Incredibly, They’re Wrong
As I was doing PT this morning, CNN played above me. There was a story about an “Airline Passengers Bill of Rights“. In other words, “hey, here’s another excuse for more government regulation”. Included in the story was a small quote by Kate Hanni, executive director of the Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights.
“Incredibly, prisoners of war have more rights than passengers on a commercial airliner,” Hanni said at a press conference.
Of course, I got offended. It’s the PC thing to be these days, I hear.
Here’s why I say that. Prisoners of War have no choice about where they are put – airline passengers do! I can’t help but wonder if a person were given a choice of being a prisoner of war or having to sit on the tarmac of an airport for five hours which one he would choose. My money is on sitting in an airplane. People CHOOSE to stand in long lines at an airport, get treated like crap by the TSA, run from gate to gate to make a connection, and sit in a stuffy airplane. It’s no secret that delayed flights are more the norm than the exception these days. Don’t like it? Take a train, drive, or teleconference. Must every inconvenience in life lead to government intervention instead of just forcing the industry to change by taking our business elsewhere?
Okay, enough about that. Something else I want to complain about – retirement! An independent commission is suggesting that the military retirement system be overhauled.
Under the proposal, retired pay would begin at age 62 for those with 10 years of service, age 60 for those with 20 years, and age 57 for those with 30 years. Retirees could get paid sooner if they accept a 5 percent cut for each year of early payment.
The military is a much different career than any other. It requires more sacrifices than any other profession – along with police officers and firefighters. A Soldier that puts in 20 years of active duty service – especially in today’s high optemp environment – is equivalent to putting in 30-40 years in at any other job. Soldiers frequently work 12 hour days, much more than most professionals. That’s WITHOUT deployments, field time, training events and TDYs. It’s not uncommon in the combat environment to put in 16-18 hours a day, seven days a week for 15 months.
I’ll admit, it will be weird to be “retired” when I’m 40 if I get out after just 20 years. Imagine those troops that came in straight out of high school. They’ll only be 37 or 38 when they retire. Yes, it’s a young age to be a “retiree”, but look at what that Soldier had to go through during that 20 years. When I left for Iraq, I had a full head of light brown hair. After 14 months of combat, I came back looking 10 years older. Emily almost didn’t recognize me if not for my stunning good looks and sweet odor of extreme manliness!!
People worry about the “unemployment rate among veterans” and then we have idiots going around suggesting we withold retirement pay from veterans for more than 10 years after getting out. Does anyone think that’s really going to help that particular problem? Thankfully, groups like the Military Officers Association of America, IAVA, and American Legion will be taking this on head on. It can’t be allowed to happen. Soldiers give everything they have for their country and denying retirement pay for faithful service shouldn’t be another sacrifice they’re forced to make.
Kate Hanni
February 29th, 2008 at 8:41 pmOK, so I get your point. We do have the choice whether or not to fly. But if you have to get somewhere that’s a long way from where you are currently, and you need to get their fast, there is no other option than air travel.
That said, you will not be guaranteed that you can get off of the plane, get potable water (see the new EPA report on Coliform in the water on the airlines) and that you will be able to have any goods or services during your time on the ground…which by the way could be indefinite. Most likely it won’t be, but it could be. So if you are a prisoner of war, at least your rights are spelled out for you. My point is that in the Contract of Carriage for any of our Domestic Carriers, your rights are not spelled out and the ones that appear to be are unenforceable.
I would love to have this conversation with you, please feel free to contact me any time at my e-mail address.
Kate Hanni
Founder
CAPBOR
CJ
March 5th, 2008 at 1:05 pmKate,
I completely agree that there need to be some standards set by the airlines – without government intervention and silly laws being made. My problem is merely in the comparison of POWs with people stranded at the airport. The issue of a Flier’s Bill of Rights is fine by me. I guess it gets down to individual responsibility. If an airline doesn’t meet our expectations, we just choose another airline. If we don’t like what’s on a particular television channel, we just change the channel. This tendency to run to the government every time we are inconvenienced is going to spell our doom eventually when the government decides to manage every aspect of our lives through their fascist policies. My email is cj[at]soldiersperspectives[dot]us if you ever want to talk one on one.