| Edition |
1st ed. |
| Description |
xii, 354 pages ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-335) and index. |
| Contents |
Sit down and shut up or we'll turn this plane around : why airline service has collapsed and air rage is soaring -- What happened to the airlines? -- Collusion and confusion : how airlines don't play by the rules, and how passengers pay -- So you think you've found the lowest fare -- A mad race to the bottom : how airlines mistreat employees, outsource, and ignore passengers -- When your airline isn't your airline : regional carriers provide lower levels of service and safety -- Outrageous outsourcing : the single greatest threat to airline safety -- Unsafe at any altitude? : facing unprecedented dangers -- Threats to survival : why many air crashes need not be fatal -- Lights, camera, strip search : the tragicomedy of airline security -- Cloudy skies : aviation's carbon footprint -- Ink-stained wreckage : how airlines manipulate the media. |
| Summary |
Journalist and consumer advocate William J. McGee offers an exposé on the "friendly skies." From outsourced call centers in India to the Alabama location where all lost baggage ends up, McGee traveled around the globe immersing himself deep into the world of commercial airlines. He interviewed countless industry insiders--pilots, TSA security screeners, FAA inspectors, legislators, the CEOs of the major carriers, Ralph Nader, and even the disgruntled flight attendant who famously jettisoned a JetBlue flight. He reveals how airline executives are cutting costs in "a mad race to the bottom" by delegating flights to second-tier regional airlines and outsourcing critical aircraft maintenance and repairs to unlicensed "mechanics" offshore. And while the U.S. airlines have raked in tens of billions of dollars for checked baggage alone in recent years, our skies (and our airports) are not getting any safer. What's more, McGee explains how all branches of the U.S. government have conspired to place corporate interests above the interests of consumers, workers, the nation's economy, and even the planet itself.--From publisher description. |
| Subject |
Airlines -- United States.
|
|
Airlines. (OCoLC)fst00802946
|
|
United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
|
| ISBN |
9780062088376 |
|
0062088378 |
|
