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Outside Magazine, April 2008

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The Travel Issue
You're Grounded (cont.)


	(illustration by Jameson Simpson)

What can I do if my flight is delayed or canceled?

Most airlines will let you wait out delays indefinitely, without showing you any love, a snack, or payback. Two exceptions are United and JetBlue. United offers discount-travel vouchers to passengers stuck on the tarmac for more than four hours. After JetBlue canceled 1,000 flights in February 2007, the airline devised a compensation system: For delays up to two hours, you'll get a $25 flight voucher. After six hours you'll be given a voucher worth the value of your round-trip fare, so long as the delay wasn't weather-related. As far as cancellations go, fighting for the gate agent's attention will get you zilch, because most airlines now use computerized rebooking systems. Your best bet? Learn to spot warning signs—a deplaning crew for instance—and call customer service, quickly. —C.M.

How can I protect my toys?

Lately, airlines have been getting stingy about checking gear—dinging you $85 each way, for example, to fly your surfboard from San Diego to Oahu. Here's how to beat the system.
SHIP: Texas-based Sports Express (sportsexpress.com) ships door-to-door, handles bikes of all sizes and surfboards under 7'3", and guarantees on-time arrival in 21 countries.
HIDE: If you do check gear, use a nondescript coffin bag. If the ticket agent asks what's inside, avoid using red-flag words like "board"—most airlines charge extra for surfboards even if they don't exceed the industry-standard 50-pound weight limit.
BRIBE: A workaround: Check curbside and tip well. A properly rewarded skycap—$20 should do—will usually wave your stuff through.

—M.B.



	(illustration by Jameson Simpson)

Who's to blame for the record delays?

Look no further than the air-traffic-control tower—we're headed for scary times if something isn't done to fix the frightfully understaffed ATC system. Bob Stalker, 50, retired last year after working as a controller for 25 years. His most recent post was at Denver TRACON, which guides 120 flights per hour into Denver International. "They should have 63 controllers at Denver Approach," says Stalker. "By the end of 2007, they were down to 37." When ATC is short-staffed, Stalker explains, controllers will simply stop planes from landing, causing massive delays on the tarmac. Trace the problem to 1981, when Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 striking controllers. The FAA rounded up replacements, and today many of those controllers are hitting retirement age (mandatory at 56). To make matters worse, the FAA has cut incoming controllers' pay. "We have a 15-year low in the number of certified controllers," says Alex Caldwell, a spokeswoman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. What happens next is anyone's guess. The FAA is clueless, and cash-strapped airlines aren't about to start dropping flights. "Within the next year, the delays are going to get so bad you won't believe it," says Stalker.

—M.B.

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