Which Is More Important, A Clean Plane Or An On-Time Departure?

by Gary Leff

News and notes from around the interweb:

  • American tourist accused of throwing scooter down Spanish Steps (HT: Paul H)

  • Actually caring for people on life’s journey.

  • It’s Bob Jordan but who’s counting?

  • IHG hotels discount, any small business qualifies and we all have small businesses.

  • Basic cleanliness is more important than T0 (‘exact on time turns’). But the real question is, what is an airline doing that puts them in the position of having to make this choice? And how can they put in place measures to get cleaning done more quickly, so that proper cleaning doesn’t take as long?

  • One of the most frequent complaints on Twitter. Gate agents start requiring customers to gate check bags too early out of fear that someone might board, find no space, then have to return to check a bag in the final minutes before a flight. They don’t want to be blamed for a two minute delay. And American’s systems also prompt agents to start requiring gate checked bags based on route, time of year, and other factors.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Comments

  2. Not to worry! With the exception of only a handful of airlines, you don’t have to decide because you won’t get either!

  3. Two weeks ago, my plane was delayed an hour for cleaning. It was for a 30 minute flight.

  4. Heck Farr, it may well be because someone barfed all over their row. I cleaned up many of those through my years and it takes time to do it right. I’ve had to replace the seat covers and cushions, shampoo and deodorize the carpet, and clean the seat back fabric. Only one person fits in the row to do all that.

    Besides, it makes the whole plane smell like vomit. Most people would rather we took the time.

  5. i’m most concerned with whether or not the plane and crew are LGBT friendly. I’d rather have a drunk pride flag waving pilot than a veteran pilot without a pride pin.

  7. Solution to bag problem- status or carry the airlines credit card. If you’re so cheap you’re in boarding group 9 and you have to gate check your steamer trunk because you’re too cheap to check it (again, solved by status or CC), I’ve got little sympathy. Either you pay a little more in money or you pay in convenience – rarely does life give you top tier service for free, so stop whining about it and start adulting.

  8. @james and @David Miller — Not sure what an LGBT-friendly crew has to do with the topics discussed in Gary’s article. I prefer a clean plane that departs on time, leaving bigots behind.

  10. While Alaska Air has had their recent operations meltdown, we’ve noticed missed cleanings that allowed leftover items to remain. This includes used tissues in seat pockets, spilled wine from overnight flights (found dried red wine all over the J center console on the 1st flight of the morning), and other opened snack packages by or on our seats.

    For those of us on mileage runs, it’s hard not to notice that there are no wipe downs or vacuuming of seats & floors anymore. Disturbing.

  11. The girl in Rome and @David Miller: both show why Americans are disliked in the world. For the amount of money Americans spend on education, you might think it would have some impact. Clearly not. Add that you can’t buy class, admit it, Americans are hopeless.

  13. Didn’t take long for the maga crowd to show up, off topic of course…..

  15. @David Miller: there must be an insurrection in some state you are missing. Please participate and stay home in the US. You might find France to your liking, even Le Pen found 40% similar to you

  16. Ray – I will stay in America and continue to speak out about the sickness of these deviants as they continue to corrupt the minds of Americans with their immoral life styles.

  17. Ask Air Canada. Less than 50% on time performance and dirtiest planes in North America

  20. @DavidMiller
    Why would you comment on what James said when it obviously has nothing to do with you. As I see it that’s James problem, not yours. Morals is not spelled morels unless you’re talking about mushrooms. Talking about about being brain washed, you’re obviously a Chump Fool.
    @Tim j
    That’s pretty funny.

Comments are closed.