Dreaming of Air Travel's Glory Days

A few hours after I finish writing this, I will board a transcontinental flight and stay in a few East Coast hotels over several days. Ahhh, summer vacation. If only air travel were as enjoyable as it used to be, I would be 100-percent excited about my trip.

Mostly gone are the days of a trouble-free flight — at least for me. Five or10 years ago, while traveling to far-flung places like Tokyo or Santiago, Chile, my sole air travel woes were a) an MIA toothbrush after three on-board meals and b) not getting to my destination fast enough (because of enthusiasm, not leg cramps).

These days, an MIA toothbrush means nothing, considering that so many on-board meals themselves are MIA.

One of the most pleasant aspects of those "glory days" flights was the chance to spread out over a few seats. But as airlines eliminate flights, further crowding the planes, decent legroom comes at a cost — one I'm not fond of paying a premium for. (Sorry, Northwest, I probably won't pay $15 for 10 extra inches of legroom.)

I don't know if it's the leg cramps or the fact that the buoyant nomad in me has gotten a little jaded, but a flight from the West Coast to the Midwest has me counting the minutes now. This is not good, considering that I flew for business three times within a two-month span earlier this year. But that's nothing compared to the number of airline miles some Tradeshow Week readers log every two months. If you think I'm complaining, lend an ear to one of them.

A potentially worse situation for airline travel reared its ugly little head (and thankfully, subsequently went away) in April in a page 1 article in the New York Times. The story revealed that Airbus was quietly looking to introduce standing-room seats on its jets. Several days later, the newspaper issued a correction, noting that its questions to Airbus were "imprecise." Airbus also clarified to the Times that it researched the standing-room seats a few years ago and has since abandoned the idea. Whew — talk about leg cramps.

Still, I'll stop whining about air travel for two reasons. One, it could be a lot worse and, two, luckily for those constant travelers, hotels are making up for the airline industry's shortcomings.

While airlines appear to be pushing consumers away, hotels are reaching out and giving guests big bear hugs.

More luxurious beds, customized pillows and the ability to order room service online are just some of the perks hotel have introduced to keep consumers happy. Starwood Hotels & Resorts has gone as far as launching the new Sheraton.com Web site, which welcomes guests' comments. Not bad.

So, (aside from the likes of JetBlue) will major airlines reverse their policies and become more accommodating to passengers sometime soon? I doubt it. We can only dream (like I hopefully will get to do on my red-eye tonight) ... and applaud the hotels for picking up the pieces.

I know airlines are having a tough time these days — with high fuel prices, operations costs and increased competition — but the least they could do is keep the friendly skies, well, friendly. They should take a page from the customer service handbook for the Southern California grocery chain Vons. The fact that every single time I check out an employee asks me if I want help to my car — no matter if I have two items or 30 — keeps me a happy customer.