Do Airlines Care About Their Customers?

Our recent trip to North Carolina to see our son and daughter-in-law and to celebrate our granddaughter's first birthday was a great success, but the trip home was a downer, to put it mildly. From Raleigh-Durham was little more than two hours but the trip took nearly seven hours.  We were ticketed to leave for Memphis at l2 Eastern time but the plane was delayed and we would have had a six-hour layover in Memphis. We changed to a flight to Atlanta with connections to Shreveport.  The plane took a long time loading and the pilot immediately announced that we had to wait at the gate for an indefinite time because of showers in Atlanta.  We finally arrived at Atlanta and was able to make connections because that plane was late.  It stayed at the gate a long time, finally moving to the runway but again waiting for two showers to pass through.  In both cases where the airline knew take-off would be delayed why couldn't the passengers wait inside?  There you have access to REST ROOMS, things to drink, thinks to eat, more comfortable chairs, REST ROOMS, space to move around, and REST ROOMS, none of which are available when the plane is sitting at the gate.

And what about this 25 dollar charge to check a bag of  luggage?   Most people are avoiding this by stowing luggage overhead or, if the bag is too heavy or too large, leaving it at the front of the plane. Very little baggage was checked on the planes we rode.  Next time we'll know better and avoid that 25 dollar charge.

I could give airlines other suggestions but those will do for now.