I am a fairly frequent flyer. There are some basic survival skills and etiquette points modern airport travelers should know: never check a bag if you can help it; don't crowd the boarding area ahead of your boarding group; the armrest is for the center seat; if you bring a meal on a plane, consider its aroma; keep your shoes on; exiting the plane is done by row, not a mob rush.

But none of these can prepare travelers for times when airlines show complete disregard for their staffs and their passengers. Dear readers, I present to you American Airlines in 2023.

I flew at least 60 segments on American this year, in 15 round trips, or 30 inbound and outbound legs. On 28 of these legs the final arrival was delayed by two hours or more. These delays were caused by mechanical problems in 24 instances. I was rebooked onto new flights in the middle of the night hours before my flight three times. I missed connections three times.

Finally, this month, after flying nearly 2 million miles with American, I had had it. I sent in a complaint. I received a response within hours: "We realize you are more likely to experience a flight delay or cancellation than our average customer would due to your frequent travel."

This is akin to the plumber you called on Christmas Eve telling you that the flooding in your basement was most likely caused by liquid.

Here's the thing. I get that hotels and restaurants have really struggled since the pandemic. I know many have closed and those that are open struggle to find and retain staff. I temper my expectations accordingly.

The airlines received $54 billion in three separate bailouts related to the pandemic. They were also offered $25 billion in loans. The bailouts came with strings: dividends and stock buybacks were prohibited through September 30, 2022, and the airlines were to keep their employees.

On this latter condition, the airlines reneged stealthily. They encouraged early retirement or voluntary employee buyouts. Then, as travel picked back up again, the airlines made it difficult for these employees to return to the workforce and hired more junior replacements. Between the first and second bailout, American saved $500 million by reducing its nonunionized workforce by 30%.

The airlines also used the lull in travel to retire older aircraft. This created additional scheduling problems. Seniority rules in the pilot unions resulted in younger pilots being bumped off the planes they were flying to accommodate senior pilots from the retired fleet, forcing retraining of the younger pilots.

The more junior workforce overall has resulted in less seasoned airline management that does not do as good a job in scheduling maintenance, managing crew transit, or even managing flight schedules themselves. The departure of the "graybeards" has left the airlines without the institutional knowledge of how to accommodate massive travel interruptions due to weather or technology.

The front-line staff and passengers suffer. This year I once waited two and a half hours for a plane to be moved from the other side of O'Hare airport to our gate. The gate agent and the captain tried in vain to get our departure gate moved to where the aircraft was, or find another, closer aircraft. No luck. A hundred passengers and crew just stood around, and stood around, until the plane could finally be towed.

Well, the passengers did. After about 90 minutes, the crew for our 45-minute flight timed out. So, then we had to wait for a new crew. Oh, and a plane.

Not one airline went out of business due to the pandemic. There are about 73,000 fewer restaurants in the U.S. than there were in 2019.

As we continue to struggle with our ever-increasing federal debt, it's worth considering if "too big to fail" should carry any weight these days. I am still not clear whether the massive automaker bailout was anything more than very expensive corporate welfare. It did not directly drive the electric vehicle innovation that was an expected by-product from the Big Three automakers. But it was very, very expensive and set the country on a path to record deficits to which we still cling.

As for my 2024 travel plans, well, my first trip is booked. I'm trying Delta.

Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican, she lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and two of cat. She can be reached at news.ind.merritt@gmail.com.