I was waiting to see if any other airline employees were out there but apparently not. I work for NWA as an aircraft mechanic. Normally I wouldn't put that down for fear of being fired, but after 16 years I will be getting laid off permanently this summer. If you haven't been paying any attention these last 4 years the airlines are all in bankruptcy or on a banana peel outside the door. United and USAir have dumped the employees pensions on the govt's back, cut their wages, laid off thousands. Delta is real close to doing the same. Those cheap tickets you are buying come at a cost and not just in peanuts. All NWA's 747 and DC10 aircraft are overhauled in China or Singapore. Apprentice mechanics in China work for free the first 6 months. Regular mechanics there are paid a buck or two an hour. Remember that tax money the feds gave the airlines after 9/11? It went to shipping our jobs overseas and laying off 2000 mechanics here in the states. Thats my point of view as a mechanic. The flight attendants and baggage handlers have been cut back to bare minimums, and the work load has only increased because everyone is flying again. Problem is, they haven't increased the # of employees to service you folks. If you have a problem, don't blame the employees at the front line, its the bean counters running the airlines who are squeezing every little bit of change out of both the customer and the employees. Sorry for your inconvenience but these last few years have been tough on us airline employees. I am glad to be getting laid off. Airlines suck.