours to New York, it's quite another for flights in excess of four hours. On longer routes - where competition abounds, such as the trans-Atlantic and/or trans-Pacific routes, the offerings are many and the ammenities correspondingly provided. Nevertheless, it appears that air-travel is quickly going the way of most services, such being a two tier approach. They'll pack the average flying public into steerage, charge fees for all services formerly provided as a courtesy and those who can/choose to anti-up can either fly business/1st class only flights, or continue to pay absurdly high ticket prices for the front rows on legacy carriers. What I don't comprehend is why American taxpayers are paying for the expansion of our airports and infrastructure to accommodate the A380? After all, those footing those bills aren't likely to ever see any direct benefit from facilitating the European's venture into North America - a venture that competes directly with our home grown Boeing.
It's my understanding that United Airlines hasn't ordered any new aircraft {with their fleet aging faster than any of the other legacy carriers} and, even if they were to do so now, the backlogs at Boeing for their 787's would put United well into the 2015 time frame before they could begin to take delivery. Despite living in realtively close proximity to Chicago's O'Hare Airport, the lock that American and/or United have on this key North American hub is in the area of 80%. This hardly makes for competition in one of the world's major aviation markets.
Perhaps when the business class only start-ups expand into Chicago {whether it be at Midway, Milwaukee's Mitchell Field, Palwuakee in Wheeling, or elsewhere, the legacy carriers will have to produce a product corresponding with their price points. In the meantime, those of us in Chicago not flying on private aircraft will have to continue to pay for the expansion of O'Hare, to deal with the regional traffic issues, to pay the price for the lack of competition and to have to endure travel on antiquated aircraft.
Frankly, I think it's high time we expended our tax dollars into a naitonal grid of high speed rail service. Now, there's something to think about.