[Johnnyg]

[quote quote=906404]Not just wet wipes, antiseptic wet wipes, I hope! [/quote]

Sorry, yes antiseptic ones, having been to Sierra Leone 3 times this year I am even more paranoid regarding cleanliness.

[Inquisitive]

Totally agree with various posters about hygiene issues from toilet doors, peanut bowl etc. However for majority of people, our body is resilient enough to take care of various bacteria through our inherent immune and fighting system.
In my opinion, we shall take precautions about basic hygiene but not to overdo that.
For our body, it is better to be exposed to minimal bacteria and other elements so that body build up the resistance.

[capetonianm]

For me, air quality is the biggest problem faced by regular travellers. I always feel rough for a day or two even after a short flight.

You get used to the queuing and the indignity of ‘security’ checks, although they are getting better, or maybe we just become inured to the unpleasantness of it.

‘Hell is other people’ and sadly there is little one can do to entirely get away from other people, but as a very wise friend of mine says, ‘a true measure of your wealth is the distance you can place between yourself and the nearest person you don’t want to be close to.’ I often think of that when I travel by train and am lucky enough to find a coach which is almost empty, and can sit in splendid isolation.

I would love to go back to the days of BCal:

[Cedric_Statherby]

My biggest hope is that some airline, somewhere would try to reverse the industry’s race to the bottom and total concentration on reducing their headline fares at the cost of any element of service.

We know why this is: flight search engines search only on price and ignore (because their algorithms cannot handle) any thought of value for money. But it is nevertheless depressing.

The airline industry really does seem to be uniquely afflicted by this – imagine if the only thing restaurant listings cared about was the price of the food per 100 calories (“at XYZ cheapo restaurant one can eat at 45p/100 calories. It way be revolting but it is (fanfare and drumroll) the cheapest eateries in town”).

My second pipedream is that airlines were forced to show up front a standard comparison cost, eg for an industry standard booking of 2 people, sitting together, 2 hold bags, including all booking charges.

[JJames3]

On the subject of aircraft toilets (not handles) and as someone who is shall we say generously proportioned, the one thing that I would really appreciate is aircraft toilets where I don’t need to be a gymnast or limbo dancer in order to use the facilities. The only aircraft I have flown in (and I have lost count of the types over the years) where this is possible for me was on a BA A380 LHR – LAX whilst travelling in first.
Providing facilities that are twice the size of the existing cupboards that most airlines / aircraft have, would make any journey, expecially long haul, so much more comfortable for us larger individuals..

In a related rant, I do wish that airline marketing departments would use models that are at least ‘average’ stature, rather than the petite models in their “here’s our new seat/ product” announcements. Show realistic interpretations of the customer base, not idealistic ones.

2 users thanked author for this post.

fatbear, transtraxman

[canucklad]

Thanks for the great tips regarding hygiene, I’ll definitely be purchasing wipes for the next trip

Here’s the thing about airlines and waste…..

If they had a bit of savvy, they could reduce their incredible waste, (I briefly worked for an in-flight catering company) and ironically deliver an enhanced service, especially in Y.
With a little bit of pioneering (old thinking) inventive thinking, cabin crew could deliver a personalised service , rather than a blanket tray approach that creates the waste.

Sadly, rather than offering a bespoke service airlines now a days would rather choose to withdraw a service and then bring it back with a charge.

So , I too would like a return to the days when you’re offered fresh milk for your tea, rather than having a daft insidious plastic UHT milk carton thrust upon me, that will inevitably end up, unopened in the skip at the other end .

[capetonianm]

I was appalled at the amount of waste when I worked for airlines, particularly in ZA where millions of people live in poverty and without adequate water, let alone food. I repeatedly asked if we could take some of the excess, not just the food but also water, amenity kits, and so on, out of the airport, but was always told we couldn’t, usually it was ‘customs regulations’. We did eventually work out a (very African!) way of doing it on the sly, and whilst I’m not pretending that caviar and vodka found its way to the townships, a lot of food did get there. Some of the luxury stuff was sold or auctioned to members of a service club of which I was a member, and the proceeds went to a night shelter for street children.

Changing topic slightly, I thought that what LH did years ago on S/H and M/H flights was excellent. There was a stand near the departure gate and passengers could help themselves to such refreshments as they wanted, and take it on board in a paper bag or cardboard box for consumption. Naturally there were selfish people who made pigs of themselves, but I suspect that was more than balanced by people who took nothing or very little. It also reduced plastic waste, washing up, and so on. Clearly it didn’t work as it was discontinued, but I often wonder why.

[Author]

Posts