Today Jet Blue and Southwest were touted as the best airline.

Delta was at the bottom.

Delta was hammered today for charging U.S. troops returning from Afghanistan excess bag fees!
What were they thinking???  :o

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-ar-military-baggage-20110608,0,1252027.story

Woooohooooo! ;D

And bags fly free!

Looks like I'll have to fly with Jet Blue or Southwest then. ;D

If you walk through the jetway door into the terminal and your bag is in your possession within 30 minutes of your scheduled arrival time---- that is a terrific airline! I don't care whose logo is on the tail!

My last 8-10 flights have been on SW. No delays, no lost luggage!! A weird boarding system, but it seems to work. They now allow you to check in early, on-line for, $10 pp per leg which gives you a preferential boarding sequence. That is most irritating! These incremental fees and charges really p--- me off! Your $160 fare all of a sudden is $206.50!   >:(

Bruce

I went to London on British airways, and by the time we got to the baggage claim, 15 minutes later, our bags circulated 3 times! thats fast! :D

Once we went island hopping with Hawiian and our bags were at the arrival airport before our plane even landed! (Not sure if that's good or bad because they were on the earlier flight to Lihue)

I've been through Heathrow and Gatwick, International Arrivals, numerous times and walking to customs and immigration is at least 20 minutes from the gate after the ac is cleared (used to have to ride a bus). Then on to baggage claim is another 10 minutes. If you're in a taxi or on the train it's at least 40-45 minutes after the chocks have been set --- that's if you're lucky on a slow day.

I've flown both HA(God rest your soul) and TS in Hawaii many, many times since the 60s. Probably the most efficient operators in the business --- ever! On take off, 50ft off the ground, the FA says if you want a drink lower your tray tables NOW and 90 tray tables hit their stops--- bang, and everyone laughs! The flights are typically 20-35 minutes and, on landing, 50 ft off the ground, the last plastic glass is picked up! What a hoot those flights are/were!

Bruce

btscott wrote on Jun 9^th, 2011 at 3:08pm:

If you walk through the jetway door into the terminal and your bag is in your possession within 30 minutes of your scheduled arrival time---- that is a terrific airline! I don't care whose logo is on the tail! My last 8-10 flights have been on SW. No delays, no lost luggage!! A weird boarding system, but it seems to work. They now allow you to check in early, on-line for, $10 pp per leg which gives you a preferential boarding sequence. That is most irritating! These incremental fees and charges really p--- me off! Your $160 fare all of a sudden is $206.50!   >:( Bruce

If you think commercial flight is expensive, try getting the requisite training and licenses, then rent an aircraft and pay for the fuel to do the same flight.  It will cost you an enormous amount of money to do this, and you sure won't be going 500 miles per hour or so at over 30,000.

(CNN) Passenger satisfaction with airlines has improved for the second year in a row, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 North America Airline Satisfaction Study released Wednesday.

The study was based on responses from more than 13,500 passengers who flew on a major North American airline between July 2010 and April 2011.

They were asked to grade carriers in seven categories: cost and fees, in-flight services, flight crew, aircraft, boarding/deplaning/baggage, check-in and reservation.

Alaska Airlines ranked highest in overall satisfaction among traditional carriers for the fourth year in a row, followed by Continental and American. US Airways was at the bottom of the list.

Among low-cost carriers, JetBlue Airways received the highest overall satisfaction scores for the sixth year in a row, followed by Southwest and AirTran.

Traditional Carriers
1. Alaska Airlines
2. Continental Airlines
3. American Airlines
4. Delta Air Lines
5. United Airlines
6. US Airways

Low-Cost Carriers
1. JetBlue Airways
2. Southwest Airlines
3. AirTran Airways
4. Frontier Airlines

Full story is available at CNN Travel.

Well, United will just ruin Continental.

LOU wrote on Jun 8^th, 2011 at 10:39pm:

Today Jet Blue and Southwest were touted as the best airline. Delta was at the bottom. Delta was hammered today for charging U.S. troops returning from Afghanistan excess bag fees! What were they thinking???  :o http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-ar-military-baggage-20110608,0,1252027.story

Well Lou, you knew I'd barge in sooner or later!

Well first off, I'd like to say that Southwest is touted as so great, because people don't expect much! Secondly, JetBlue isn't a bad airline at all, their founder and CEO have done a marvelous job doing what they did, with hub systems, whereas Southwest doesn't have hubs, so although they marginalize the massive carriers like Delta, United and American, they're founders were brilliant.

Secondly, Delta had their name in the top 5 of best airlines for many years, but following their aquisition of major portions of Pan Am, they're ratings dropped. Now, Pan Am wasn't the most glorious airline of all time, and it bugs when people say it used to be our "Unofficial Flag Carrier" they didn't have a hint of red in their paint scheme, besides warning strips! Pan Am pilots were grumpy fellas, and following the 2007 aquisition of Northwest, another airline that was full of bad service and such, our ratings went down again.

Now to the bags. I think it was SunAir in Florida that announced extra charges for carry-on bags; that was a great idea! See, the baggage hold is there for a reason, to carry lots of baggage, of all sizes. Now, all checked bage should be free of charge, and the charges should apply to carry-ons, as they provide some-sort of a hazard if overheads aren't closed, they make Flight Attendant's lives miserable, and of course, people getting out of their seats while the sign is on, to get their junk. I'd rather pay a small fee for a carry-on, or at least one larger than a specified size, i.e. suitcases, large heavy duffles, but purses, small duffles and briefcases should be free too. So medium-large to huge carry-ons should cost, small personal items, checked bags, should be free.

Now, this is unacceptable, our servicemen deserve the cut (from charges). Now our little CEO, Richard Anderson, is a dweeb who used to be with Northwest, began to convert their entire fleet to Airbus (exlcuding 787 orders) and wants to add airbus's to Delta's historically all-american fleets.

I may also like to speak my disappointment in United Airlines, and their order for A350s rather than 787-9s and 777-300s, a big mistake, along with US Airways and Hawaiian, amoung others, who go for the cheap, scarbuses, that are ugly. (Sorry Lou, but TWA was at fault for their order of 30-some A320 series aircraft,before their aquisition by American).

btscott wrote on Jun 9^th, 2011 at 3:08pm:

If you walk through the jetway door into the terminal and your bag is in your possession within 30 minutes of your scheduled arrival time---- that is a terrific airline! I don't care whose logo is on the tail! My last 8-10 flights have been on SW. No delays, no lost luggage!! A weird boarding system, but it seems to work. They now allow you to check in early, on-line for, $10 pp per leg which gives you a preferential boarding sequence. That is most irritating! These incremental fees and charges really p--- me off! Your $160 fare all of a sudden is $206.50!   >:( Bruce

Just like to point out, try getting to Hawaii on Southwest! i think NOT! Also, if Southwest had a hub-system like almost all other big carriers, they'd lose luggage quite a bit too, since transferring luggage between connecting flights is tricky; Southwest keeps junk on their planes, and connecting flights use the same plane, so its nearly impossible to use this system when you have 7-10 different aircraft types, hundreds more destinations, aircraft, and hubs serving more people than its funny!

Secondly, Delta had their name in the top 5 of best airlines for many years, but following their aquisition of major portions of Pan Am, they're ratings dropped. Now, Pan Am wasn't the most glorious airline of all time, and it bugs when people say it used to be our "Unofficial Flag Carrier" they didn't have a hint of red in their paint scheme, besides warning strips! Pan Am pilots were grumpy fellas, and following the 2007 aquisition of Northwest, another airline that was full of bad service and such, our ratings went down again.
Obviously Delta isn't interested in how good or bad its reputations is, but on buying out lesser airline companies as a way of eliminating the competition. Nothing you can say can take away the fact that that is their business practice! Many large companies do this as a part of normal their normal practice. Delta is obviously one of them.

Also, if Southwest had a hub-system like almost all other big carriers, they'd lose luggage quite a bit too, since transferring luggage between connecting flights is tricky
What a load of rubbish! It's obvious that the speed with which they want to get the luggage from one aircraft to another. This allows for mistakes to be made and luggage to wind up in the wrong place. The main reason it happens is because of the pressure that is put on the employees, by the company, to get it done faster. To blame the hub is like trying to blame someone for your mistakes.

And just to go back to the spokesperson for Delta in the fiasco of the soldiers luggage that started this topic:
"If someone has 50 bags — and that's an extreme number — then someone else's aren't going to make it," he said. "The policies are meant for reasonableness. The airlines are overly generous 99.9 percent, but the question of should airlines provide everything for free, should Delta in this case help move the military personnel from base to base, I don't think that's the airline's job."
Fifty is a WHOLE lot more than FOUR! That has to be one of the most moronic statements I have ever read. What passenger on ANY airline is allowed to take 50 bags? None that I know of, that's for sure. So why use that number? It only makes Delta look more stupid than they had already made themselves look in the first place!

701151 wrote on Jun 12^th, 2011 at 9:35pm:

LOU wrote on Jun 8th, 2011 at 10:39pm: Today Jet Blue and Southwest were touted as the best airline. Delta was at the bottom. Delta was hammered today for charging U.S. troops returning from Afghanistan excess bag fees! What were they thinking???  :o http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-ar-military-baggage-20110608,0,1252027.story Well Lou, you knew I'd barge in sooner or later! Well first off, I'd like to say that Southwest is touted as so great, because people don't expect much! Secondly, JetBlue isn't a bad airline at all, their founder and CEO have done a marvelous job doing what they did, with hub systems, whereas Southwest doesn't have hubs, so although they marginalize the massive carriers like Delta, United and American, they're founders were brilliant. Secondly, Delta had their name in the top 5 of best airlines for many years, but following their aquisition of major portions of Pan Am, they're ratings dropped. Now, Pan Am wasn't the most glorious airline of all time, and it bugs when people say it used to be our "Unofficial Flag Carrier" they didn't have a hint of red in their paint scheme, besides warning strips! Pan Am pilots were grumpy fellas, and following the 2007 aquisition of Northwest, another airline that was full of bad service and such, our ratings went down again. Now to the bags. I think it was SunAir in Florida that announced extra charges for carry-on bags; that was a great idea! See, the baggage hold is there for a reason, to carry lots of baggage, of all sizes. Now, all checked bage should be free of charge, and the charges should apply to carry-ons, as they provide some-sort of a hazard if overheads aren't closed, they make Flight Attendant's lives miserable, and of course, people getting out of their seats while the sign is on, to get their junk. I'd rather pay a small fee for a carry-on, or at least one larger than a specified size, i.e. suitcases, large heavy duffles, but purses, small duffles and briefcases should be free too. So medium-large to huge carry-ons should cost, small personal items, checked bags, should be free. Now, this is unacceptable, our servicemen deserve the cut (from charges). Now our little CEO, Richard Anderson, is a dweeb who used to be with Northwest, began to convert their entire fleet to Airbus (exlcuding 787 orders) and wants to add airbus's to Delta's historically all-american fleets. I may also like to speak my disappointment in United Airlines, and their order for A350s rather than 787-9s and 777-300s, a big mistake, along with US Airways and Hawaiian, amoung others, who go for the cheap, scarbuses, that are ugly. (Sorry Lou, but TWA was at fault for their order of 30-some A320 series aircraft,before their aquisition by American).

  Southwest has hubs! Las vegas, Midway, Baltimore, Phoenix, Dallas and many more places.

I can think of nothing to say in the defense of Delta. They sucked bigtime on this one.

Michael Cubine