As if fees weren't enough

In his Sept. 7th New York Times column On the Road, Joe Sharkey discusses the airlines' newest method of saying "screw you" to their customers.

Numerous fees for every thing under the sun are no longer enough. Now in an effort to get people off the planes as quickly as possible and then clean the planes even faster, so they can be turned around for another flight, some airlines are prohibiting people from putting anything in the seat pocket in front of them!

In other words, you may not put your paperback book in the seat in front of you. You may not put your pack of tissues, your reading glasses, the magazine you bought at the airport, nothing, nada, zip, zero. Whatever you have with you either goes in your bag under your seat or in the overhead compartment. Screw you if you need them and can't reach them because the seats are too packed together so you can't reach under your seat or there's a bit of turbulence so you may not stand up to get to the overhead bin.

The airline Sharkey experienced this wonderful new rule on was SkyWest, one of the many regional airlines that operates as a subcontractor for some of the large, legacy airlines including United, Delta and Midwest. What's more, the flight attendent who enforced the rule with frigthening efficiency claimed the rule was a safety precaution. Since clearly my pack of tissues and People magazine pose no danger (I can't think of a single circumstance where they might), the "safety" rule is a ruse for some other reason. I can't help but wonder if this flight attendent actually believed she was ensuring the safety of her passengers by enforcing this inane new rule.

Sharkey goes on in his column to say that so far this rule has only been encountered by his readers on regional airlines. He adds that after speaking with the other airlines, they all said that by banning personal belongings in the seat pockets the airline can speed up the cleaning process.

But while this rule so far seems confined to the regional airlines, Sharkey brings up a valid point. Many people who fly regional flights actually booked their tickets with a major carrier, which then subcontracted a route it did not feel warranted one of its own planes to a regional carrier that specializes in the area. These fliers booked a ticket with the major carrier, they paid the major carrier, they expect the rules and regulations that are listed on that major carrier's Web site to prevail. But they don't, nor does the major carrier stick up for its passengers and demand that the regional airlines treat their passengers the way the larger airline would.

I find this hard to believe and once again I'm amazed at how the usual rules don't apply to airlines. If I go to a deli in New York City and order a bagel and that bagel has a piece of glass in it when I bite into it, the deli is responsible for my injury -- even if the deli didn't bake the bagel itself but instead bought the bagel from a bakery. So even though technically they subcontracted the production of their bagels to another company, because I bought the bagel from the deli, they are responsible. How come it's not the same with the airlines?

Is it because airlines offer a service, not a product. Is the company that does the subcontracting not responsible for service provided by the subcontractor it hires?

If I pay Airline A, if they are getting my money, then shouldn't I be subject to their rules? Shouldn't I get all the amenities they offer? Why is it o.k. for them to put a disclaimer in saying, we're not responsible for anything our subcontractors do?

As usual, the airlines leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth, praying for the day when the consumer is finally in a position to say "screw you" back to the airlines.