Latest / Brian Thomas / IHeartMedia Aviation Expert Jay Ratliff

Transcript

IHeartMedia Aviation Expert Jay Ratliff · Brian Thomas

0:00
Speaker 1: If you have Caarsiti talk station. Happy Friday Eve, Happy
0:03
Speaker 1: Opening Day. Always a special time for me. I get
0:05
Speaker 1: to talk to and you get to hear us talk together.
0:07
Speaker 1: I heard medaviation expert Jay Ratlift. Jay, welcome back, my friend.
0:10
Speaker 1: Love having you on my program.
0:12
Speaker 2: Well, happy Opening Day to you, my friend.
0:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll keep our fingers crossed anyhow, Just laughing because
0:18
Speaker 1: someone suggested earlier that if the Reds have a really
0:21
Speaker 1: great season and we start selling out games a great
0:23
Speaker 1: American ballpark, they're gonna have to deal with the curfew.
0:26
Speaker 1: They've apparently relaxed the curfew law because of the opening
0:29
Speaker 1: day and the quantity of people are down there, so
0:31
Speaker 1: no curfew for young people will have to cross that bridge.
0:34
Speaker 1: Hopefully we'll get to that bridge because we'll be doing
0:36
Speaker 1: so well.
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Speaker 2: I would love to think that that would be something
0:40
Speaker 2: we'd have to worry about moving forward. Absolutely.
0:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, we all know where the bets are being placed
0:44
Speaker 1: on that anyway, Jay Ratlift. Let's get over to the
0:46
Speaker 1: list of topics we got this morning, and some good
0:48
Speaker 1: ones on the list, starting off with the latest of
0:50
Speaker 1: the New York plane crash Laguardi Airport and I got
0:53
Speaker 1: to see the video. We talked last week about this
0:55
Speaker 1: because it was kind of still unfolding, and then the
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Speaker 1: video of the plane impacting the fire truck came out,
1:01
Speaker 1: and that plane looked like it was going to hell
1:02
Speaker 1: of a lot faster than the twenty twenty five miles
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Speaker 1: prior was originally thought.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, well that was given off of some of the
1:08
Speaker 2: ground systems that sometimes have a difficult time measuring the
1:12
Speaker 2: ground speed. But that once the NTSB was able to
1:16
Speaker 2: retrieve both of the black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder
1:19
Speaker 2: as well as the flight data recorder, they're going to
1:22
Speaker 2: have all the specifics down to a te on everything.
1:25
Speaker 2: And one of the things we did find out was
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Speaker 2: one the aircraft was on final approach. The first officer
1:32
Speaker 2: was at the controls. It was it was his plane,
1:35
Speaker 2: and when they broke the clouds and just at the
1:38
Speaker 2: point they had rotated down where the Ford landing gear
1:41
Speaker 2: was on the runway, apparently that's when they spotted the
1:45
Speaker 2: fire truck, recognized the emergency at hand. Captain says, my airplane.
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Speaker 2: So you've got the more experienced to the two taking over,
1:52
Speaker 2: but they simply just didn't have enough time to do much.
1:55
Speaker 2: And you know, one of the things that I continue
1:58
Speaker 2: to look at through all of this is had they
2:00
Speaker 2: veered in any certain way where a fuel tank and
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Speaker 2: one of the wings could have been impacted instead of
2:05
Speaker 2: the nose of the aircraft, right, we could have been
2:08
Speaker 2: talking about totally totally different set of circumstances where we
2:12
Speaker 2: could have had a much more significant loss of life. So, yeah,
2:16
Speaker 2: a lot a lots being stated about these people that
2:21
Speaker 2: as far as the crew and all, maybe not having
2:23
Speaker 2: as many flight hours as you would like, but I
2:26
Speaker 2: think the investigation is going to show that those two
2:28
Speaker 2: pilots did absolutely everything they could with what limited time
2:31
Speaker 2: they had during a time you had a wet runway
2:36
Speaker 2: to try to bring that aircraft to a stop as
2:38
Speaker 2: quickly as possible.
2:39
Speaker 1: Well a stop or the other thought that went through
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Speaker 1: my mind and looking at the video, I appreciate that
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Speaker 1: this is not a realist, necessarily realistic opportunity, but not
2:48
Speaker 1: being a pilot, I got to ask the whole idea
2:50
Speaker 1: of maybe pulling out or doing a quick touch and go,
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Speaker 1: that's that was out of the out of the out
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Speaker 1: of the equation at that moment.
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Speaker 2: Well, the Delta taxiways is less than a third of
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Speaker 2: the way down the So when you have just landed,
3:03
Speaker 2: if you see there's an emergency and you've got to
3:05
Speaker 2: power up and take off, there's no way they had
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Speaker 2: enough real estate between them and the truck to roll,
3:11
Speaker 2: because again you're talking about touching down in that taxiway,
3:14
Speaker 2: being a third of the way or so down around
3:18
Speaker 2: down the runway, and a lot of individuals are saying, well, Jay,
3:22
Speaker 2: come on the fire truck, how could you not see
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Speaker 2: this airplane coming? But this wasn't a straight across delta
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Speaker 2: taxiway straight across as far as between where the fire
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Speaker 2: truck was progressing, if I'm reading the airport diagrams right,
3:37
Speaker 2: and from what I've seen, it was something that was
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Speaker 2: pointed more away for the aircraft, kind of at a
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Speaker 2: diagonal acrossing of the runway, so that the driver never
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Speaker 2: would have been able to see over his right side
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Speaker 2: as far as the approach of any aircraft, and the
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Speaker 2: person sitting on the right side would have had a
3:54
Speaker 2: difficult time initially. But what we can see from that
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Speaker 2: video that you referenced is that the fire truck did
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Speaker 2: at the last minute try to turn away, but obviously,
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Speaker 2: you know, not nearly enough, not soon enough for that
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Speaker 2: impact to take place, but just a lot of things here,
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Speaker 2: and the NTSB chief is going to continue to give
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Speaker 2: us a briefings, and I think that all of this
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Speaker 2: is going to show that there is a series of
4:17
Speaker 2: things that perhaps we could have done better. One of
4:19
Speaker 2: the topics that keeps coming up is the fact that
4:22
Speaker 2: the airport there is equipped. It's one of the I
4:25
Speaker 2: think thirty thirty five airports in the country that have
4:27
Speaker 2: got the technology where they can put transponders on the
4:32
Speaker 2: ground equipment where they can make sure where everything's at
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Speaker 2: at all times. And this fire truck was not equipped
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Speaker 2: with that. So I think one of the many recommendations
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Speaker 2: that the NTSB will probably roll out is let's make
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Speaker 2: the most of the technology that we have in place
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Speaker 2: at these airports to try to do what we can
4:51
Speaker 2: again to keep things off the runway that shouldn't be there.
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Speaker 1: Well, Jay, the old thing my parents thought me, you
4:56
Speaker 1: look both ways before you cross the street. And I'm thinking,
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Speaker 1: I don't want to cast any dispersions on the fire
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Speaker 1: truck crew, but you know, the world's an imperfect place.
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Speaker 1: Wouldn't it be a great idea just as a matter
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Speaker 1: of default and practice and protocol that before you cross
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Speaker 1: the runway you'll look on either side, because air traffic
5:11
Speaker 1: control can be overwhelmed and sometimes they get it wrong.
5:14
Speaker 1: So let's do a double check. I know that I've
5:15
Speaker 1: gotten the nose of my car torn off because I
5:18
Speaker 1: trusted the green light gave me straight an opportunity to
5:21
Speaker 1: go ahead without looking either way, only to have someone
5:24
Speaker 1: blow through a red light and crash into me. I
5:26
Speaker 1: never do that again. I get a green light, I
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Speaker 1: look both ways before I proceed into the intersection.
5:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, and pause just a bit. But you know, in
5:34
Speaker 2: the pilots when they're cleared to land, they recognize anything
5:37
Speaker 2: can happen at any time, So keep your head on
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Speaker 2: a swivel and look out for everything and anticipate a
5:42
Speaker 2: lot of different scenarios. And I'm sure that the fire
5:45
Speaker 2: crew is trained to do the same thing. Now, they
5:48
Speaker 2: were responding to an emergency. They're trying to get their
5:51
Speaker 2: head around what they're going to be doing when they
5:53
Speaker 2: get to that United flight that had declared an emergency
5:56
Speaker 2: because of odors on the plane with one of the
5:58
Speaker 2: crew members falling ill. So I know their mind was
6:01
Speaker 2: probably there, But you know, you trust air traffic control
6:05
Speaker 2: when you're giving clearance to land or clearance to cross
6:08
Speaker 2: that it's it's okay to do so, but you're right.
6:11
Speaker 2: And again, the investigation will show different things. Fortunately, the
6:14
Speaker 2: two individuals and the truck survived, so they will be
6:18
Speaker 2: able to be interviewed and they'll be able to give
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Speaker 2: a you know, a moment by moment account of exactly
6:23
Speaker 2: what took place. And I think that's going to help
6:26
Speaker 2: the investigators as well. And yeah, we'll see where the
6:29
Speaker 2: investigation goes. And again, hopefully we can find many things
6:33
Speaker 2: that we can put into place to make things safer
6:35
Speaker 2: for footing on the ground and certainly in the plane.
6:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, like a better communication between helicopters and
6:41
Speaker 1: flying around Reagan Airport. That comes to mind too, Jay Ratleff,
6:44
Speaker 1: let's Pauseible, bring Jay Rayt Let's talk about oh, look,
6:47
Speaker 1: TSA lines and maybe even still possible closures of airports
6:51
Speaker 1: more with Jay Radlft stick around fifty five the Todd
6:56
Speaker 1: k the talk station We've ever been in cockpit before
7:00
Speaker 1: it thirty nine fifty bout KIRCD Talk Station. Brian Thomas.
7:03
Speaker 1: If I heard media aviation expert Jay Riley, Jay, my
7:06
Speaker 1: friend Maureen Gotte touched me shoes waiting in the airport
7:09
Speaker 1: in Florida. Heated your advice. Got word went around that
7:11
Speaker 1: you know, TSA lines are really really long. Of course,
7:14
Speaker 1: because the government shut down, they're not being paid, they're
7:16
Speaker 1: not showing up. They have to get second jobs or
7:18
Speaker 1: they have to quit. Ice jumped in and tried to
7:21
Speaker 1: solve some of the problem. We'll ask you how that's going.
7:23
Speaker 1: But her point was, she showed up four hours early,
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Speaker 1: there was no line, she got right through, and then
7:29
Speaker 1: only to find out her flight has been delayed because
7:32
Speaker 1: there are problems that other airports. Ripple effect, meaning she's
7:35
Speaker 1: going to be stuck at the airport for at least
7:37
Speaker 1: eight hours before she can get out. Jay, this is
7:40
Speaker 1: a ripple effect problem, is it not?
7:42
Speaker 2: It is, although you can't we can't attribute a lot
7:47
Speaker 2: of the flight delays to the airport issues because airlines
7:50
Speaker 2: are going to dispatch those airplanes as much as they
7:52
Speaker 2: can right on time. We're as close to it as
7:54
Speaker 2: possible because delays cost them a great deal of money.
7:57
Speaker 2: Plus they've already got our money. So you know, the
8:01
Speaker 2: airlines are saying that, look, if you want to change
8:04
Speaker 2: your itinerary flight at a later time when maybe things
8:06
Speaker 2: aren't quite as crazy. They've issued a waiver which means
8:10
Speaker 2: that we can change our reservations absent of a change fee,
8:13
Speaker 2: which is really really uh, you know, kind of them
8:16
Speaker 2: and good to see and uh. But what I'm I'm
8:19
Speaker 2: seeing is in Houston and Atlanta and other places, we're
8:22
Speaker 2: seeing the TSA lines get shorter. So the processing time
8:26
Speaker 2: is getting better because those TSA agents are helping again.
8:29
Speaker 2: They can manage exit lanes, they can help facilitate the
8:34
Speaker 2: movement of the people that are there. They can do
8:36
Speaker 2: a lot of the non technical side of things while
8:39
Speaker 2: being there. And Brian, what I continue to see is
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Speaker 2: exactly what I expected. The more interaction that passengers have
8:45
Speaker 2: with ICE agents, the more they see that, oh my gosh,
8:48
Speaker 2: these people aren't the devil. They're not bad at all.
8:51
Speaker 2: They're kill me exactly. So if you're if you're on
8:56
Speaker 2: the democratic side of the discussion and you're thrilled with
8:59
Speaker 2: the chaos has been created because of the shutdown, one
9:03
Speaker 2: President Trump has stepped in to try to stop that,
9:05
Speaker 2: and I think it was a great move operationally. But
9:08
Speaker 2: the other thing you need to look out for is
9:10
Speaker 2: when you have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people
9:12
Speaker 2: to start interacting with these ICE agents, and they recognize
9:15
Speaker 2: that there are men and women just like everybody else,
9:18
Speaker 2: and maybe the way that they've been portrayed by some
9:21
Speaker 2: media is a little bit, shall we say off. I
9:24
Speaker 2: think that that interaction, the longer that it goes, is
9:27
Speaker 2: only going to work to the betterment of the ICE image,
9:30
Speaker 2: and I don't think it's going to go quite the
9:33
Speaker 2: way that we're seeing a lot of the Democrats want
9:36
Speaker 2: it to go, and that's one of the reasons I
9:37
Speaker 2: think that we're seeing so many of them scream get
9:40
Speaker 2: Ice out of the airports. Yeah, I know why you
9:43
Speaker 2: want them out of the airports because of the fact
9:45
Speaker 2: that that interaction with passengers has gone so good.
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Speaker 1: Their game plan is to cause pain to their constituents, yes,
9:53
Speaker 1: and ICE will take away the pain, obviously having an
9:56
Speaker 1: impact on their claim that ICE are a bunch of murderers.
9:59
Speaker 1: So this's a two full benefit for the Trump administration.
10:03
Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, it was a double win politically and operationally.
10:06
Speaker 2: When when it happened, I thought, you know, that was
10:08
Speaker 2: really a stroke of genius because you know, he's solving
10:11
Speaker 2: the problem as much as he can. Because it's out
10:14
Speaker 2: of his hands. It's the people in Congress's got to
10:17
Speaker 2: get this thing done. Yeah, And so as a result,
10:19
Speaker 2: he's like, well, I can't fix it, but what I
10:22
Speaker 2: can do is try to alleviate some of these delays
10:25
Speaker 2: at certain airports and deploying ice, which you know you
10:29
Speaker 2: just mentioned that word people going to hysterics was certainly
10:32
Speaker 2: a great idea because these are highly trained government agents
10:36
Speaker 2: and employees and look, they're trained in law enforcement. It's
10:39
Speaker 2: always good of an extra set of those hands around
10:41
Speaker 2: the security checkpoint as well. And they're doing a great job.
10:44
Speaker 2: So look, I know they're limited what they can do,
10:47
Speaker 2: but if they can free up other individuals to do
10:50
Speaker 2: other things, it's going to do nothing but help. And
10:52
Speaker 2: when you see the number of people that are calling in,
10:55
Speaker 2: I mean some of these folks have missed more than
10:56
Speaker 2: a month of paychecks and they've got to put food
11:00
Speaker 2: on the table. I totally totally get it. And Brandon,
11:03
Speaker 2: this can't go much longer because you just can't expect
11:07
Speaker 2: people to show up for work cheerfully, be there, do
11:09
Speaker 2: the job keeping all of us safe, and you know,
11:12
Speaker 2: we'll pay you when we get around to it.
11:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's I don't understand how they don't understand
11:18
Speaker 1: the optics and how terrible it is for them, but
11:20
Speaker 1: they'll struggle with it. And you have the other component
11:22
Speaker 1: opponent of this, and I hesitate to even say it
11:24
Speaker 1: out loud, But since the FBI has warned the American
11:26
Speaker 1: people generally speaking about large concentrated groups of people and
11:30
Speaker 1: keep your eyes peeled Opening Day parade, the DEM's playing
11:33
Speaker 1: with fire on this. And not only do you have
11:34
Speaker 1: those massive, unnecessary lines and pack full of areas of
11:38
Speaker 1: the airport that have not yet been screened, there's a
11:41
Speaker 1: potential there for a terrorist action, maybe even on an airplane.
11:44
Speaker 1: Nobody wants that to happen. But if that were to happen,
11:47
Speaker 1: I don't know how they get out from underneath that
11:49
Speaker 1: problem they created.
11:51
Speaker 2: I agree because it's well, you know, it's just a
11:54
Speaker 2: matter of what's the crisis and how can we find
11:57
Speaker 2: a way to blame it on our opposition? And it's
12:00
Speaker 2: really trained to solve problems. It's a perception problem, and
12:02
Speaker 2: they manage the perception of security and leadership instead of
12:05
Speaker 2: actually doing things. And we all know this, and we
12:08
Speaker 2: all get frustrated, but we keep sending the same bozos
12:11
Speaker 2: back to DC every single time, and it's like, I'm sorry,
12:16
Speaker 2: you know, this is what the consequences are for us
12:21
Speaker 2: voting to the same person back in I don't care
12:23
Speaker 2: which side of the aisle they're on. It just frustrates
12:25
Speaker 2: me because look, you know, last week we hit the
12:27
Speaker 2: thirty nine trillion dollar mark in the national debt. Took
12:29
Speaker 2: us five months from the time we hit thirty eight.
12:32
Speaker 2: It's going to take us less than five to hit
12:34
Speaker 2: hit forty and zero zero zero urgency to address that
12:38
Speaker 2: or take care of it, just like the Social security
12:40
Speaker 2: mess that were just years away from it blowing up
12:43
Speaker 2: in our face. So there's no leadership there. So and
12:46
Speaker 2: that's why when I hear these individuals talk about the Constitution,
12:49
Speaker 2: Declaration independence and how outdated that these people can't couldn't
12:53
Speaker 2: create something that could last twenty years, not two hundred
12:56
Speaker 2: and fifty years. So when I hear them spouting off
12:58
Speaker 2: about how or that needed to be changed, I'm thinking, well, maybe,
13:03
Speaker 2: but certainly not by you, because you can't fix any
13:05
Speaker 2: single problem that lands on your desk.
13:07
Speaker 1: See, this is one of the reasons I love talking
13:09
Speaker 1: on the program Jay have at it.
13:13
Speaker 2: I'm just I love it. I love I love our country.
13:16
Speaker 2: And when we've traveled the world, people come up to
13:19
Speaker 2: Sherry and I when they here speaking English, and they
13:21
Speaker 2: ask us what it's like to be an American? What's
13:24
Speaker 2: it like to be to have the freedom to start
13:26
Speaker 2: your own business, or you know, to buy land instead
13:29
Speaker 2: of like when we were in China, where you can
13:31
Speaker 2: rent it from the government for seventy years before you
13:33
Speaker 2: have to give it back. I mean, all of these
13:35
Speaker 2: things that we just take so casually for granted. And
13:39
Speaker 2: then I see somebody here with the little, you know,
13:41
Speaker 2: frown on their face, the sour puss and talk about
13:44
Speaker 2: how bad things are. And my first question is always, well,
13:47
Speaker 2: I mean, how many other countries have you been to
13:48
Speaker 2: and which country have you observed personally? That's better? Oh,
13:51
Speaker 2: you don't need to travel to know how bad? Oh,
13:54
Speaker 2: yes you do.
13:55
Speaker 1: Yes.
13:56
Speaker 2: Perception and perspective go hand in hand there, And it
14:00
Speaker 2: bothers me because look, I won the lottery being born
14:02
Speaker 2: an American, and I'm never going to take that for granted.
14:05
Speaker 1: Good and we'll bring you back. Is this an opportunity
14:08
Speaker 1: to join the mile high Club? United Airlines relax Row Plus,
14:12
Speaker 1: What is a customer of size. Going over to Southwest Airlines,
14:15
Speaker 1: we'll get a couple of seat policy changes with Jay
14:17
Speaker 1: after these brief words, fifty five KRC dot com the
14:22
Speaker 1: talks station eight forty nine. Here fifty five KRCD Talk
14:26
Speaker 1: Station Brian Thomas with j Ratliff. I heard media aviation
14:28
Speaker 1: expert and political commentator, which I love, Jay Ratliff. I
14:32
Speaker 1: got two new seat policies. I know one wasn't on
14:34
Speaker 1: the list. That will be answering the question over at
14:37
Speaker 1: Southwest what is a customer of size? But first the
14:40
Speaker 1: one that you put down, which looks like I don't know,
14:42
Speaker 1: based upon the photograph you sent me, an opportunity to
14:45
Speaker 1: join the mile high club made easier by United Airlines.
14:47
Speaker 1: I know I'm wrong on that, but that looks like
14:49
Speaker 1: a bed to me.
14:50
Speaker 2: It's a couch. Yeah, And I did not send it
14:53
Speaker 2: to you with that in mind. But that is the
14:55
Speaker 2: story of the day. The U United Airlines is doing
15:02
Speaker 2: a lot like Lutanza and a Zealand is doing, saying
15:06
Speaker 2: that we will on some of our wide bodied aircraft,
15:09
Speaker 2: which are the longer flights, we'll give you the opportunity
15:13
Speaker 2: if at the time of departure there's empty seats and
15:16
Speaker 2: you want to buy the row. You can buy a row,
15:19
Speaker 2: pay a little bit more money, and we will give
15:21
Speaker 2: you a little couch type of thing you can lay down.
15:23
Speaker 2: We'll give you a special seat belt that you can
15:25
Speaker 2: be secured in there. We'll give you a little pillow,
15:28
Speaker 2: little blank. If your kids are there, give them a
15:29
Speaker 2: little stuffed animal. Yeah. So the thought is, and this
15:32
Speaker 2: is brilliant. It's one of the ways airlines just continue
15:36
Speaker 2: to find a way to squeeze at every penny we can.
15:38
Speaker 2: Because let's say you've got a wide bodied aircraft that's
15:41
Speaker 2: twenty five percent empty, and you're thinking, how can we
15:43
Speaker 2: get more revenue from the people that are on there,
15:45
Speaker 2: because we can't sell any more seats. Ah, let's tell
15:48
Speaker 2: people that can buy the whole row. You know, maybe
15:50
Speaker 2: not as much as it would be triple the cost,
15:53
Speaker 2: but yeah, you can get your seat in the two
15:54
Speaker 2: next to you at a slightly additional fee and you
15:58
Speaker 2: can just lay down and joy the longer flight. So
16:02
Speaker 2: it's brilliant and United's the first US carrier to do it.
16:06
Speaker 2: And the thought is that you can you can relax
16:09
Speaker 2: and look at I remember back in the eighties, when
16:11
Speaker 2: I got started in the airline history early in those
16:13
Speaker 2: years nineteen eighty one, some of our load factors are
16:16
Speaker 2: forty five forty seven percent. You would frequently be on
16:19
Speaker 2: a plane when you know, the door shuts, flight tensions,
16:22
Speaker 2: move wherever you want, and you could have a whole
16:23
Speaker 2: road to yourself. Now those days are obviously gone. But
16:26
Speaker 2: now yourlines have found a way that if the flight's
16:28
Speaker 2: not entirely full and you are working and you want
16:30
Speaker 2: extra room, have the whole road to yourself, or you
16:33
Speaker 2: want you and your wife to or you know whatever.
16:36
Speaker 2: There's a way to do it. Of course at an
16:38
Speaker 2: additional cost, but hey, what a.
16:39
Speaker 1: Great idea, great idea. You know. One of the best
16:42
Speaker 1: flights I was ever on, Jay Ratliff. I was the
16:44
Speaker 1: only passenger on one of the small jets coming in
16:47
Speaker 1: from Chicago to Cincinnati. Oh what happened to everic you
16:50
Speaker 1: know who sat down next to me and gave me
16:52
Speaker 1: free drinks for the whole flight. The flight attendant. Absolutely,
16:57
Speaker 1: she was friendly. I'll tell you she was friendly.
17:02
Speaker 2: It's nice. And you know, if they can also do
17:05
Speaker 2: they sometimes they'll do a high performance takeoff if they've
17:08
Speaker 2: just got one on board and you're having fun with
17:09
Speaker 2: the pilots, they'll be like okay, and they'll send a
17:13
Speaker 2: little faster than normal. Just have a little bit of
17:15
Speaker 2: fun and you know that's always enjoyable as well.
17:17
Speaker 1: No doubt about it. And moving over, what is a
17:19
Speaker 1: customer of size? I guess it's if you spill over,
17:22
Speaker 1: or as Southwest referred to as customers who encroach upon
17:26
Speaker 1: their neighboring seats, I guess they're in for an additional charge.
17:28
Speaker 1: Now caught people by surprise, Jay.
17:31
Speaker 2: Well, you know it used to be with Southwest that
17:33
Speaker 2: you could pay for the seat and then if the
17:37
Speaker 2: flight was only so so empty that you could request
17:41
Speaker 2: a refund for the one seat that you had to
17:44
Speaker 2: pay extra. And a lot of people are calling this
17:46
Speaker 2: a fat tax because what's happened is Southwest has changed
17:49
Speaker 2: their policy where they only do this if the flight's
17:53
Speaker 2: not sold out or is sold out, and you have
17:56
Speaker 2: a shorter period of time to request the refund. And
17:58
Speaker 2: there's people that have gone the social media saying, hey, look,
18:01
Speaker 2: Southwest is you know, singled me out because of my size,
18:06
Speaker 2: and you know that's not really the case. What happens
18:08
Speaker 2: and I've had to add these conversations with people at
18:10
Speaker 2: the airport is to explain to them that they simply
18:13
Speaker 2: won't be comfortable in a seat by themselves like that,
18:17
Speaker 2: and they need a second seat. And I normally blame
18:19
Speaker 2: it on the fact that the seats are getting smaller,
18:21
Speaker 2: and of course the airline's doing what they can here
18:23
Speaker 2: to cram as many seats on an airplane, and you
18:26
Speaker 2: tell people that because of their big bone structure that
18:29
Speaker 2: they just need a little bit more room. And you know,
18:32
Speaker 2: most people that have flown understand that it's a sensitive
18:35
Speaker 2: conversation that you have kind of away from everybody else.
18:38
Speaker 2: But there are times when you have to pay for
18:40
Speaker 2: an extra seat. And of course Southwest has been very
18:44
Speaker 2: accommodating in a lot of regards to this in the past,
18:47
Speaker 2: and they've kind of been their own worst enemy because
18:49
Speaker 2: now that they're tightening up the restrictions just a bit,
18:51
Speaker 2: there's a pushback and it becomes, okay, this is all
18:54
Speaker 2: about revenue now. No, Southwest is kind of adopting the
18:57
Speaker 2: same policy every other carrier is doing and trying to
18:59
Speaker 2: be a sin as they can on it. I certainly
19:02
Speaker 2: don't have any problem with what they're doing, but again
19:05
Speaker 2: because of how things have been in the past now
19:08
Speaker 2: kind of translate into Southwest Airlines not caring right now
19:12
Speaker 2: to me.
19:12
Speaker 1: Not the case, any showing up as we always do
19:14
Speaker 1: on hub delayers. A little reluctant to ask the question,
19:16
Speaker 1: even given the TSA's problems we're facing here. But in
19:19
Speaker 1: so far as travel today, what's your take on at
19:21
Speaker 1: Jay Ratlers.
19:22
Speaker 2: Weatherwise in minor issues Minneapolis and maybe Detroit, and again
19:26
Speaker 2: I cite minor minor Miner's going to be a beautiful
19:29
Speaker 2: day to fly. However, we are still having pockets of
19:32
Speaker 2: some of the TSA lines being longer than expected. Now, look,
19:34
Speaker 2: we are very spoiled here at CBG, as you mentioned
19:37
Speaker 2: this morning when we'd let off, so a lot of
19:39
Speaker 2: people say, well, it's not that bad. So when they
19:41
Speaker 2: come back from some of these other cities, they're expecting
19:43
Speaker 2: to have the same sort of staffing that we have here.
19:47
Speaker 2: Not the case always. And the best thing to do
19:49
Speaker 2: is when you get to certain airports, just pull off
19:51
Speaker 2: and ask one of the TSA agents or supervisors say,
19:53
Speaker 2: look them scheduled to fly back next Tuesday. You know
19:56
Speaker 2: what's going on. How much time should I allow coming back?
19:59
Speaker 2: And they will be very forthcoming and saying, hey, glad
20:01
Speaker 2: you asked about three hours. Should do it for whatever
20:04
Speaker 2: it might happen to be. Because yes, it's bad enough
20:07
Speaker 2: that we have to endure travel now, Brian, we have
20:09
Speaker 2: to worry about what the conditions are going to be
20:11
Speaker 2: like when we get back to the airport. Can imagine
20:13
Speaker 2: going on vacation, trying to relax, worrying about you know,
20:17
Speaker 2: your return trip and whether or not yet it's it's
20:20
Speaker 2: let's get back to at least where we were at
20:22
Speaker 2: before all this mess and get people back moving