I appreciate concerns about safety and regulations, but on with the apologetics already. Somehow upgrading to premium economy magically eliminated all of their concerns and in such a manner that simply separating the bag into 10kg and 7kg could not resolve. You earlier commented that 10kg was a common limit, so that pretty much wraps that one up.
As an analyst, please do your part to help airlines reduce their costs by improving their operations. Cutting services, eliminating basic creature comforts, shafting employees, and nickel-and-diming customers does a nice job of short-term cost reductions, but it brings the airline on a slippery slope to profound mediocracy. Now the best we can hope for is Stockholm Syndrome; it's a sorry state of affairs when we're pleasantly surprised to find that our planes operated as intended and our baggage made it through in one piece. The only thing that will really save US carriers is a fundamental change in management philosophy injected throughout all levels of seniority and a very real reconsideration of their operational processes and assumptions. This is long, dirty work and I think it would be next to impossible for a large carrier to pull off successfully. And, hey, why should they? We keep bailing them out.
I hope one of these days a major global carrier grows some cojones and produces a airline that is actually a delight to fly. In the meantime, let's not apologize for them, shall we? I am certainly unqualified to participate in the operation of an airline, but I know from example that this is a problem that can, in fact, be solved. I hope you are a part of the solution. Think long-term and a little outside of the box; it will serve you well.
|