Best U.S. Airline?

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Those are private jets. I mean an airline like Canadian Pacific. An airline like OpenSkies, for example, though that is international. An airline that offers complimentary meals and checked baggage on domestic. An airline that offers more legroom, too, like United's old DC-8's that offered 38".
 
I've flown on SW, Delta, and Alaska Air more than once. Of the three I liked SW best. I've tried Trans Air as somebody's guest and disliked the experience.

Am going east soon and may end up on SW or Delta - whichever I can best afford. :(
 
But Southwest still has only 2 inches of recline and 31 inches of pitch. We need something like United's old DC-8 with 38 inches of pitch and probably 6-9 inches or recline. That's Premium Economy these days but no one's offering it within the US, expect Virgin America's Main Cabin Select which also offers complimentary meals and one complimentary full-size checked bag.

Now look at how successful Virgin America has been. Rated best airline in the US and significantly higher than everyone else. Too bad Main Cabin Select is so much more expensive than Main Cabin. Need more airlines to do this, so that the fares will go down.
 
Swadian Hardcore said:
Need more airlines to do this, so that the fares will go down.
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One thing that will not happen too much anymore unfortunately is "fares will go down". Not with the kind of load factors that airlines are managing by strictly controlling inventory to fit the demand very closely. They have no incentive whatsoever to loosen on that one. Margins still remain razor thin. So unless they develop a desire to commit suicide, ......
 
Swadian Hardcore said:
An airline that offers complimentary meals and checked baggage on domestic. An airline that offers more legroom, too, like United's old DC-8's that offered 38".
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Go find yourself a billionaire who really wants to be a millionaire and I'm sure you can pitch that as a solution to their problem.
 
If I had the money to get into the airline business......

I would not get into the airline business..... ;)
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Crandall gives the views of the former CEO of American on the unprofitability of airlines and the deterioration of service levels.

That's not to say that money can never be made in the airline business. It certainly can be. People who invested in Southwest early on made a fortune, but for that matter people do sometimes leave Las Vegas casinos as net winners. The Wall Street companies that took airlines out of bankruptcy did just fine. And you'll find shrewd tactical investors who buy airline shares at the right time and reap capital gains when cyclical factors drive up the airline's stock. But if you are a buy-and-hold investor or if you are looking at the intrinsic financials of the business from the inside out over a long period of time, Crandall's prophecy applies to you.
 
For: jimjhudson - A bit late on commenting, but better late than never. My wife and I flew Alaska Airlines from Seattle to Anchorage in 1st class (an anniversary present to ourselves) where we took the Denali Star up to Fairbanks with a stopover at Denali (2 nights). As a former resident of Alaska, I will show my partiality and concur with your assessment - Alaska Airlines is a top-notcher!
 
I also agree with Alaska Airlines being the best. I flew them from Seattle to LV (don't ask - even in my flying days I didn't travel in a straight line from the east coast :p ) and greatly enjoyed it!
 
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AS has held the line -- so far -- at 31 or 32 inch seat pitch on their 737s. Whether they fall victim to the temptation to reduce to 30 like the rest, time will tell.
 
Alaska is my airline of choice when jumpseating between Chicago and Seattle, or anywhere else I need to get. I just put in another application with them this last hiring window, maybe I'll get a call...
 
Swadian Hardcore said:
Southwest still has only 2 inches of recline and 31 inches of pitch.
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The vast majority of the Southwest fleet has a pitch between 32" and 33" and as a tall person I've never had a problem on Southwest. Not to mention that my trips on WN are typically about half the duration of most other airlines due to their flexible routing options. For an extra twelve dollars I'm guaranteed to be among the first few passengers boarding and be able to get the seat of my choice. Compared to the vast numbers of tiny regional jets to which most of the legacy airlines have outsourced their domestic operations Southwest has gone from being near the bottom of the pack to the very top.
 
I like both Southwest and Alaska. Southwest doesn't charge a lot of those fees for everything under the sun like most airlines. And I find their prices are as low or lower than most. And I do like their shorter flights and paying a little extra to be amongst the first to board as DA says. I have always liked Alaska for their service. And for me their flexibility. As you might imagine flying in and out of Spokane, your choices are limited. But with the sheer number of flights between Spokane and Seattle, which has been the vast majority of my experience with Alaska I don't have to fret about cancelled flights; I can always catch the next one. And I liked Alaska even before my nephew went to work for them. :p
 
Devil's Advocate said:
Swadian Hardcore said:
Southwest still has only 2 inches of recline and 31 inches of pitch.
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The vast majority of the Southwest fleet has a pitch between 32" and 33" and as a tall person I've never had a problem on Southwest. Not to mention that my trips on WN are typically about half the duration of most other airlines due to their flexible routing options. For an extra twelve dollars I'm guaranteed to be among the first few passengers boarding and be able to get the seat of my choice. Compared to the vast numbers of tiny regional jets to which most of the legacy airlines have outsourced their domestic operations Southwest has gone from being near the bottom of the pack to the very top.
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They are trying to reduced to 31", aren't they? Even for a short guy like me, 32" isn't great and 31" really isn't great. 30"? Yeah, I'd better not have to.
 
I guess I'm fortunate in that I only have a 29 inch inseam. Fortunate until I try to find pants that fit, that is. :rolleyes: I know some airlines are trying to compensate for the more crowded seats by redesigning them. Southwest has thinner seat pockets and Alaska has reduced the size of their tray tables for example.
 
Yeah, but then if a kid (or adult) is sitting behind you and constantly pushing or hitting the seat for whatever reason, that thin seat back is going to let you feel it. I think padding and curvature has more effect than seatback thickness, though. I've ridden in thick seats that were uncomfortable due to having hard padding.
 
Have to agree.....I've sat on metal, wooden, or plastic seats, that were well contoured, and even without padding, I found them comfortable to sit in.....just because a chair may be 'overstuffed', that doen't necessarily make it more comfortable....
 
As much as I may denigrate US legacy airlines at least I've never had to put up with dark ages style nonsense like this.

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Whatever happened to becoming an educated adult when you grew up?
 
My two cents: I have seen numerous comments condemning United as one of the worst airlines. May I respectfully disagree? I'm not saying they are the best, but I've been a customer of theirs for quite a few years. This year I have made two overseas trips: Phoenix-Edinburgh and return from London, and Phoenix-Munich, continuing on to Bulgaria on Lufthansa, and returning from Oslo. The negatives were things like my reservation was changed returning from Oslo, which I caught weeks in advance, that my connecting flight in Newark returning from Oslo had been rescheduled to leave for Phoenix, before the flight from Oslo arrived, then I changed it online for no fee, so they said, and was charged $300 anyway, which took an involved phone discussion to resolve. Other than that, I found the service on the flights to be on time, competent crews, and decent food. I will mention that I rode Economy Plus on United, giving me more space. Lufthansa from Munich to Sofia was OK but nothing too much to remark about. I also flew Turkish Airlines Istanbul to Venice and had a middle seat, but I was OK, and was surprised that I received a complimentary lunch, which was also satisfactory. Anyway, while United could stand some improvement, I don't feel they need to be denigrated to such an extent. I called them the other day and had therm explain recent nickel and dime changes to the Mileage Plus program. I would have preferred they leave the flight miles alone, but I don't fly that much, and usually use awards to pay for nice hotels.
 
I agree with you. United has been absolutely fine as far as I am concerned. But I also think most of these discussions are somewhat pointless waste of time and hence do not usually participate very actively in them. There will always be Southwest and Jetblue fanbois who will go on and on, and that is just fine as far as I am concerned :p

OTOH, I have never understood the Lufthansa fanbois. I think Lufthansa is a pretty pedestrian airline with overbearing cabin crew who can't even get full lie flat seats in their business class even on their A380s. What's with that? But that may be just me
 

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