According to The New York Times, airplane manufacturer Airbus is quietly suggesting to Asian carriers that they adding to profits and might by buildup a locale in aircraft where passengers will have to stand up, harnessed to a wall, for the duration of a flight.

Youve heard of packing them in like sardines, havent you?

This is more like packing them like penguins, if you ask me.

First, carriers invented frequent flyer programs, which were a nifty idea.

But then, all of those miles accumulated, unspent, so they established use-them-or-lose-them deadlines.

Then, they reduced the number of reward seats available on most flights, and added blackout dates.

In other words, they took a perfectly good reward program and transformed it into a punishment program.

And, of course, carriers have been manipulating legroom for years, and theyve charged portly people for two seats instead of one.

Now this: standing room only.

Whats next?

Packing us in below decks, along with the baggage and cargo?

Bolting us to the wings?

I think its fair to say, in this era of airline inconveniences, when we have to hassle with long lines, numerous security burdens and special time requirements, and a zillion other intrusions and hassles, this is the worst time to stretch the envelope, to force customers to handle yet more burdens.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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