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).