For years now we have been traveling internationally. We have never had any problems other than the typical things that we are responsible for. These are things as making sure all of our travel documents are up to date and confirmed, packing what we need and time management. These are the basics and of course we understand further our responsibilities as outlined by most airlines. These can usually be found on Airline websites. As time has progressed in the past fifteen years of traveling, we have noticed a great deal of changes. It is incredible how fluid travel can be. If you think about it, moving from one part of the world to another has never been easier. It is logistically involved, but not really.

You buy a ticket; you pack; get to the airport, board the plan and arrive at your destination. We all know that it generally works like this until of course we miss a rule that the airlines have documented for us but of course we have not read; such as forgetting a key ring knife you had on your key chain. But of course this was never a big deal; they had this service box where you just mailed it to yourself, if you wanted to. These have somehow disappeared, no doubt for some security reason. Probably for fear that someone would deposit an explosive or something. Gone are the days of services. Today everything is driven around FEAR. Flying has been easy and the cost has really not increased. Noticeably the cost of flights for the same destinations in the past ten years really has not changed considerably. Oh, and facilities have gotten so much better. Firstly, the airports have all been considerably revamped and upgraded. Our experiences inside the airports have become a non-issue regarding checking in, security, customs and baggage. When in the airport, we have plenty to occupy our time and services to aid us to work or communicate. It’s really pretty amazing.

With all the modernization around the airport facilities around the country and the world, there is a missed target from the management of these airports. They forget about “the people”. I wonder if there has been anyone brought in to study and focus around “Process” and “Service” of the “System”. This System is a conglomeration of services and for sure I feel that each of these parts have studied their process and service to see how they can further ease and influence the customer experience, especially since it pertains to profit. I don’t have a problem with profit; it is a driver and a good driver against ourselves. I say this because you can never be too one sided as one side will always take advantage, this is just human nature. I think it is, but I’ve also seen this to be an aspect of a society. So this missed target, may very likely be because facilities management is focused around managing the facility, so what happens is that no one has any focus on this area. This may not be true; I’ve no knowledge about the business. Our experiences around the airport facility are due to good design. This is planned and studied from the beginning by Architects and civil planners who specialize in the flow of traffic; people traffic. So for the most part, they are getting it right. What has been happening that affects our experiences is when the companies come in and alter the original plans. It may not be alter; it may be utilizing inefficiently the space. This of course is all due to contracts and rights of use, etc., etc. So when there are not enough people to assist us in direction or questions, someone should be looking at the whole customer experience, an ergonomic process flow around time and space. I for one wished that signage was better, simpler and that I didn’t have to stand in so many lines. What about all the stupid issues around luggage. Why are they making luggage that does not conform to international standards? We always have a problem with weight or size or what we can take on board or not. For example you could get on one leg of a flight with a carry on with no problem but then on your connecting flight, your told that you have to check that carry on because it is too big and then when you go to check it, they tell you, you have to pay. Or book a seat and then have to reconfirm and then get re-assigned the seat that I booked. Or be dealt suspicious and/or suspiciously by Customs and Security. It really kills the experience. And what about First Class seating, haven’t we advanced our society a bit better than the Bourgeois-Proletariat days.

So, with the advancement of the aviation industry why do things still happen? Simple, as with any other thing; Human factor/s. Funny thing is that my thoughts are contradicting. I think that there should be more controls around the human factor but I am also a believer in that people will generally do the right thing given they are not mistreated. Well unfortunately we don’t treat each other equally and society does not perceive us all to be equal, and thus the Controls. Funny thing about controls and rules and regulations, it stops us from thinking. I’m often told that those are the rules and they don’t know why, “I don’t know why, those are the rules”. Wow!

So yea, we’ve been traveling for over a decade and shuttling stuff and bought stuff from here to there without a hitch. Until recently, on a leg from Boston to Madrid with a stop over in Paris. We were robbed. This was with Air France. Now everything went without a hitch leaving Boston. All our luggage arrived in Paris. In Paris, we missed our connecting flight and had to take the next one. One of our luggages didn’t make either flight from Paris to Madrid. In Madrid, you had to make a claim. Funny how you have to make a claim with all the tagging and coding done to your luggage. And the luggage arrived later in the evening and was delivered the next morning. And then we discovered the robbery. This was not an item or two, this was a timely search and carefully planned robbery. This particular piece of luggage contained a lot of shopped merchandise from clothing for the kids, to Halloween items to cosmetics. Funny how this piece of luggage didn’t make the trip in conjunction. So here is the list of items stolen:
Adult male Polo Sweater
Adult female Polo Sweater
Adult female sweater from Macy’s
Woman’s Clinique repairware
Woman’s hairclip
Woman’s purses, two purses
Girls Halloween costume
Girls dress, two dresses
Girls American Girl store gift (little stuffed dog Coconut)
Boys Polo sweater
Boys Gap shoes
Boys Gap pants
Three packs of Halloween sticker for the kids.

This was half the luggage. This was not just one or two items, this was a person brazen and ballzy. This was a person who knew what was of value and maybe even strapped for the holidays. Or this person was hit by the crisis and knew they were going to get laid off soon. This person was family person, I’m thinking woman only because of the hairclip thing who had two children. In any event this is a sign of the times.