I Want To Tell You What I'M Doing Today

I agree with you. Flying today is not as pleasant as it was when I first flew 50 years ago.

Yes the planes are larger and faster but the comfort has plummeted. In the past you sat beside someone and could ignore them or converse with them as you chose. Now we are squashed against each other, pressing flesh, and you cannot ignore them.

The schedules of flights has gone to hell with the modern hub model. If I want to go somewhere not one of the 15 hub cities then I must first fly to the hub then wait around then get on another plane to go to desired airport. A lot of wasted time with security and stopovers. My baseline is now 10 hours. I do not fly if I can drive in less than 10 hours.

I agree totally! Seriously doubt that I will ever fly again after my last experience.

I thought about this some more and I feel that flying used to be somewhat romantic. We were off on an adventure to somewhere exotic. We were treated like we were special.

Now it is a generic mundane experience where we are shuffled about like a flock of sheep about to be fleeced.

Your last sentence actually said it all. Right after 9/11, Baby Bush took the subsidies away from the busses and rail travel and put them all into airlines, thus severely lowering the cost of flying. In other words, all the people that could only afford greyhound are suddenly flying. That is why you have seen the change you have.