Unfriendly Skies

Time NewsFeed released a slideshow highlighting the five “meanest” airlines in the United States. They go as follows:

5. Delta
4. Continental
3. Frontier
2. American
1. United

My first reaction was that of happiness at the fact that both airlines I use on a regular basis (US Airways for business and Southwest for pleasure) weren’t among the top five. (Though US Air probably isn’t too far down the list as there aren’t many more similar major airlines to even pick from.)

The slideshow cites a lot of the same reasons for why the ratings came out the way they did: ostensibly excessive baggage fees, lost baggage, delays, missed connections, being bumped from an earlier flight to a later one, etc. The differences really come down to mathematics and AQR (Airline Quality Rating), since all major airlines have essentially the same, industry-wide standards. The report is here. 

With all that being said though, there are two things I’ve noticed:

1) US Air is nicer than other airlines within the bounds of bag fees and delays and so on. They’ve always bent over backwards to accommodate me if something happened that was out of the control of either me or the airline. Plus, their personnel always seem to be generally friendly, courteous people. Contrast that with Delta (the only other major, non-Southwest airline I’ve flown in the last year): When I got on a Delta flight in February to fly to Atlanta, the first flight attendant on the plane looked right at me and didn’t say “Good morning” or “Hello” or anything and she didn’t smile. I’ll pay your bag fees; that’s fine. I realize that’s just how flying is in these times. But be nice to me at least. Then there was a medical emergency on that flight and we had to land in Cincinnati. That part wasn’t the airline’s fault. But once we got to Atlanta, the crew nor the baggage folks on the landside let us know that our bags were going to come out of the baggage carousel out of which bags from flights originating in Cincinnati come. Instead, several passengers from that plane and I stood at the wrong carousel for a good 45 minutes waiting for our bags to show up. Meanwhile, Delta personnel had already put my bag into the unclaimed-bag holding room. So I was about a half hour late to the first part of my conference. Thanks a lot, Delta.

2) Southwest continues to be far ahead of all the rest of these carriers. I’m not charged for bags when I fly with them. If I’m on the ball and check in quickly, I can sit on the aisle at the front of the plane every flight. I’ve gotten free drinks on Southwest flights more than once (three or four times now, actually). And my favorite part is the people. Everyone is friendly as far as Southwest goes, from ticketing/baggage folks to the gate to flight attendants to pilots. And even better, most of them love to joke around. No one ever seems to take their work too seriously. And that’s reflected in the atmosphere of their flights. Everyone’s always laughing, talking, and having a general good time. Whereas on other carriers, most people are pretty quiet and business-like. While that’s OK for a flight on a Monday morning at 8:55 am, I’d think people would be happier that it’s the weekend on a flight at 3:30 pm on a Friday, for example. Southwest, though, is always a good time.

I really enjoy flying. And I really enjoy taking in the entire travel experience. Yeah, it sucks that you have to pay $25 to get a bag from point A to point B sometimes. And yeah, weather and traffic sometimes hold you up from making a connection or getting to your destination right when your ticket said you would. But that’s how it is when you fly. There are uncontrollable factors. I feel like if people would take a step back and realize that and relax in the mean time while they’re waiting on the runway or at the gate instead of getting so worked up, they’d enjoy flying a lot more.

Snow at PNC Park? Nevermind.

I went over to PNC Park in Pittsburgh to watch the Pirates play the Cardinals on Friday night. The weather could not have been better. It was somewhere in the mid-to-low seventies with a rapidly setting sun. No breeze. It was as though the stadium were air conditioned. The game was a bit of a let down with the Bucs losing 4-1 to the Cardinals, but that’s how it goes. (I’m currently 1-2 in watching baseball live where the wins are games won by the team I’m pulling for. So far, it’s been two Pirates games against the Phillies and one against the Cardinals.)

So I was considering going to see the Bucs again tomorrow after church. I had this all played out in my head: I’d leave directly from church. It’s all sunny outside. Mid 70s air temperature. However, I just checked the weather and laughed out loud at my idealistic version of tomorrow. It’s supposed to be 39 with one to three inches of snow accumulation. On April 22nd. Ah well. I’ll listen to the game on KDKA. And stay warm.

Hell Yes

The amount of my tax refund is a palindrome. I don’t know what to do with myself.