The CRM Cynic: Anarchy in the Air

As always, it falls upon the great American novelist Theodore Dreiser to illustrate modern life. In his 1914 novel, The Titan, he described the lack of concern shown by Chicago streetcar operators towards their passengers.

“So they had gone on and on, adding lines only where they were sure they would make a good profit from the start, putting down the same style of cheap rail that had been used in the beginning, and employing the same antique type of car which rattled and trembled as it ran, until the patrons were enraged to the point of anarchy.”

Doesn’t that sound like a mode of travel we all use today?

Maybe the airlines don’t put straw on the floor like the streetcar owners did, but they are just as bad, despite their many marketing accomplishments.

Flying is a hellish experience, especially for economy class business travelers like me. The planes are cramped and filthy, and they’ve stopped serving meals. Soon you won’t even be able to get water.

And it’s not as if all this is in the interest of running better businesses. Several airlines are bankrupt or on their way there.

I can remember when flight attendants were courteous to a fault. Now they are surly. But don’t become enraged to the point of anarchy: If you so much as talk back to them, they can have you arrested as a security threat.

And don’t even mention safety.

Last summer, a United plane I was on was hit by wind sheer while landing in Denver. As we slammed into the ground and bounced several times before lifting off again, I reflected grimly that United was bankrupt. If we crashed, my wife might not even be able to collect.

Don’t believe their press releases about customer service. Amtrak is looking better every day.

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Note: The Titan is the second volume of a trilogy on the life of robber baron Charles T. Yerkes (fictionalized by Dreiser as Frank Algernon Cowperwood). The other two books in the trilogy are The Financier and The Stoic.