Are passengers being left out in today's air travel?

With fuel prices lower than they've been in years, the airlines can't complain about sky rocking prices - but travelers can. Recently returning from a trip to Mexico, I sat next to a man who was forced to purchase a ticket for the drop-dead price of $1,200.

"The price is exorbitant," said the man, who had to get home and was forced to pay a ridiculous amount of money to sit in a cramped seat and dine on . . . nothing.

But it wasn't the price of the flight or the bare-bones service that irritated him the most. It was the lack of empathy or interest in the passenger. And he's not alone.

After returning from my trip, I pulled out my file of mail to see just what flew or didn't fly with our readers during the past year. Here are some of your comments:

On luggage policy. Mary K. writes, "After the airlines started charging for checked luggage, I started carrying my bag onboard. It always fits in the overhead bin. But on my last flight, a young lady was posted next to that sizing bin before you go through security. She insisted I put my bag in the box. Because it didn't slide all the way to the bottom, she said I would have to check it. If I had done that I would have missed my flight. I went to a different security line and nobody said a word. The bag fit fine in the overhead space. So what's the point? Are the airlines and airports just trying to make it more difficult for travelers than it already is?

It sometimes seems that way, Ms. K. The rules are inconsistent. One frequent flier told me, he packs lotion and large bottles of mouthwash in his suitcase and he never gets stopped. Another traveler said he forgot he had a bottle of water in his coat pocket. It went through the X-ray machine without a hitch.

On preferred seating on aircraft. John B writes, "I recently had the privilege to fly on an almost empty airplane. But instead of spreading us out, we were all packed three deep in the back rows. Because I have a cast on my right leg, it's difficult for me to sit in a middle seat, so after takeoff I moved to one of the empty rows. You would have thought I had robbed a bank. A flight attendant told me, those seats were expensive and if I wanted to sit there I'd have to pay the fee. There was nothing first-class about it - no food service and you still had to pay for drinks. But the extra legroom is a big deal and they wouldn't make any exceptions. Letting a person sit in those seats when nobody else is there seems like such a small thing to do. It doesn't cost the airline anything. I hope some day they start treating us like customers instead of criminals. I'm going to start using the bus. They're more accommodating."

Many travelers agree with you Mr. B. Another frequent flier wrote he was waiting to fly from Boston to Chicago. The flight was three hours late departing. As soon as they were seated, a flight attendant announced the crew had been on duty for their maximum time. The passengers had to sit on the aircraft for another hour while they waited for a fresh crew to arrive.

Because those are union rules, the passengers shouldn't blame the crew. But they should blame the airline for poor planning. The problem is nobody seems to care. There's no such thing as a friendly sky.

Gail Todd, a free-lance writer,worked as a flight attendant for more than 30years. She can be reached via e-mail at gailtodd@aol.com.