Dale Martin, City Manager
Fernandina Beach
April 8, 2016 1:00 a.m.
The recent visit to Fernandina Beach by my daughters reminded me of the frustrations related to travel.
I expect that airlines rate somewhat similarly to Congress in customer service and job approval: low. Sadly, we probably can’t do much about either. We seem to be stuck with what we have.
We have four major domestic air carriers: Delta, United, American, and Southwest. Anyone over the age of forty can probably rattle off a few of long-forgotten carriers: Republic, TWA, Pan Am, Western, Eastern, Northwest, US Air, Continental, and probably a few more that I have overlooked. Secondary or regional carriers may be available in some areas, but costs, schedules, and reliability are perceived to be sacrificed.
As an alternative to using Delta to bring my twin daughters to Fernandina Beach for their spring break visit, I opted to experiment with Allegiant Air, who my brother had apparently used in the past. The ground travel was a little more cumbersome, involving the Toledo, Ohio, airport (rather than Detroit) and the Orlando Sanford airport (rather than Jacksonville). I thought that I might be able to save a little money since I was flying two kids down.
Well, it was pretty typical to buy the tickets. Then, though, I had to pay extra for a seat assignment- anywhere on the plane, not just first or business class or the roomier exit row. Then I was queried about carry-on and checked baggage- fees for each of those. Not too much savings related to airfare by the time all the fees were tabulated, but I still bought the tickets (and limited the girls to one carry-on- total; “DAD!”).
So the travel day (last Friday) arrives. I’m excited to see my girls and show them my new city and home. On the way to Jacksonville to first pick-up Lisa for the trip to Sanford, I get an alert informing me that the flight from Toledo is now delayed about two hours. I offer Lisa the opportunity to simply drive home rather than going with me. She passes (a decision later to be regretted, but I can at least say that I offered).
As we got closer to Sanford, the alerts grew more frequently about additional delays. We killed time by stopping for dinner and wandering through a mall. The mall closed at 9:00, and the twins hadn’t even left the ground yet (original arrival time was scheduled for 9:30). We went to the airport to wait. More delays. At 11:15, the flight was cancelled, and rescheduled for the following day (arriving- sure, it is- at 5:30 PM). So back to Fernandina. Lisa didn’t go with me the next day and things actually went as planned, but twenty-one hours late. I plan to stick with the convenience and reliability of Delta from Detroit to Jacksonville from now on.
What other options do I really have? When I was in Connecticut, I would drive to visit family in Michigan- across New York and Canada. With a special government document (NEXUS), I was able to expedite the border crossings and complete the trip in roughly ten or eleven hours. Most people in Connecticut thought I was crazy for driving that far (but Connecticut was a very small state and driving to the next town was considered a day-trip).
So I drive eleven hours at my pace and comfort. To fly, it was a roughly three-hour non-stop flight. Add two hours of travel time to each end of the flight for getting to the airport, parking, and security. That’s seven hours beholden to air carriers (and at a much higher cost). I’d rather drive.
Actually, I really prefer to take a train. After having living and traveling in Europe, I have had the opportunity to travel efficiently by train. Sadly, Amtrak doesn’t have a much better performance record than the air carriers. I tried to bring the kids to Connecticut by train: they were only twelve hours late, and part of the trip was by bus due to an earlier freight derailment. We sent ‘em back all the way by Greyhound (although on-time, the girls did relate that the characters on the bus were more “interesting” than on the train).
We’ve created this transportation conundrum by becoming such a mobile society. Just two or three generations ago, most people were born, raised, worked, and died pretty much within a very small area (usually the county). Now, everyone travels and moves with little effort. The effort, though, is more than balanced by the frustration of modern travel.
Truer word wer never written. Hate air travel these days, and your observations are so correct.
If airlines had the competition of high speed rail things might change but that would require an investment in infrastructure.
As a frequent flyer, I certainly share that pain. Having to make a trip a second day is a real bummer for sure. Thanks for sharing and hope your daughters have a wonderful visit and see the folly of their ways in staying up north.
Having traveled by air for 20 years almost every week I could not resist adding a comment. In the mid 90’s air travel was still fun or at least not down right frustrating. Sure I was frequently late by an hour or two but almost always arrived the same day. In the last few years that I traveled it became more common to spend an extra night either at home or on the road when a flight was canceled. With the security changes, strikes, bankruptcies and mergers the airline industry has changed dramatically and it seems that the employees are not as satisfied or a happy as they were when I started. As a result of these changes I will drive a 1000 miles to avoid getting back on a commercial plane. It can be cheaper and is definitely less stressful.
Jack Maris has a good point. During my final 6 years with the Navy (civilian side at the time) traveled 32 weeks a year. Decided to drive rather than fly when the distance was less than 600-700 miles – and rented a car for the trip. Worked out well in many ways, peace of mind and quiet time included. It is easy and inexpensive to rent with pick up, and return in Fernandina. Enjoy the open road.
Perhaps we should look more closely to the Japanese option, Beside being faster, high speed rail can be greatly more efficient in fuel consumption. NARP, (National Association of Rail Passengers) is the source of that assertion; I see nobody contradicting it vociferously or any other way.
HSR makes economic sense only in very dense population areas (Japan, China). The most touted HSR in the U.S. is the California project. Latest cost figures for the eventual 800-mile line from San Francisco to San Diego is $99 Billion or an average cost of $123 million per mile. The 520 mile portion from SFO to Los Angeles is estimated to cost $144 million per mile. And of course the cost estimates continue to increase as construction just begins, now more than triple the original estimates in 2008 of $32BN.
There is a legitimate reason the FL voters rejected the idea when the true costs became known.
I am confused. What is the point of “weekly comments” that have absolutely nothing to do with the city? Are we really interested in the city manager’s daughters’ travel issues?
I think it’s called “getting to know the man”. Not everything has to be business to understand a person’s background, hobbies, likes and dislikes and family life. I believe there are certainly a number of “learnings” from this experience that Dale will put to use in his City Manager role.
I agree with Dene Stovall, just what is the point? I want to know about my city’s problems and what he’s doing about them. Besides, my guess is that this is written on city payroll so let’s get down to brass tacks and forget the “getting to know you”. I prefer to “know” a person through their actions.