Wow, two of the worst airlines merging (Denver, Delta: credit, school)

[punkyd]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

it's very simple. Flying is a boring and unpleasant experience. How much fun is it to sit for hours in an uncomfortable seat, with another seat back 18 inches in front of your face and an overweight stranger from Ohio in the next seat spilling over into your space? Onboard distractions, such as Stewardesses (or Flight Attendants, as they have been called for a few decades) are there to make the trip feel shorter
and less unpleasant with the distractions they provide (food, drink, etc.) That way, you'll want to do it again soon :-)

I always bring a book to read on linger flights. 2 hour flights a magazine will usually do the trick.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

Frontier and Spirit. Reminds me of the saying about flies being attracted to sh*t. Now all they need for the trifecta is Media/IT by Comcast!

Pretty much the whole airline industry is an S show especially compared to what I remember of it from the 70s and 80s.

I hate to fly from anywhere to anywhere in this alternated reality.

If I have to fly, I'd much rather fly from the superior CoSprings airport and would avoid Saudi DIA like the plague.

That being said, adding more flight options is a bad idea because why?

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

Pretty much the whole airline industry is an S show especially compared to what I remember of it from the 70s and 80s.

I hate to fly from anywhere to anywhere in this alternated reality.

If I have to fly, I'd much rather fly from the superior CoSprings airport and would avoid Saudi DIA like the plague.

That being said, adding more flight options is a bad idea because why?

I remember flying BEFORE deregulation in the late 1970s. If the cabin was full on UAL everyone got a complementary glass of champagne. The lasagna on UAL was so good I asked for seconds --- and they had it available, no charge. There were REAL eating utensils. On our honeymoon flight from IAD to SFO the stewardesses saw our shiny new rings and our starry eyed looks and GAVE us a bottle of champagne to take to our hotel. Now THOSE were friendly skies. The fares were published months in advance in a book the size of a city phone book, look up the two cities, see the stated fare, book a ticket, and cancel or change right up to departure time without any charges -- and you got a refund promptly if cancelling, two pieces of luggage per person went at no extra charge, if another airline was involved (inter-lining) the airlines handed the bags off to one another without a passenger needing to do a thing. The fares were the same across all airlines serving a given route so the airlines competed on the quality of their SERVICE to the passenger. As Maurice Chevalier sang decades ago in that old song, "Yes, I remember it well."

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

I remember flying BEFORE deregulation in the late 1970s. If the cabin was full on UAL everyone got a complementary glass of champagne. The lasagna on UAL was so good I asked for seconds --- and they had it available, no charge. There were REAL eating utensils. On our honeymoon flight from IAD to SFO the stewardesses saw our shiny new rings and our starry eyed looks and GAVE us a bottle of champagne to take to our hotel. Now THOSE were friendly skies. The fares were published months in advance in a book the size of a city phone book, look up the two cities, see the stated fare, book a ticket, and cancel or change right up to departure time without any charges -- and you got a refund promptly if cancelling, two pieces of luggage per person went at no extra charge, if another airline was involved (inter-lining) the airlines handed the bags off to one another without a passenger needing to do a thing. The fares were the same across all airlines serving a given route so the airlines competed on the quality of their SERVICE to the passenger. As Maurice Chevalier sang decades ago in that old song, "Yes, I remember it well."

The good old days. I'd deal with the ashtrays to get that service back.

[BarryK123]

Originally Posted by punkyd

I never understood the whole stewardess thing.

Forgot to mention in my post above...
Without the flight attendant to remind you, how would you know how to buckle your seat belt? Agter all, this is a device that most people have never seen before...

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

The good old days. I'd deal with the ashtrays to get that service back.

It got even better, back in the days of rail travel. My father's railroad, the B&O, had on-train female stewards as well as men. On the long-distance first class trains with sleeping car service one of those women was also a nurse who was on board for the sake of moms with infants. SERVICE mattered.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

SERVICE mattered.

That's the key here, what I really miss. Folks will pay money for that type of thing, tip well for it.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

That's the key here, what I really miss. Folks will pay money for that type of thing, tip well for it.

Except they won’t. There’s a reason why all the majors now have “basic economy” where you don’t have an assigned seat until 24 hours before boarding, you board last, and you can’t carry-on much more than a toothbrush. 90% of the leisure market will always book the lowest fare even if it’s a no frills 30” seat pitch middle seat back by the blue toilet water.

I’ve flown Frontier paying extra for the better seat pitch aisle seat and the slot for my roll-aboard in the overhead. It’s not like the up charge is very much for what I care about for a domestic flight.

[wamer27]

How airlines actually make money.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggUduBmvQ_4

[Mike from back east]

On much the same vein as this article, there's a recent article in the WaPo about "How do the Three New "U.S. Budget Airlines Compare."

Some of the comments are priceless. Here's my favorite comment:

"A few years ago, I witnessed THE most Amurikan vision ever - about 150 people boarding an Allegiant flight to Florida. Almost every single person was morbidly obese, wearing flip-flops and variously ridiculous hats, obligatory muu muus for the women, stained football jerseys for the men. The gate guy laughed when he saw me staring (I was waiting for someone on an incoming flight), and he nodded at the line waiting to board and said "Westverpensyltucky just puked".