"a developing trend?"

in a word: no

Maybe, though not a very good idea if they want to stay in business.

Wait, we should encourage all of them to do this, then no one will ever want to fly on airplanes and the train will reign supreme, well for non-transcontinental travel atleast.

Guess it is time to get that high speed rail up and running.

charging for bathroom use? that has to be illegal. I believe I would just urinate on the floor. Maybe it is time for the airlines to just go out of business.

Knowing Ryanair, there will be an extra charge for sitting with two arse cheeks on the bar stool though one arse cheek will be included in the ticket price!

Everyone wants to travel hundreds of miles an hour to get where they're going with their weight in luggage, but no one can accept that it costs money. The cheapest Amtrak tickets cost $100 to go from Boston to DC, and that takes 10 hours. I can spend the same amount of money and fly to Florida in two hours.

At some point you have to realize there's no way those prices are sustainable, and something's gotta give. Either we pay more to fly, cost-cutting like this happens, or we go back to living our lives within 30 miles of where we were born.

A trend? No...more like a business version of a fad. This will continue if it makes money, and other airlines will join in. But it all stops the moment a person gets hurt and brings a lawsuit down on their heads the first time that person, sitting on a stool or standing, is injured by air turbulence.

The airline industry is doomed, High Speed Rail is the wave of the future in intercity travel - if you aren't connected by public transit to high speed rail, you're nowhere.

Idiots. If I wanted to stand up I'd be riding the subway.

Between the DHS Nazis at the airport and the airlines who can't afford to stay in business with the cutthroat competition that exists due to too many airlines being in existence, I'd be perfectly happy to take the train, high speed or not - except Amtrak charges more than a first-class airline ticket. So I don't fly anywhere any more (I used to take flights all over Europe and the USA, at least 3 a month), and I don't go anywhere I can't drive, or take light rail if it's in the city.

It's time to replace airlines with maglev trains; they can easily do 600 mph if the track is fully enclosed (and no one ever heard of a train crashing due to bird strikes, either).

This is typical of the airlines...
Passengers are treated like cr@p and charged for every possible thing and now they want to pack more of us into the same tiny aluminum tube?
This is not about rising costs to keep an airline running...this is about trying to squeeze more profit out people by herding us like cattle.
If this was about operation costs..then the airlines would just raise the ticket price..not charge for every little thing like they are starting to.
No matter what...they will still raise the price to fly (due to operation costs) and STILL charge you for all the "nuances" like bathroom use and air to breath.
Corporations dont make changes to actually help their customers..they make them to earn more income.
To roshinobi..if you can fly 2 hours to Florida for $100...please tell me what airline!
And no...I love flying, just hate how passengers are treated now compared to years ago. The waiting at the airport, the waiting on the plane, the waiting after you land...etc.
I had a few trips where the stewardess threatened to take my ipod because it supposedly interfered with electronics, but the guy next to me was fine with his laptop and wireless. WTF??

If it lowers the prices I'm all for using as an alternative to other airlines when I'm short on dough.

Greedy a-hole

i hope he gets sucked back into that engine!

We are not cattle! and we deserve more rights and should not have to pay for those rights! i mean, a "fat tax" come on! it is like trying to make us into packages, and charging for a basic human function (using the bathroom) is flat outrageus! People like this are the type that have killed the economy and consumer trust. He wants money over anything (even if it means that he loses nearly every customer)

ugg, this guy just makes me mad

why is everyone so hyped up about trains....!?

oh...and and I dont think maglevs can go 600...not even in a tunnel (I dont see what that has to do with anything).

planes will continue to be the fastest way to get from A to B, for a long long time.

name one private (non government run) train company that is doing good...? I cant think of any.

while airliners...there are some, like Southwest & Virgin.

@roshinobi.: Actually, it cost me $65 to go from DC to Boston this month.

I'd rather deal with a mostly hassle-free and relaxing 8hr train ride than having to deal with going to the airport, wait in line, go through security, wait in line then get stuffed in a tin can where you can hardly breathe and get taxed out the ass. To me it's not worth the hassle.

Can this really be safe? I don't see how this could be remotely safe in a plane crash. So people go from having a small chance of surviving to no chance?

Well, let's see.. I would like to first address Mr Murc, If the plan to create the Vacuum tunnel is ever to come to fruit, then the speed of the train is only limited by current tech to propel the vehicle in question, and that tech is far more advanced then you think. (Just to help you a bit, think space shuttle.. zero air resistance, ok?) Next, the airline is only working for profit, not comfort. Case in point, if any of you are old enough to remember flying 20+ years ago, just look at the negation of the so called "creature comforts". Now as for business, that is all an airline is in the transportation business for.. technology has advanced to the point that to lift a 240 pound person carrying one 70 pound piece of luggage at 72 liniar inches, cost less then 59 dollars, couple taxes, salaries for crew and ground support, expendable durables and expendable non-durables, and a host of other operational cost that you should not be paying they are a cost of doing business (and if you were a governmant contractor these cost cannot be billed to the government in a proposal because they are normal overhead) you get a ridiculous ticket price. I don't know if you understand this or not but thats how it goes. Lastly, I bet you didn't even know that no plane takes off witha full load of fuel, only just enough to get you where you are going and a 20% additional fuel stowage in case you are delayed. Simply put, flying is and has been my life since the military, After I retire I was drawn ti the civilian market for the potential to make money. I am not ashamed of it, I have a family of 5 to feed and life isn't cheap, but I just thoght you should know the facts. Oh, and ofcourse rail is always cheaper to transport cargo of any type, just the same set of rules and costs apply, but I will tell you, it sure is a fine way to go. Scenery can't be beat.

I do apologize about the grammer and syntax, I seem to have fat fingered the last post.

Well, as a tall person, the idea of sitting on a stool rather appeals. There's never enough leg room on budget airlines, and any extra they can give me, whether horizontally or vertically, sounds more than enough compensation for not having arm-rests (which you usually have to compete against the person next to you for) or a seat back (which too, too often is being used as a kick-plate by an obnoxious three year old)!