Air Travel for Americans

[Cleopatra]

With the almost inevitability of war, and the lingering jitters about terrorism in the skies, would you fly domestically these days?

Business or pleasure, it makes no difference to this thread.

Personally I think that anyone trying any shit on a plane these days would either get their asses kicked by a) the flight attendants and the b) the passengers before anything could really happen. Fool us once...

Would you fly?

 

[Temptress_1960]

I have no problems or concerns with flying.

I refuse to allow criminals to alter the way I live my life.

Fuck these terrorist/criminals.

And, if it's your time to go, well... hell, you could slip in the bathtub and die tomorrow.

 

[Cleopatra]

I have no problems or concerns with flying.

I refuse to allow criminals to alter the way I live my life.

Fuck these terrorist/criminals.

And, if it's your time to go, well... hell, you could slip in the bathtub and die tomorrow.

Very true Tempt! Thanks.

Or, as my mother says, "You could get hit by a trashtruck."

 

[Temptress_1960]

quite so, Cleo.

I make sure to always have clean undies on - if I wear any, that is *giggling*

 

[just pet]

I flew to India one month after September 11 and my sister is flying to London Saturday

I agree if your number is up, it doesn't matter where you're sitting

 

[lobito]

I'd fly dometically or internationally, makes no difference to me. As has been pointed out, why let others dictate my flight plans?

 

[Sillyman]

I say Fuck Terrorism, I'm gonna fly, and if I could fly right now I would. Unfortunately since I and the Unibomber share 23 physical characteristics, I'm immediately a suspected hijacker should I attempt to fly anywhere. That and I'm broke as the Ten Commandments in Las Vegas.

 

[Cleopatra]

Yup. I flew a month after 9/11 and came home the day the assault on Afghanistan started. Great trip.

 

[just pet]

Yup. I flew a month after 9/11 and came home the day the assault on Afghanistan started. Great trip.

And where did you go?

I was this close to Afghanistan in Nepal and I felt safer there than here. It was the time of the anthrax scare.

 

[Cleopatra]

And where did you go?

I was this close to Afghanistan in Nepal and I felt safer there than here. It was the time of the anthrax scare.

This was before that, around the beginning of October, from JFK to VT. Domestic, East-Coast, and not a bump.

 

[Sillyman]

Fuck it. I snort Anthrax. It just gives me a boner.

 

[kotori]

I heard they've confiscasted 4.8 million weapons from carry-on lugage since they've been doing serious checking (post 9-11).

But I also remember once, way back in the mid-'70s, flying out of Cleveland, and there was this little old lady with her knitting bag. They pull out this 10" long pair of scissors, saying "sorry, lady, we're just not going to let that in the cabin." It seemed funny then (I think it was around the time hijackings to Cuba were popular).

 

[Rhys]

private planes rock.

 

[Cleopatra]

I heard they've confiscasted 4.8 million weapons from carry-on lugage since they've been doing serious checking (post 9-11).

But I also remember once, way back in the mid-'70s, flying out of Cleveland, and there was this little old lady with her knitting bag. They pull out this 10" long pair of scissors, saying "sorry, lady, we're just not going to let that in the cabin." It seemed funny then (I think it was around the time hijackings to Cuba were popular).

No kidding. My mother knits, and I wouldn't let anyone on a plane with one of theose needles, let alone the scissors. They could do some damage.

 

[Sillyman]

Not that a smart person couldn't still find a way to smuggle on a seriously deadly implement. Still, most people aren't that maleficent or that intelligent at the same time.

 

[Cleopatra]

private planes rock.

Oh yes. They do. Too much sometimes.. (got sicker on the little private plane than on the big ones...*shudder*)

 

[Cleopatra]

Still, most people aren't that maleficent or that intelligent at the same time.

I've noticed that...stupid criminals etc.

 

[Sillyman]

I've noticed that...stupid criminals etc.

It's not really stupidity. Most people commit crime on the spur of the moment. They aren't really thinking clearly so they tend to do things that seem nonsensical.

 

[alwaysawake]

If I allowed a terror threat to change my plans, then it is immaterial whether they actually bring the physical part of the threat to bear. If I 'run scared', then they win without doing anything at all--I won't give them the satisfaction. Business as usual here with a more vigilant eye. AA

 

[Rhys]

Oh yes. They do. Too much sometimes.. (got sicker on the little private plane than on the big ones...*shudder*)

Actually, the worst ride I ever had was a prop engine inter island air between Hilo and Honolulu. One, I thought I was going to have to get out and push down the runway, and two, I wondered somewhere midflight if it might have been safer just to cling to the wing.

But, one the best rides I ever had was the jet my company leased for a while.

Nice stewardesses.

 

[Cleopatra]

It's not really stupidity. Most people commit crime on the spur of the moment. They aren't really thinking clearly so they tend to do things that seem nonsensical.

Well, if you were going to take on a crime of this magnitude, wouldn't you plan it out far in advance? or am I missing your point? Sorry - fuzzy tonight.

 

[Cheyenne]

With the almost inevitability of war, and the lingering jitters about terrorism in the skies, would you fly domestically these days?

Business or pleasure, it makes no difference to this thread.

Would you fly?

Yes. I'll be flying 3 times in the next 2 weeks both for business and pleasure.

During Desert Storm, I bought tickets to Europe. People were canceling their vacations right and left so airfare was cheap. The war was over by the time I actually flew there for a nice vacation that spring.

 

[Lancecastor]

Despite apple pie bullshit from jingo mouthpieces like Cheyenne, the facts say that Americans have stopped flying in record numbers, a trend that is increasing.

A war with Iraq could devastate the already crippled airline industry and force a federal takeover of airlines unless the government provides a massive bailout, a trade association warned Tuesday.

The industry would probably lose $4 billion in the event of war, in addition to the $6.7 billion loss already projected for this year. It would have to eliminate 2,200 daily flights and 70,000 jobs, according to the Air Transport Association.

Moreover, the group said, if war was accompanied by terrorist attacks in the United States, that additional $4 billion could rise to $6.3 billion, and airlines would have to cut 3,800 flights and 98,000 employees.

``The anticipated impacts on the airline industry of a war with Iraq raise the risk of an economic catastrophe to crisis levels,'' the group reported. ``Nationalization of the industry as a result of wholesale airline bankruptcies is conceivable.''

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the industry has lost $18 billion, and nearly 100,000 airline workers and about 400,000 others in the travel sector have been laid off, the association report said. Airline stocks are tumbling.

On Tuesday, shares of American Airlines parent AMR and Delta Air Lines, the two largest U.S. airlines not under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, plunged. AMR shares slid 82 cents, or 34 percent, to $1.59, and Standard & Poor's said it will drop AMR from its flagship 500 index after the close of trading Thursday. Delta's stock declined $1.91, or 22 percent, to $6.75 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

Just read the news.

 

[plasticman33]

With the almost inevitability of war, and the lingering jitters about terrorism in the skies, would you fly domestically these days?

Business or pleasure, it makes no difference to this thread.

Personally I think that anyone trying any shit on a plane these days would either get their asses kicked by a) the flight attendants and the b) the passengers before anything could really happen. Fool us once...

Would you fly?

I fly all the time, flew to Chicago and back on Monday. I've flown about ten times already this year and more times than I can count before then. It's no big deal!

 

[Cheyenne]

Just read the news.

Just read the thread.

The question posed was if we personally would fly or not. She didn't ask for an analysis of the health of the airline industry.