Flight of fancy

Growth of air travel, proliferation of airlines, marked competition have led to a commoditisation of the experience

In the not too distant past, air travel used to be a pleasant experience. Airlines served up comfort and good manners, and the passengers turned up smartly dressed and polite. The world was not as small as it is today, and the aircraft still had an aura of wonder about it. Airlines had not yet embarked on the quest of seeking how many sardines can be crammed into an alloy tube without the sardines actually dying from asphyxiation, and travellers were more accommodating of the eccentricities and manners (or lack thereof) of the Neanderthals amongst them. It was a time of the bon vivant flyer, who expected, and more importantly received, a level of service that today is all too lacking, unless one pays upwards of $20,000. Air travel was still an exotic experience of sorts, and not as mundane as taking the local bus. Security checks were not as intrusive as an annual medical, and the traveller was generally not vexed with questions of baggage allowances. A flight provided the opportunity to strike up conversation with a total stranger and learn more about the human experience.

Today, the world is smaller than it was yesterday. The aircraft are faster and bigger, and capable of non-stop flights from Singapore to Newark. Onboard amenities today make the luxuries of yesteryear seem positively primitive, ranging from the hundred-plus movie inflight entertainment system on board to the improved seat design, and to the well-appointed business and first class cabins to the culinary offerings. Airports compete for business and many are architectural wonders and shopping paradises, a far world from the erstwhile grey and drab blocks of concrete and glass thrown up in the first 60 or 70 years of commercial aviation. The number of carriers and routes and connections have increased manifold, and the world appears better connected than ever before, all promising improved understanding between different peoples and cultures.

Sadly, the progress has been achieved at a cost — the growth of air travel, proliferation of airlines and marked competition in the sector have all led to a commoditisation of the experience. The human element, from planning your travel to buying your ticket, has been reduced in the equation to a recorded voice over the telephone in most cases. Onboard service levels have, on average, become businesslike; respectful yet terse, a far cry from the pampering and gentle attention one received in the 1970s and 1980s. Booking a ticket has become as bamboozling as solving the Riemann hypothesis, given all the permutations vis. route options, weighing perks versus costs, etc. Deciding what and how much one should carry is more important than the objective of the travel. The airport check-in and security screening experience is as pleasant as having a root canal sans anaesthetics.

The increased stress of air travel has led to the diminishing of our patience with, and tolerance of, others during flight — this has led to rude behaviour, which at times, leads to incidents now known as ‘air rage’. Our increased personal isolation, thanks to the world of smartphones, has reduced the human bonding with our fellow traveller. We board flights with a foreboding of the sociability of the person sitting next to us instead of with the hope of finding somebody to chat with for a few hours and enriching our knowledge of the human experience. Once the flight takes off, we bury our noses in our tablets or laptops, less out of the requirement of finishing a presentation or an assignment, but more with the hope of being left alone.

Technology, with all its wonders, has left a mark on the human condition that cannot be erased; it has made us better connected, yet made us insular; it has brought global knowledge into our homes, yet nearly obliterated our capacity to learn from a person sitting next to us; technology has improved the quality of our physical well-being but at a cost to our mental comfort. Modern-day air travel is a manifestation of this march towards progress: all the conveniences apparently visible, yet enjoying the experience as a whole is a flight of fancy.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2014.

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