[nagdu] Air Charters and the Future

Fri Aug 21 16:53:53 UTC 2009

Thanks, Peter.  These all sound interesting and certainly something to look 
at.

Linda and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 1:13 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Air Charters and the Future

> Hello again Linda and listers,
>
>    Personally I'm tired of the attitude and lack of innovation among
> airlines when it comes to addressing these issues that would benefit both 
> us
> and them. As far as I'm concerned all they do is give us excuses for not
> implementing suggestions the flying public gives them. If only one of them
> would take these suggestions seriously and act on them things would change
> for the better. If they continue on their current course I would have no
> hard feelings if they all crashed and burned! I'm saying this based on all
> of the horror stories many of us have heard on the news or experienced 
> over
> the years particularly when it came to blindness-related issues.
>
>        The move away from scheduled airtravel to the use of air charters 
> is
> all ready taking wing and at a very rapid rate. Thus the skys are all 
> ready
> filling with planes full of passengers tired of the commercial airtravel 
> rat
> race. I was surprised to discover that for the cost of two first-class
> tickets on a commercial carrier we could charter a turbo prop or a small 
> jet
> for the same price and receive superior service. If you use your favorite
> search engine to look up "Air charters" or similar searches you'll be
> surprised with what you come up with.
>
>    Air taxi service isn't to far off either. A network of air taxi 
> services
> is expected to be in place by the year 2015. As for too many planes in the
> air more people will fly around on chartered planes and there will be 
> fewer
> commercial jets in the air. When the air charter move gains more momentum
> I'm sure it will bring about its own set of accessibility and other 
> concerns
> for guide dog teams. Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up on the future
> of airtravel.
>
> Peter Donahue
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Linda Gwizdak" <linda.gwizdak at cox.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 1:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Air Charters and the extra seat
>
>
> Peter,
> It sure would be nice if the airlines put in wider seats. But, dream on, 
> we
> all know that the airlines seem to be nickel and diming us for everything
> and they want to cram in as many people as possible. I don't like what is
> going on and I fly as little as possible.
>
> Charter planes?  Could be a good alternative to look into.  But I don't
> think this would become a real common thing because logistacally 
> speaking -
> what would happen with the skies clogged with aircraft like a Los Angeles
> freeway? But, a great thought! (grin!)
>
> Linda and Landon
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2009 9:50 AM
> Subject: [nagdu] Air Charters and the extra seat
>
>
>>
>> Hello Dar and listers,
>>
>>        We're leaving for our chapter meeting in a bit so I'll be brief.
>> Fortunately the flight to Detroit wasn't full so I was able to fly
>> courtesy
>> of Southwest but was required to purchess the extra seat to come home. 
>> And
>> interestingly enough the flights back to San Antonio weren't completely
>> full. Southwest refunded the extra seat amount, but this is an
>> embarassing,
>> patronizing, and one more way the airlines "Flex their muscles" to clean
>> out
>> the pockets of the flying publics. Installing extra-wide seats and 
>> selling
>> them for a slightly higher fare would be a far better alternative than
>> insulting someone in front of a plane full of passengers. There is a move
>> a
>> foot to urge airlines to install extra-wide seats to better acommodate
>> large
>> passengers without their being subject to such disgusting treatment. 
>> NAGDU
>> and the NFB may want to jump on this move as extra-wide seats would mean
>> more room for large dogs to occupy. Mr. President I believe this is food
>> for
>> thought.
>>
>>    One more thing I find unfortunate is that the obeas are the
>> "Scapegoats"
>> that get the worst insults. The attitude of the ignorant and the
>> uninformed
>> is that the way to not having to buy an extra seat when you fly is to 
>> lose
>> weight. Their are individuals whose body structure or who have other
>> medical
>> conditions that make the need for additional seat space necessary.
>>
>>    I've heard that on many charter flights this is less of a problem as
>> seating is far more luxurius and they tend to be wider. The standard seat
>> width in coach on a commercial airliner is 17 inches. Basically the 
>> policy
>> is that if you can't fit in that amount of space with both seat arms down
>> you must purchess an additional seat. Oh yes. And the airlines say it's
>> FAA
>> policy and a matter of safety. Sound familliar? I checked both the FAA 
>> and
>> DOT Web Sites and did not find any such seating criteria on either one.
>> Again doesn't this sound familliar? These Passenger of Size, (POS)
>> policies
>> are set by individual airlines and not the FAA as the airlines want you 
>> to
>> believe.
>>
>>    If the move to require airlines to install extra-wide seating to 
>> better
>> accommodate passengers of size gathers momentum this could benefit guide
>> dog
>> users as such seating would enable large dogs to fit under them more
>> comfortably hence something for us to consider and to possibly take a
>> position on in the future. Now I gotta go.
>>
>> Peter Donahue
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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