All-Purpose Airline/Aviation Thread

[WayneNYC]

I've been lucky enough to have flown on commerical jets since I was about 6 y/o.  So, I can remember when Delta and Eastern were just little guys next to the mighty Pan Am and TWA.

In those days we flew on plenty of B727s and L1011s with Delta.  I flew on Eastern a few times also back in the day.  I've flown on many of today's (and some yesterday) various aircraft (B717, B727, B737, B757, B767, A300, A310, A319-21, DC9, MD80/88.  Since haven't crossed any oceans yet, so I haven't flown on any B747, B777, MD11, A330 (and so on) aircraft. 

Growing up I always identified with Delta and Eastern as the airlines I flew on most, LGA and JFK as my home airfields and B727 and L1011.  For some reason, I've managed to fly on numerous B767s, mostly with Delta and I've come to like these widebodies.

Nowaways, I try to stick with Delta as that's where I had the most mileage, but the truth is that I tend to go with whoever has the best prices.  I've really taken a liking to Southwest.  Their prices are not always the best, but in my experience their fares are often better or at least competitive with the others.  The open seating thing is fine with me and not being fleeced for taking along a bag is nice too.  Obviously the fleet is not too exciting, but at least I know it won't be a turboprop.

On occasion we fly with CO and I'm always happy when we do.  I love that the condition of their aircraft is often pristine.  We had flew to Hawaii on their B767 (a 763 and 764ER) and they were quite comfy and appeared to be in very good condition.  Bright lighing, supportive seats cushions that aren't in need of replacement and clean rest rooms.

I'm one who enjoys flying and always looking forward to my next trip.

[WMAveteran]

 I enjoyed reading about your flying experiences but so far you all have only written about your flights on pure jet aircraft.  I'm one of those aircraft enthusiasts who believe that you really have not flown at all until you fly on propeller driven aircraft.  I have flown on just about all of the pure jet aircraft you have mentioned and I have found those flights to be relatively boring compared to the propeller aircraft.  The propeller driven aircraft are slower but they fly lower and you can see more of the terrain below.  They also make the most wonderful sounds!  For those of you who are interested I recommend choosing flights on the following turboprop aircraft that are currently in service: Shorts 360, Saab 2000, Saab 340, Embraer Brasilia (EMB-120), Dash 8 (Bombardier), ATR 42, ATR 72. 
By the way, if you saw the film SALT, the strange looking private airplane (fuselage mounted turboprop engines with rear-facing propellers) that was used in one part of the film is a Piaggio Avanti, an actual aircraft that is made in Italy.

[aznboy4305]

I've always wanted to take an itinerary with a Dash 8 flight but for some reason I never bit. I have flown a Piper Cheerokee (?) on two occasions out of Purdue airport, that was surprisingly fun even with an old raggedy plane.

[Scrabbleship]

I will go out of my way to not fly smaller regional jets. I cut my flying teeth on the CRJ on way too many flights from small airports and after a nearly 3-hour long flight on one from Albany to Atlanta I threw in the towel. On the other hand, I'm in love with the Embrarer E-190 series.

First mainline flight was on a Delta 727 which was already dated in the mid 90's. Did two 767 runs when Delta ran them out of Hartford, having an entire center row of 4 seats to myself was nice. Purposely flew Northwest back in 2005 so I could get a DC-9 ride and found the oldness to be better than the bland MD-88's that Delta bought in bulk. Have ridden too many 737's and they kinda become a blur though if I could put Delta's newest seatback TV's into American's seats with Southwest's hospitality and Airtran's XM radio...

I get to ride my first Airbus (320) next month when I come back from Atlanta. It'll be good to contrast to the many 737's I've ridden.

[WayneNYC]

I've always tried to avoid turboprops (and any regional aircraft0 whenever possible.  I've flown on a Dehaviland(sp?) and a SAAB at some point.  In all I've probably been on turboprops about 3-4 times.  Each time I couldn't wait to get off.  I would argee with WMAVeteran about the views since they don't fly as high.  I also liked that they were pretty quick when moving around on the ground.  I guess I just got used to the jets and never quite took to the turboprops.

[Scrabbleship]

I'm saving my first time on a turboprop for when Porter Airlines inevitably enters DCA after Toronto City Centre/Island/Billy Bishop gets US Customs Preclearance. The complimentary wine and beer (and wide seats/pitch) will numb out the turboprop pain as would the cost savings vs. an Air Canada CRJ.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

I think most airlines are phasing out the turboprops anyway.  IIRC, USAirways (or rather, its regional affiliates) only has about 10 left in the fleet.

Those planes operated a bulk of the flights to and from Ithaca.  I personally wasn't a huge fan of them.

[WMAveteran]

Actually turboprops (or propjets) are enjoying a resurgence (especially in Europe and outside of the United States).  The latest iteration of a turboprop aircraft is the Dash 8 Q-4000 that has been well received.  It appears that over certain routes the turboprop is more fuel efficient and requires less maintanence than a turbojet aircraft.  Keep in mind that a turboprop is powered by a turbine that turns a propeller rather than a jet fan.  It is essentially a jet engine with a propeller and it uses jet fuel.
Back in the day, I was fortunate enough to ride Lockheed Super Constellations (Eastern Airlines) that were powered by 4 piston engines.  Takeoff was very dramatic (everything including the fillings in your teeth shook) and the noise volume in the cabin was incredible but you knew you were flying!     

[Scrabbleship]

There are reports that jetBlue will be going into Terminal A at DCA when it starts service from there in November. With the exception of the outcast Air Canada, this solidifies A as being the (misfit) terminal of low-cost carriers and I think Air Canada gets back to B when that terminal has its inevitable post-United/Continental merger shakeup.

[WMAveteran]

I just returned from a roundtrip flight between Washington Dulles and Anchorage on Delta airlines where every flight left on time and the two east bound flights arrived early.  The flight had two legs: one leg flew from Dulles to Minneapolis/St. Paul (about 2 hours) and the second leg involved a change of planes from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Anchorage (about 5 hours).  The Dulles-Minneapolis/St. Paul segment was flown by Embraer 175 aircraft operated by a Delta affiliate while the Minneapolis/St. Paul segment was operated by Delta's own Boeing 757 aircraft. The Embraer on the outbound flight was painted in Delta's new (post merger) colors but the Embraer on the inbound flight was still painted in Northwest colors.  The Boeing on the outbound flight was a 757-200 while the Boeing on the inbound flight was a 757-200ER (with winglets). Both of these aircraft were painted in Delta's new colors.  The Embraer aircraft had better, wider and more comfortable seating than the 757 aircraft.       

[btconet]

So any thoughts on the WN purchase of FL?

Canyon Blue 717s?

WN reaches ATL at last...

BWI gets over 70% of its domestic traffic on a single carrier?

[Scrabbleship]

So any thoughts on the WN purchase of FL?

Canyon Blue 717s?

WN reaches ATL at last...

BWI gets over 70% of its domestic traffic on a single carrier?

WN gets into DCA which they've lusted after since they decided major airports weren't that bad. This is as big of a game changer, only problem is where do you fly with the slots they have from FL. ATL/MCO/FLL stay, but do you keep MKE or do you move that to MDW and fill a hole that ATA left when it folded?

If this passes muster, I have a feeling 3 things will happen.

1: Since WN is inheriting Airtran's international routes (Cancun, etc.), I can see BWI relieving ATL for routes to the Carribean as well as being the jumping-off point for WN to try some routes north if this deal doesn't get WestJet back in bed with them.
2: JetBlue will build their operations between their current "protect our turf at BOS" levels. The three times I've flown them to/from BOS on the E190, all 3 times had full loads and I think with FL out of the way they can fill some additional Florida capacity and beat WN to the punch for routes to the west coast. I think this can be supported even better when they tried this at Dulles as a gift after Independence Air went under.
3: Annapolis will come out with some scheme to try to get someone to fill the parts of the BWI that aren't WN's palace in Terminal A/B. Reality is that they'd probably end up moving the legacies to D and mothballing C since they've already danced with the international oddballs and the remaining domestics are either at DCA or Dulles; the two exceptions are the aforementioned WestJet (rumored to expand to BWI when they were exploring codeshares with WN) or Hawaiian (when they start east coast operations when more A330's come in).

Besides raving about how those 717's will be more comfortable with WN's seats and will look MUCH sharper (Ravens/Falcons/Bruins/Brewers logo jets aside) in Canyon Blue, a story about the difference between FL and WN. I had weather delays with both -- FL leaving BOS due to freak early snows, WN at BUF due to BWI being shut down due to summer storms. WN rebooked me as a standby on an earlier flight and gave us water/soda/snacks and ordered out for pizza right as I boarded. FL, in Boston's HORRIBLE "high C" gates, did nothing at all over 2.5 hours of combined gate and tarmac delays. Not even an extra drink/snack service as we waited through deicing follies.

FL was good to visit my relatives at ATL/friends in CLT and got me to MKE for my Chicago trip (hi Cre!) so I could take the Cap Limited home. Outside the wifi and the business class seating, they were eh at best. My FL-loyalist Dad who loved their business class the one time he took it said he won't miss it given my stories of great trips on WN.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

I've never flown Airtran and rarely fly Southwest.  While this might be a better merger for many air travelers in the US (I find these mergers are rarely actually truly a good thing for the consumer), I'm not so sure those of us in the DC area are really going to benefit.  Airtran doesn't have that many flights out of DCA, which is heavily restricted in terms of the number of operations there and I don't see those limits disappearing any time soon.  There is going to be far less competition at BWI (not that there is a whole lot there right now).  Maybe some domestic travelers at IAD will benefit due to increased competition on some routes, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

[Scrabbleship]

I've never flown Airtran and rarely fly Southwest.  While this might be a better merger for many air travelers in the US (I find these mergers are rarely actually truly a good thing for the consumer), I'm not so sure those of us in the DC area are really going to benefit.  Airtran doesn't have that many flights out of DCA, which is heavily restricted in terms of the number of operations there and I don't see those limits disappearing any time soon.  There is going to be far less competition at BWI (not that there is a whole lot there right now).  Maybe some domestic travelers at IAD will benefit due to increased competition on some routes, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

DCA actually has a bunch to gain from this merger even with its slot limits. Anyone who knows the operations of both airlines could put money down on MKE being probably drawn down with MDW not far away and DCA-MDW did well for ATA when they were alive. WN goes in on DCA-MDW and they shake things up with AA and UA doing DCA-ORD.

Dulles is a "boutique" airport for WN (it's their only station with no flights under 500nm, no doubt to protect BWI) which has been sliced down to only two destinations (MDW, DEN). FL only has two destinations there to begin with (ATL, MCO; FL ran WN out of MCO). I think those four destination can be blended together with limited conflict but little change to the current situation.

On the 10-13 (depending on time of year) routes WN and FL overlap at BWI, there will be losers though much of that might be an excess capacity purge which can be better deployed elsewhere. Outside of A/B, the rest of BWI might lose out and I wouldn't be shocked to see what I said earlier happen in which C gets mothballed and they try to find someone, anyone, to fill the rest of the space.

The big wildcard in this is what jetBlue does. They've been paring away their Dulles operation lately, their DCA operation no doubt will keep a lot of BWI leakage from DC in the area, and they could play spoiler to all this at BWI by adding routes to Florida, the West Coast (which has been hot-and-cold for WN at BWI), and possibly the Caribbean and markets with good O&D  from this area (HOU, BUF, ORD).

[WayneNYC]

I've never flown on AirTran, but from what I hear, this merger can only be better for AirTran regulars.  I like that Southwest will now go into ATL and have some international destinations (including the Carribean), but there are some things I like about them that I hope won't go away. 

In my experience Southwest is good for the shorts hops (BWI-MDW, BWI-PIT etc).  I like that they're different from the rest and I think it often makes them attractive over other airlines.  I did hear a couple of people being interviewed on the news complaining about the open-seating policy.  That's one of the things I like about Southwest.  In the world of stuffy corporate types, it's refreshing that Southwest has a relaxed way about them, and I hope this doesn't go away. 

I am curious about how Southwest will handle the fact that they will no longer have a 100% B737 fleet.