Americans know flying in this country is awful. They don't need psychologists to explain it to them

I’m old enough to remember when flying domestically in this country was actually a pleasure. It was truly an idyllic time: no intrusive security screenings, free meals included with the price of a ticket, free blankets and pillows, in-flight magazines, a free movie (sometimes even two!), and fairly comfortable seats. There were no admonitions to keep your seat belt fastened “at all times” mid-flight, no obnoxious credit card pitches delivered over the plane’s PA system, and most notably there was usually plenty of overhead baggage space because people typically checked their bags free of charge without feeling compelled to overstuff a so-called “travel bag” containing a week’s worth of necessities simply to avoid being charged an onerous fee.

The pre-flight environment was also noticeably different. Boarding was a fairly routine process, unencumbered by selective prioritization of certain passengers beyond first class, active military members, families with small children, and people with disabilities. (The standard call was for “people who need a little extra time to board.”) Overbooked flights were seldom a problem, and if someone had the misfortune of being bumped due to overbooking, the airline would immediately try to find you an alternative flight on another carrier, or, if necessary, provide you with a voucher and transportation cost to a decent hotel for the night. People generally weren’t forced to sleep in airports, for example.

Virtually none of those amenities exist anymore for domestic fliers. Instead the process for passengers on most of the major airlines is akin to a “Hunger Games” competition for ever-dwindling vestiges of common decency. It’s a grasping for small gestures of magnanimity evidencing some slight reassurance that the airlines regard their customers as anything but cattle to be prodded into an uncomfortable, stifling, and sterile metal tube for several hours. In short, for most Americans it’s an unpleasant, stress-inducing experience. Throw in the time constraints and added pressure occasioned by the holidays and it becomes even worse.

Of course, customers—particularly ones who still possess some dim, vestigial recollection of that halcyon “before” time—have reacted in ways you might expect.

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