NYC's Hudson River...Buffalo...London....Las Vegas.  Planes seem to be
falling out of the sky an awful lot lately.  Could this be where all
the cost-cutting measures are leading?  And is anybody starting to
feel a little edgy about getting on a plane?

Cost-cutting, out-sourcing of maintenance to poor quality outfits, and
morale problems certainly don't help. I don't like to feel edgy if I
can't do anything constructive so I just soldier on. Maybe we can
channel our individual protests through consumer organizations, though
these are ineffectual if they cannot recommend a superior airline.

On Feb 14, 8:44 pm, TDMedia <TDMe...@optonline.net> wrote:

On Feb 14, 8:44 pm, TDMedia <TDMe...@optonline.net> wrote:

They're cutting costs that we never hear about.  There's not much we
can do about it.

As far as feeling edgy on a flight, I don't really think about it.
When it's my time to go, I figure there's nothing I can do about it.
(But that doesn't mean I won't go out fighting.)  I look at it this
way.  Maybe tomorrow, I won't wake up.  If I do, I take a chance of
having an accident from the time my first foot hits the floor, until
it's back in the bed the next night.  And we don't know what might
happen during the night.

What I'm saying, my friend, is live while you can.  I say "I love you"
to my wife every time I talk to her.  I hug my kids & grand kids as
much as possible, and try never get angry with any of them.

Take a Boeing 747.  Approximately 350,000 pounds (empty).  They take
all that weight, and lift it 6 to 7 miles in the sky at about 500
mph.  Then think of a 40 ton truck at 70 mph.  If something goes
wrong, well......you do the math.

We're all on borrowed time, buddy.  Make the most of it.

I agree with you, fully.  I just thought this would be a good topic of
conversation.

Dying doesn't frighten me.  It's landing in an ice cold river in the
middle of Manhattan, alive, that scares the bejeebas outta me!

On Feb 17, 6:37 am, TDMedia <TDMe...@optonline.net> wrote:

Still would be better than landing in a warm southern river full of
gators.

A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Florida from MacArthur Airport
(Long Island, New York) had to return to the runway a few minutes
after liftoff yesterday when one its engines conked out.

Shew!  I thought we'd actually have a week without a single major
airline incident.  When a small stunt plane crashed into the ocean a
short distance from MacArthur Airport on Sunday, I figured that was
our quota for this week!

I am currently stranded in Richmond VA. Flight was canceled because a
door couldn't be repaired. Couldn't get another flight and will travel
tomorrow morning. No drama in this, but it's symptomatic of the times.
Maybe the airlines can't keep their planes in good repair, but at
least their diagnostics can identify planes that are not airworthy. If
their diagnostic capabilities deteriorate and unfit planes are allowed
to fly we will be in a heap of trouble.

On Apr 7, 4:09 pm, Papa Tom <TDMe...@optonline.net> wrote:

to fly we will be in a heap of trouble.<<<<

This seems to be just another symptom of the "Let's Party" attitude
that got us into the financial mess.  When things were good, we all
thought they'd be nothing BUT good forever.  I even let my wife talk
me into a major renovation of our home, complete with appliances and
climate control equipment way more sophisticated and expensive than we
really needed.  Now that the lifespan of these items has reached the
halfway point, I'm beginning to wonder if we will be able to afford
repairs or replacements when they all drop dead at the same time.

I'm sure the airline industry is in a similar bind.  I remember
jetBlue bragging that they were taking delivery of a new plane every
couple of weeks for a long time.  Now that those planes are getting a
little long in the tooth, I sure hope they've got some cash stashed
away to keep them in good working order!

My recent flight from Tampa to Chicago was delayed after boarding
because there were 2 mechanical malfunctions to be fixed. Many of my
flights are delayed because of mechanical problems. Are they
increasing or was it always this bad?

On Apr 8, 12:08 pm, Papa Tom <TDMe...@optonline.net> wrote:

I haven't flown in a while (in case you haven't already heard me whine
enough about that) so I don't really know.  My wife just left for Ft.
Lauderdale on jetBlue and her flight was delayed over an hour due to a
mechanical problem.  Poor thing isn't thrilled about flying to begin
with.  Now she has to deal with THIS extra stress!