Plane Conversations

On 23 January, I published a blog relating my amazement and, frankly, my disgust at Delta Air Lines’ refusal to waive their excess baggage policy to Santa Domingo for passengers on verifiable humanitarian missions. This week, Ken Silverman, CEO of Infinity Aviation Group, related a similar experience with Spirit Airlines.

On 2 February, Mr. Silverman’s girlfriend, a nurse practitioner and midwife in New York City, left the city for Ft. Lauderdale on Spirit Airlines, bound for Port Au Prince. On the evening of 30 January, she booked her ticket online then called to discusss baggage arrangements since she would be carrying two suitcases filled with medical supplies for newborns and pregnant women. She informed the Spirit supervisor that she would be carrying the humanitarian supplies and requested that the airline waive the baggage fee.  The supervisor suggested she to inform the agent when she checked in, “that they could help.”  They helped her, alright - they helped her lighten her wallet.  Checking in at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Mr. Silverman says, “They not only charged her a standard luggage fee for each bag, but also for one bag being very overweight! Additional cost: $150.” 

When he contacted Spirit Airlines, Fay McKellar at Spirit replied, “…while your girlfriend’s relief efforts in Haiti are admirable, and we would never stand in the way of humanitarian work, we must uphold our baggage allowance policies and fees. Baggage standards apply regardless of where our customers are traveling or what they’re traveling with.  Baggage weight and size is an important component for our flight crew for accuracy in calculating weight and balance information. Items that are overweight or over-sized will continue to be weighed and sized at the airport, and fees collected at check-In. Our baggage guidelines are posted on our Contract of Carriage on our Web site, and it is the customer’s responsibility to read the Terms and Conditions they agree to upon purchasing a ticket. Thanks again for writing to Spirit Airlines.”  Ms McKellar said later that the airline had raised over $250,000 and had completed three humanitarian flights.  If those claims are true, then that’s terrific.  But, it begs the question: why was $150 such a big deal? 

Maybe it’s just me, but this is I what hear her saying: “Your girlfriend’s a real peach and while we aren’t on the ground, sleeping in a tent helping people, we won’t keep her from doing it. But, rules are rules and it’s much easier for me to tell you no than to actually effect a solution.  Even though all of this about weight and balance is safety and operations related and completely irrelevant to the issue at hand, I’m going to include it so that maybe you’ll be confused. We’re going to squeeze every dime out of you that we can and, if you didn’t know about it or don’t like it, it’s your own fault.  Bu-bye, now.” 

The air mass-transit machine promotes this kind of callous, automaton thinking on every level.  “No” is the airline equivalent of the old TV robot response of, “Does not compute.”  If your request or question isn’t within the script of too many agents, their inflexible answer is “no.”  I’ve worked at the ticket counter.  I’ve collected fees for overweight and excess baggage.  I’ve also helped people repack to avoid the fees.  I’ve helped them find other solutions and, sometimes, I’ve waived the fees.  And since fee collection has nothing whatsoever to do with safety or the captain’s authority on the safe operation of the aircraft, there is latitude for humanitarian discretion.  Or, at least there used to be.  If there isn’t anymore, then we have a serious problem.

Some people have a naturally high degree of empathy.  These people are the ones trying to save the world, lending a hand to anyone in need.  We secretly envy them because most of us just aren’t that nice.  Some of us earn it surviving some traumatic event – a house fire, a robbery, a tornado, or (in my case) losing everything to a hurricane like Katrina.  Take it from me, realizing that everything you own will fit into your car will change your perspective in a hurry.  Is that what it’s going to take to change the perspectives of Spirit, Delta and other carriers putting profits before humanity?

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