Air travel has become a real headache. Some of this has to do with post 9/11, but much of it has to do with the airlines. They charge extra for everything besides the actual seat on the plane, and they charge exorbitant change fees for flights to be switched. On top of that, there are fewer choices for flights (which are always packed and expensive).

Clearfield does a great job of being the opposite of the airlines. We try to include all of the accessories that will be needed with each install. For example, we include all the cable clamps that are needed with each FieldSmart Patch Panel ordered — we don’t nickel and dime our customers by making them buy it separately.

Instead of making customers pay huge fees when things change, we work on being flexible and fair. I was recently on a job site where the customer’s design had changed from loose tube to ribbon fiber, so we worked out a way to switch out their Clearview Cassettes to the new configuration with very little hassle. Due to the modularity and flexibility of the Clearfield product line, we do not limit your choices when it comes to the design of your network. Our customers can select their exact port count, connector style and other options as needed.

Hopefully the airlines will start to take a page out of the Clearfield playbook and make flying more enjoyable (or at least bearable) again.

By Tom Warren