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#41
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Another reason to fly yourself
Jose wrote in
: Ummmm... have you flown first class recently? Ummm, yeah. NY to SF. Champaigne, china, crystal, metal (though not silver) utensils including knives, a meal that would rival many restaurants, cloth napkins, twice as much room as coach, maybe more, attentive stewards and stewardesses, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Jose That's not first class. That's Midwest Express. They're an exception. And at Midwest Express the entire plane is single class and gets the same frills. I've had a few 1st class upgrades (although they seem to get harder and harder to get these days). Not all of them served meals on a 2 hour flight, and a couple of them didn't even have metalware (they blamed 9/11). I wouldn't say the food rivals restauarants, but you typically get a meal as opposed to having to pay for a snack box or paper bag lunch with a soggy turkey sandwich. Breakable glass and China, perhaps, but not always. Quite honestly, I'm not sure what the big hoopla is. The most significant benefit of course is that I can feel comfortable like the Pig I am when in 1st class, as opposed to feeling squished like a Cattle in the back. But that is worth something to me. I had a long conversation with a stewardess on a Northwest flight a while back. She said they have to compete with the "No-Frills" airlines who are taking away their market share. I said they would be smarter to segment the market and let the No-Frills airlines have the low-budget, no-service, no-room customers, and segment the market so they keep the mid-range and higher-range customers who would be willing to pay a small premium for more room and better service. I told her that basically her airline, by choosing to compete directly against the no-frills airline is quickly becoming a no-frills airline, and will surely declare bankruptcy. In the meantime, they have twice as many seats on the plane than they did a few years ago, and most of them are empty. If they halved the number of seats on the plane, and charged 50% more, they would be able to include the same size crew complement, probably fill a few more seats than they had that day, but earn substantially more money. The airlines all seem to think the only way to compete is on price. I can't really complain too much, since I'm benefitting from their poor marketing skills. But the fact is that there are many ways to compete, and most of the airlines are just plain missing the boat (excuse the pun). |
#42
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Another reason to fly yourself
Delta is one of a select few that now charges for same-day standby..
One other is ATA. It's a stupid policy that only serves to alienate the customer - I now will spend the extra $50 with another carrier if given the choice, since getting home a few hours early is always a desirable action... "Marty from Florida" marty@-x-x-x- remove -x-x- worth.net wrote in : I flew commercial from West Palm Beach to Kansas City MO a few months ago. Got pulled aside for a random search, which was pretty stupid. I could have knitted a knife with my hair and stabbed the person beside me with it. The TSA is truly nuts, reflecting it's association with the newly formed office of remarkably extreme paranoia (Homeland Security). They need to really decide if a $ 450,000 Cirrus Sr-22 can do as much damage as a $ 39.00/day Uhaul truck. I digress ... All things considered, it took a huge amount of time messing around with TSA nonsense, checking in and out, waiting in Atlanta for a 2.3 hour connection, etc. I could have walked there. I feel great sorrow for today's airlines (what's left of them). The former arrogance of large companies such as Eastern Airlines has certainly caught up with American and Delta. They now treat their clients as mini cash-cows. It's not pretty. I tried to get an earlier flight that was leaving in minutes rather than the 2.3 hours and was told to pony up cash. What a way to treat a customer. The only reason I had to wait 2.3 hours is because of Delta's schedule that put me on the plane. Anything under 7 or 8 hundred miles and I'll just fly myself. Better food, much more fun, quicker when you add up all the time wasting. Marty from Rainy Palm Beach Florida wrote in message ... In rec.aviation.owning wrote: : Right. There are lots of good reasons to fly yourself, but cost : isn't one of them. Not by a long shot. As far as *direct* operating costs, it's usually cheaper to fly yourself if it's within 500nm. You know... about the same range as it's potentially feasible to drive... The indirect expenses and easily ignored as the fixed expenses of the "hobby." Heh... -Cory -- ************************************************** ******************** *** * Cory Papenfuss * * Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student * * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * ************************************************** ******************** *** |
#43
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Another reason to fly yourself
Morgans wrote: "Jay Honeck" wrote I'm not sure I'd lump "People's Express" and "Piedmont" under the banner of "Great Airlines." Piedmont, while not far reaching, and not large, had some of the best service, most reliable and comfortable in this area of the US. Many cried when it was snapped up by useless air. yes, Piedmont was one of the best airlines flying before they were assimilated into the USAir borg. But they were primarily in the Southeast, and there is now a regional airline with that name, which may have thrown Jay off. The only real remainder of the old Piedmont, besides the part that's now in USAir, is a string of Piedmont FBOs in the southeast. They are also directly descended from Piedmont airlines. |
#44
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Another reason to fly....
Here ya go, Judah -- let ol' Doug know just how he and the boys on the
top floor are "missing the boat." Maybe there'll be a lucrative VP slot in it for you. Douglas M. Steenland President and Chief Executive Officer Northwest Airlines, Inc. 7500 Airline Drive Minneapolis, MN 55450 ----------------------- Judah wrote: I had a long conversation with a stewardess on a Northwest flight a while back. She said they have to compete with the "No-Frills" airlines who are taking away their market share. I said they would be smarter to segment the market and let the No-Frills airlines have the low-budget, no-service, no-room customers, and segment the market so they keep the mid-range and higher-range customers who would be willing to pay a small premium for more room and better service. I told her that basically her airline, by choosing to compete directly against the no-frills airline is quickly becoming a no-frills airline, and will surely declare bankruptcy. In the meantime, they have twice as many seats on the plane than they did a few years ago, and most of them are empty. If they halved the number of seats on the plane, and charged 50% more, they would be able to include the same size crew complement, probably fill a few more seats than they had that day, but earn substantially more money. The airlines all seem to think the only way to compete is on price. I can't really complain too much, since I'm benefitting from their poor marketing skills. But the fact is that there are many ways to compete, and most of the airlines are just plain missing the boat (excuse the pun). |
#45
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Another reason to fly yourself
That's not first class. That's Midwest Express.
Actually it was business class on United. Or was it American. I forget. Jose -- You can choose whom to befriend, but you cannot choose whom to love. for Email, make the obvious change in the address. |
#46
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Another reason to fly yourself
On 15 Dec 2005 06:29:51 -0800, "Paul kgyy"
wrote: "American Eagle said Thursday it will charge $1 each for a can of soda and a bag of cashews on flights into and out of Los Angeles next month." That's cheaper than most sporting events. Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com |
#47
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Another reason to fly yourself
On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 17:02:20 GMT, Jose
wrote: Well said Jay, a lot of us have been there and done that back in the days that commercial flying was a sheer pleasure. It still can be, if you fly first class and pony up what it costs. Most of us can't afford to do that. Bring back the "good old days" and you'd have the good old choice - first class or nothing. Now we have another alternative. I guess I'd have to disagree on that one. Other than a comfortable chair and having leg room the last dinner I had served had green fuzz growing on it. True, I didn't have to pay extra for the drinks, but I'd rather stay conscious and watch the scenery. The last commuter I road on er...in was a *box* with windows. Not even a head. I was up front and near the props. I have never ridden in such a noisy airplane. My Deb is quiet without the headsets compared to that thing. The last "cattle car" ride was coach in a 737 on a very rough day. Almost every seat was full. They served breakfast and hit the jet stream interfaces as they were cleaning up. THEN they really started to clean up. I think there were only about 10 of us on the plane not counting crew who didn't get sick. No, that wasn't the last cattle car ride as the company had me traveling a bit before I retired, but I sure don't miss it a bit. Oh the joys of flying cattle care class. The room, the service, the sounds, the smells... er... DAMN I'll swear I just caught a whiff of that thing. Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com Jose |
#48
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Another reason to fly yourself
Jose wrote in news:EPppf.4095$fO5.3265
@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com: That's not first class. That's Midwest Express. Actually it was business class on United. Or was it American. I forget. Jose I'm impressed. I didn't think anyone but Midwest Express offered the fresh baked cookies... I upgraded to 1st class on an America West trip from NY to Reno this past week (with 1 stop each way). Interestingly enough, I was fairly impressed by one of the legs - from NY to Phoenix. The service was excellent, and the breakfast, while not extraordinary in terms of food quality was at least unique and "special" compared to "buy an egg in a box" meals they were offerring to coach class. Warm pancakes with strawberry sauce and whipped cream... The short hops (2hrs) had no special service worth mentioning. They didn't even give away headphones. Just wider seats. Admittedly, the extra space is comfortable. The long trips both offered glass and metalware (though knives were plastic - thank goodness they didn't give us steak!) And one attendant for 16 people instead of two attendants for 150, making for pretty constant drink refills. But on the return trip, the meal was basically the same sandwich in a box that they offer in coach, except on a plate and without the $5 fee... Oh, and they were "out of the chicken". No fresh-baked goods or lobster tails were offered. |
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