Favorite Domestic Airlines?

[jyl]

Yeah, sounds like an oxymoron I know, but really, which domestic US airlines do you like best, or dislike least?

I am limiting this to DOMESTIC since otherwise everyone would say Singapore Airlines, which isn't much help when you're trying to book your next flight from Des Moines to Dallas.

My favorite is JetBlue. 40 channels of DirecTV plus pay movies in each seatback, new planes, 36" seat pitch in the front half of the plane (and the rear half is pretty good too), and the employees still like their jobs (not as much as they did when the stock was high and JetBlue was growing rapidly, but still pretty good). I flew JBLU all the time from SFO, wish they had more service here in PDX.

My next favorite is Southwest. The planes are nothing special, but I like the open seating, the schedule and prices are good, and online booking, changes, and credits is very convenient. And the employees are pretty nice.

The only other airline I like is Alaska. Basically it is the full-service airline that seems to have the fewest negatives, and of course very good flight schedules up here in the PNW.

You guys? What are your likes?

[Rick Lee]

Southwest

[kstar]

Domestic - Southwest, hands down.

Int'l - Swissair.

FWIW.

Best,

Kurt

[gprsh924]

Southwest because it is dirt cheap and the open seating is great...I have had an exit row nearly everytime I have flown in the last few years

[Scott R]

You guys like the open seating? I can't stand it, and no first or business class? No thanks! Not to mention Southwest is like a flying Greyhound, only airline I've ever seen drunks rolled off before, and I fly every week. I'll take Continental when the company will allow it, they still serve meals, and the planes are clean.

[jyl]

Well, if my company paid for business class, my choices might be different . . .

[dd74]

Anything with scotch...

[gprsh924]

Originally Posted by Scott R

You guys like the open seating? I can't stand it, and no first or business class? No thanks! Not to mention Southwest is like a flying Greyhound, only airline I've ever seen drunks rolled off before, and I fly every week. I'll take Continental when the company will allow it, they still serve meals, and the planes are clean.

take my opinion for face value...im only 19 and my idea of comfort and things like that are a little skewed

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Jet Blue.

I can't flippin' stand Southwest. Cattle cars. Moo.

[Normy]

I fly airplanes for a major cargo airline.

ALL the airlines listed above are SAFE and are reasonably likely to take you to your destination on time.

Listen: If you fly out of any airport in New York OR Dulles Airport in Washington DC [the worst airport in the world, in my opinion], then you are STUPID if you think you are going to depart on time. Some times the airlines can get you out of LaGuardia, but most of the time they cannot. I've flown heavy jets for a living, and I've flown aircraft out of LaGuardia. This is the airport that scares me- it is like an aircraft carrier. The runways are ridiculous short, and you go in there and when you turn onto final approach you are like "Oh my god!" Trust me, I had my seat cushion up my rear end whenever I've flown into that place. It should be closed!

They say the Federal Aviation Administration rules are "written in blood". I agree. It takes blood smeared over a piece of ground before the FAA or the NTSB will ever issue a new rule. In my opinion, they should never allow anything larger than a DeHavilland Dash 8-400 or maybe a CRJ-900 to land and take off at this airport. That's just me: I've never flown either of these airplane [I have 1200 hours in DHC 8-100's], but I do have 8000 hours of flight time, and 4000 hours are in Boeing jets in airline service.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Scott R

You guys like the open seating? I can't stand it, and no first or business class? No thanks! Not to mention Southwest is like a flying Greyhound, only airline I've ever seen drunks rolled off before, and I fly every week. I'll take Continental when the company will allow it, they still serve meals, and the planes are clean.

+1000

I absolutely hate the open seating and refuse to fly SWA for that reason.

American while in the country and British Airways gets my vote when traveling overseas.

[jyl]

I like the open seating on LUV (Southwest), because if I remember to check in online the morning of my flight (or the night before), I can always get at least a "B", and boarding anywhere in the "B" group pretty much assures me an aisle or window, i.e. not a center seat, which is my main seating criteria.

Whereas, when we book my work travel with American, United, etc, they frequently do the "seats assigned at the airport" thing, so I arrive at the airport and find I have a center seat. Why this happens, I have no idea, but it pisses me off to no end.

Not to mention, I hardly ever see a bitter grouchmonster of a flight attendant on LUV, while I seem to run into them all the time at United or American. I understand why those employees are bitter and angry, I feel they've suffered an injustice, but it doesn't mean I have to choose to spend my time with them.

[JavaBrewer]

They all suck. I'm an America West...errr...US Airways FF only because PHX is pretty reliable year round (no snow/ice storms). When I fly to far East I'm on American or Sing.

[SLO-BOB]

I fly a lot for work. I've found that scheduling is king. Get that right and the airlines are pretty much alike. I fly out of O'hare quite a bit and usually go United or American with not a single issue in a few years. I try to book on direct flights to avoid missed connections and I pick odd hours to fly. So far, so good. The only major hassle I've had has been with Southwest oddly enough. I know I'm not the only one because the line for customer service in Phoenix was over a block long. I won't avoid them though. Things happen to all airlines.

I voted United because they haven't let me down once. American could have just as easily got the vote. Northwest has been fine too.

[nostatic]

Schedule, schedule, schedule. Just flew SW from LAX to SLC. I could pick my time and most were non-stop. Flight out was nearly empty. Flight back was full but even with a B boarding pass there was room for my camera bag in the bins. With United I would have had to fly through SFO or Denver. Nice way to turn a 1.5 hr flight into a 4 hour trip...

[scottmandue]

Anyone use Alaska lately? They used to be great, big seats, good service... but I haven't used them in a while.

I usually fly United and they haven't let me down... although what seems to be the incredibly shrinking seats are uncomfortable for my 210 lb, body.

How about Hawaiian or Aloha?

You young guys don't know what you have missed... show up at the airport an hour before takeoff and get on the plane... seats where your knees don't hit the person in front of you... I used to like flying, now I dread the idea.

[jyl]

Fly Alaska often. Still an okay airline, a cut above IMHO. Seat pitch no better than average. Only airline I've found w/ good seat pitch (legroom) is JetBlue, esp forward of row 10.

[BeyGon]

For domestic, I just fly up and down the west coast so we always use Alaska, really good service. Mexico to Alaska.

[BeyGon]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Anyone use Alaska lately? They used to be great, big seats, good service... but I haven't used them in a while.

I usually fly United and they haven't let me down... although what seems to be the incredibly shrinking seats are uncomfortable for my 210 lb, body.

How about Hawaiian or Aloha?

You young guys don't know what you have missed... show up at the airport an hour before takeoff and get on the plane... seats where your knees don't hit the person in front of you... I used to like flying, now I dread the idea.

Yeah and they used to have PRETTY GIRLS working the flights. Now they are Pretty Rare.

[Gogar]

Frontier-

Direct TV, pay movies, ontime departures, even.

Frontier is great if you're in DEN. I also love flying xxx-DEN on Frontier, because their counters in other airports are usually deserted.

Last time I was at MIDWAY the Southwest counter was a frickin joke, and we walked right up to the Frontier counter with no lines and checked in 7 people and 14 bags in about 45 seconds. Same price as SWA.

I would have voted for United, but I've flown United 12 or 15 times this summer, and I've been bumped twice and late 4 times. That's too much, if you ask me. Plus, it seems like United builds more "fluff time" into their schedules, so they can claim an "ontime or early arrival", which is gay. ANDDDD, every time you fly xxx-DEN on United, 90 percent of the time you'll arrive and there won't be a gate available for you, and you sit out on the tarmac for an extra 20 minutes waiting. So much for on time.

Wheeeeeeew sorry.