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AIRLINE ANSWER-PERSON

Bear River Pow Wow, Lac du Flambeau, WI

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About

I've worked for an airline for over 10 years as a station manager at a small, regional airport. The questions people ask me never cease to amaze me.

For example, if you are flying out of a small, regional airport it's not going to be a direct, nonstop flight unless you are only going to our hub. So if the hub is Chicago O'hare, for example, the flight from our small airport is not going to bypass Chicago and go directly to LAX nonstop. People will call and ask me, "do you have flights to New York?" and when I say yes and give them the various flight times and routing, they will often say, "you mean I have to go to Chicago first? Don't you have any direct flights from your airport?" (Yes we do, but I think those are called CHARTERS!)

I mean really, think about it. In our little airport if we had nonstop flights to every major city, how many jets would we have to have sitting out there?

Please, do not call the airport and ask me "how much is a ticket to Miami?" (How did you get my number anyway?!) You need to call reservations, a travel agent or go online to book airline tickets. I'm not a travel agent and the prices we can give you at the airport, are the most expensive.

You also need to know when you are going and when you are returning, to get an accurate price, and that price is only good for a few hours. If you are traveling 3 months from now, the price and probably the flight schedule, will change about 50 times unless you pay for the ticket today.

The ticket price depends on lots of factors, but a couple of them are when you book and how many seats are left on the plane. So if you call and ask for a price for a flight 30 days from now, a one-way ticket might be $89. If you show up at the counter on the date of departure to buy a ticket, that same seat might cost $379. And booking really far in advance, more than a couple of months, will NOT get you a better deal. It will only give you a giant headache. Start checking prices about 6-8 weeks before you travel and try to purchase at least 30 days prior.

Here are some of the questions I hear:

"When will the fog lift?"

"Are you guaranteeing that your next flight will go?"

"You're next flight is at 5:00 pm? Can't it leave earlier?";

"Why didn't you call me?" asked by someone with NO relevant contact information in their reservation. (FYI contact info from websites such as Orbitz, do not transfer to the airline.)

"How can it be cancelled? I called last Tuesday and YOU told me it was on time."

I know its a bummer when the flight cancels. You are going on vacation, you're all excited, you got up early, you're all packed and now the flight has cancelled. It totally sucks. But seriously, do you really want to be on a plane that is broken? With a pilot who hasn't had any rest? In a blizzard? I didn't think so.

So go ahead, ask me anything airline-related. I will try to answer your questions.

P.S. Most photos are not mine but are reblogged from other travelers on tumblr.

Ask me anything

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