United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care • Hacker News Board

Re: United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care

#121

Post by pcrh » Tue, Aug 14, 2012, 1:11 PM UTC

roel_v wrote: post #108

pcrh wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think weather forecasting is currently good enough for a farmer to plan which crops to plant based on rainfall predictions. If every farmer planted a diversity of crops to account for all likely weather scenarios, then the average productivity would drop, as most crops would turn out to be unsuitable for the weather that occurred.

"I don't think weather forecasting is currently good enough for a farmer to plan which crops to plant based on rainfall predictions." It's good enough to offer insurance to farmers for when harvests will fail. This exists, I know because I (even if only at arms length) work in this field.

Agriculture is boom-and-bust, precisely due to the unpredictability of the weather, infestations, etc. It's more predictable today than in the past, but there is still a lot of guesswork going on. There are sophisticated mechanisms in place for mitigating this, such as the futures market and insurance.

I'd wager that the "compensation" the hay farmer mentioned above is part of an insurance-type scheme. Maybe like this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/drough...

Re: United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care

#122

Post by acdha » Tue, Aug 14, 2012, 1:12 PM UTC

briandear wrote: post #101

ljf wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've only been to the US once, and I really wasn't sure how I would find the 'service industries' (waiting, bar staff, shop staff) always asking if I 'had a nice day' etc. I thought I would find it cloying and draining. In reality I generally felt VERY well taken care of by everyone I met in retail or service industries - EXCEPT for the airlines. We flew BA, London to LAX, and as ever BA were fine. We then flew Delta…

The unions are the big problem along with a lack if accountability. They can break baggage laws, for example, with impunity leaving the passenger little recourse except to attempt to sue in federal court.

That's not the union, that's the business. I guarantee that they would have no trouble getting rid of anyone, even a union employee, for stealing baggage: simply calling the police and charging them would take care of the problem. It's just that in the absence of government regulation[1] or a market with more competition, it's cheaper to pretend bag theft doesn't happen and let passengers pay for private insurance.

At this point, our best chance is probably convincing people that the bag theft rings are ripe for terrorist exploitation and we need point-to-point video tracking to prevent mass mayhem.

1. e.g. banning the “we reimburse everything at $2/pound & $0 for anything which uses electricity" clauses in every airline's ToS

Re: United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care

#123

Post by calinet6 » Tue, Aug 14, 2012, 1:15 PM UTC

stonemetal wrote: post #105

jhcoaps wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your post is endemic of something I see a lot on HN. You know nothing about agriculture, but you see a minor set of stories and you think you're a fucking expert. You have no idea if the diversified strategy has a higher expected value, or if it's just a variance play based on heat, or if different weather conditions could've affected interplay in a different way. You have no idea what the crop insurances for differe…

Your post is endemic of something I see a lot on HN. You know nothing about agriculture, but you see a minor set of stories and you think you're a fucking expert. What is with the create a throwaway account to insult people thing? Karma isn't worth anything why not burn it under your real username?

Frankly, HN is a better place if people value their accounts and their reputation. This is a Good Thing.

Re: United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care

#124

Post by greedo » Tue, Aug 14, 2012, 1:21 PM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #55

k-mcgrady wrote: post #36

United is clearly very wrong here and treating their customers poorly. But, and I'm sure this is going to be an unpopular opinion, who sends a 10 year old across the country on a plane alone? I wouldn't send a 10 year on a 30min bus ride alone. I understand United offers a service to make this possible but it seems like a ridiculous thing for a parent to take advantage of. Maybe it's a cultural difference and this is…

So long as your kid can handle him/herself for a few hours, what's the big deal? I believe parents are allowed to go through security to meet their kid at the gate, so really all the kid has to do is board, entertain him/herself, and deboard. As to why, specifically? Well, suppose you split custody of a kid with your ex-spouse, and you live in L.A. while ex-spouse lives in New York. Or, suppose your parents want your…

When my parents split up in the early 70's, I lived in San Diego and frequently flew by myself to Seattle (from age 8 til adult). It was a great experience, and I wouldn't trade it for much. Now as a father of two daughters, I'd be a little less cavalier, but I'd still want them to stretch their wings and learn a little resilience/independence.

Re: United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care

#125

Post by greedo » Tue, Aug 14, 2012, 1:25 PM UTC

CaptainZapp wrote: post #77

andrewfelix wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Used to do it via Qantas as a kid. The staff would watch you like a hawk. They even let you hang with the pilot for a bit.

Ahh, the old times of flying. When I flew from Zurich to Vienna with my sister she knew the purser of the flight. While she was immediately seated in business class I was asked if I would mind to enjoy the entire flight in the cockpit on a jump seat (yeah, I know: stupid question :) ) Even though I was in my late 20s it was a kid's dream come true. Needless to say that this was before 9/11 and that this would be comp…

I remember getting to sit in the flight engineer's seat while he took a break. My grandfather had been a Pan Am pilot, so this was heaven for me. Nowadays they don't have flight engineers, jump seats etc. All squashed up like a bus, and we wonder why they treat us like cattle.

Re: United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care

#126

Post by PaulAJ » Tue, Aug 14, 2012, 1:28 PM UTC

I don't know how accurate it is, but this article

http://philip.greenspun.com/flying/unions-and-airlines

provides an explanation of the chronic financial problems that airlines find themselves in. Briefly, the senior pilots get to negotiate their own pay rates, and since they have the airlines over a barrel they always wind up taking any profit themselves.

Of course that means that airline management is permanently strapped for cash and has to spend the bare minimum on everything else.

Re: United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care

#127

Post by lusr » Tue, Aug 14, 2012, 1:30 PM UTC

jhcoaps wrote: post #94

chimi wrote: post #33

This is a problem bigger than United -- which has a lot of problems. This is what you get when you subsidize bad companies that need to fail. United needs to fail so someone better can take over. The moral hazards are ruining the country. I saw it recently with farmers struggling from the drought. Compare this farmer: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7417774n who has acres full of hay that don't do well in the…

Your post is endemic of something I see a lot on HN. You know nothing about agriculture, but you see a minor set of stories and you think you're a fucking expert. You have no idea if the diversified strategy has a higher expected value, or if it's just a variance play based on heat, or if different weather conditions could've affected interplay in a different way. You have no idea what the crop insurances for differe…

Your post is endemic of something I see a lot of on the Internet. You hide behind an account you just made, aggressively, lengthily and rudely responding to somebody who actually desired to contribute to the discussion without contributing much of anything yourself, without seeing the irony in any of this.

Re: United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care

#128

Post by ycomboman » Tue, Aug 14, 2012, 1:34 PM UTC

beagle3 wrote: post #70

benologist wrote: post #17

United are losing it at the moment. I had 2 flights the other week where they couldn't even get someone to move the walkway thingy in line with the plane so we all just stood around waiting after we landed. On one flight the pilot actually phoned because he couldn't get anyone on the radio. They're really hit and miss with the service - it's either great or it's shit. Sometimes I really love them... I've had two flig…

My experience is that it's very simple: - What was previously Continental, works well. - What was previously United, doesn't. I'm sure the Continental parts will converge to mediocrity given enough time - but for now, they're still closer to Continental quality than to old-United quality.

The reason Continental part works is because CO systems were chosen as a part of merger and UA agents are not well trained in the mainframe commands. Airlines still use Mainframe systems with green screens for agent use

Re: United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care

#129

Post by mitchty » Tue, Aug 14, 2012, 1:34 PM UTC

imgabe wrote: post #120

chimi wrote: post #33

This is a problem bigger than United -- which has a lot of problems. This is what you get when you subsidize bad companies that need to fail. United needs to fail so someone better can take over. The moral hazards are ruining the country. I saw it recently with farmers struggling from the drought. Compare this farmer: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7417774n who has acres full of hay that don't do well in the…

Your farming example is ludicrous. We need hay as much as we need sorghum. We can't have every farmer planting only one set of crops based how they expect the weather to be. First, it would absolutely crash the market for that crop when the harvest came in, and second there would be none of the other crops that are necessary.

Not only that but you have to rotate what is planted in fields or you'll basically decimate the fields productivity.

The guy putting in hay just got unlucky this year. I grew up on a farm, this isn't unheard of. Also sorghum doesn't grow well in all areas, where I lived corn and barely/wheat/rye were the best crops. Sorghum grew, just not all that great due to growing season. We never ever planted the same field twice in a row with the same crop. Some years we left it fallow (nothing planted) to give it and the microorganisms a rest.

I think the parent poster lacks some fundamental knowledge of crops with his analogy.

Re: United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care

#130

Post by tokenizer » Tue, Aug 14, 2012, 1:39 PM UTC

calinet6 wrote: post #123

stonemetal wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your post is endemic of something I see a lot on HN. You know nothing about agriculture, but you see a minor set of stories and you think you're a fucking expert. What is with the create a throwaway account to insult people thing? Karma isn't worth anything why not burn it under your real username?

Frankly, HN is a better place if people value their accounts and their reputation. This is a Good Thing.

Some people value being able to mask their account to voice their true opinion.

It doesn't mean he's creating an account to troll necessarily, but to conceal his more reputable account from things we all know if possible; abuse. Something your parent doesn't seem to respect.

"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire