The Human Connection Matters

Jennifer C Rykaczewski

Executive Director, Affordable Skies

Air travel is deeply personal. Protecting affordability means protecting the human experience behind every flight. As I spent time with my family over the holidays, I was reminded of air travel’s incredible role in creating human connection.  I also reflected on how much air travel’s structure has changed over the years, and how much its soul has not.

Lately, so much of the conversation around air travel is about systems, technology, and efficiency. Those things matter. But they are not the whole story.

Flying is personal. It always has been.

It is the first trip someone takes alone. It is a parent juggling a child, a carry-on, and nerves at the gate. It is a long walk through a terminal when your body is not cooperating. It is saving all year for one flight that actually matters. None of that shows up in data sets, but it is the reality for millions of travelers.

A lot of decisions in aviation are made at a distance. Far removed from what the experience actually feels like. When that happens, the human side of travel gets lost. Confusion turns into frustration. Small barriers start to feel much bigger. People stop feeling like the system was built with them in mind.

Listening changes that.

When people are given space to share their experiences, patterns emerge. Not complaints, but patterns of how everyday people rely on air travel to enhance their lives. They are given a voice to share how accessibility, affordability, and safety within the industry allow them to build connections with their families, friends, and personal networks.  Those insights matter because they reflect how travel actually works for everyday people.

Technology can help streamline processes, but it cannot replace empathy. When something goes wrong, people do not want a perfectly optimized response. They want clarity. They want to be treated with respect. They want to feel like someone is paying attention.

That is where the human connection still matters most.  That is the value that we seek to build within the Affordable Skies community.

Progress does not come from distancing ourselves from travelers. It comes from staying close to their experiences. From understanding that affordability is not just a number, and access is not just a policy. They are lived realities.

Air travel will keep evolving. Systems will change. Tools will get smarter. But the core of flying remains the same. People trying to get where they need to go.

And that is worth protecting.