Los Angeles, CA—I should have
written this sooner but the negative experience I had with this airline has
been continually relived in my mind. Better I do this late than never!
It was well over a year ago I
had to take a short notice flight to Chicago.
I searched for the cheapest fare, which was anything but cheap.
Spirit Airlines came in at the lowest
fare but not by much. This was my fist
and hopefully last flight on this carrier.
What went wrong you might
ask? To begin with Spirit is following
the competition in doing the things I hate like those confusing nickel and dime
schemes over baggage fees. I want to be
charged a single price and be left alone.
Because of the fees overhead bins are always overstuffed and the loading and unloading of passengers is painfully slower than need be.
From the boarding counter to
exiting the plane their clerks and crew were unfriendly and downright
mean. I never once saw any of them
smile.
The pre-boarding loudspeaker
announcements were always tense and agitated.
They warned us like we were Nazi prisoners boarding trains to death
camps that the plane was absolutely full.
When I got to my seat it had
a brown colored stain on it and since the plane was full I could not change
it. Then I learned that the seats do not
recline even an inch! I’m 6 feet tall
and weigh in at over 200 pounds. L.A. to
Chicago is a somewhat long flight.
The flight attendants were
very impatient with the passengers that were seemingly to slow at obeying
commands to stow those electronic devices.
I was wondering where Spirit
recruited their help. Those people
showed every sign of hating their jobs and the passengers.
I can’t imagine that every
flight is like that because if they were, Switzerland’s Human Rights
organizations would be investigating.
I have to admit I’m old
enough to remember when flying was fun.
Once upon a time, there was no frisking passengers or searching their
luggage. You could pay for your flight
with cash and board planes without ID.
The flight crews of old were
delightfully friendly. There were no
flight attendants. Stewardesses took
care of the passengers needs. They were young,
radiant and incredibly pleasant. Women
that were hard on the eyes or men simply were excluded from these
positions.
The glory days of airline
travel are long over and so what if I got spoiled but I refuse to pay for what
Spirit dishes out. I'd rather walk!
Frankly this single round
trip experience with Spirit was enough for me and I will gladly pay more to
avoid this airline.
