Airlines help, hinder

by Kenyon Bennett

The nation’s airlines have been in the news frequently since 2020, especially after the COVID pandemic took its toll across the U.S. and when Boeing airplanes had accidents. Airline travel decreased during and directly after the pandemic, but news reports indicate that travel has increased over the past two years.

When flying with American Airlines, bad weather or mechanical difficulties with planes have caused delays for me. Safety should always come first, so complaints were unnecessary. When needing to contact customer service about ticket questions with American Airlines, no problems arose.

A recent flight with Frontier Airlines out of the Dane County Regional Airport from Madison to Denver, Colorado, went well. Going through the security checkpoints with the TSA system at the Madison airport caused my eyebrows to rise when one TSA agent rudely barked directives at airline passengers. If anyone asked him a question in line, his tone of voice was noticeably condescending. The young man was tall, thin, and had very dark hair. He did not seem to like people. In no way did he use a polite manner like the other agents. He left me with a bad impression of human interactions.

When returning on Frontier Airlines from Denver to Madison, the TSA agents were polite and smiled. When I politely asked one agent a question in Denver, I smiled. He immediately returned the gesture. 

When interacting with TSA agents or others at airports, kindness counts. Be mindful that you are interacting in a polite manner. If a TSA agent or an airline employee is rude, just remember how many have been polite and helpful.

All in all, negative human interactions are like bad apples. One bad apple shouldn’t spoil the whole bunch.