Having to fly for work nowadays means not having any control over what airline I fly. Since some its merger with Northwest, Delta has implemented a lot of anti-flyer policies and fees and for that reason whenever possible I choose not to fly them. However, on my current work trip to Cruise3Sixty in Vancouver, my flight was booked for me on Delta.
The actual flying experience was a mix of good, not so bad, stupid and bad.
I'll start with the good:
* There was very little turbulence -- good job pilots!
* The desk staff and flight attendants were nice --- the ones in Minneapolis and from Minneapolis to Vancouver were super nice (guess that's the Northwest contingent).
* They gave free cookies, peanuts or pretzels -- hey, at least it's something.
* Although the flight was full, I found the seats to be roomy enough for me (I'm only 5'2") and there was plenty of room under the seat in front of me to put my big overnight bad without having to stuff it.
* On my first flight no one sat in the middle seat making it even more comfortable -- although good, I can't really give Delta credit for that though.
The Not So Good:
* If you're going to charge people to buy food on board at least offer something worth eating -- it's ridiculous to sell overpriced junk food when people are flying over dinner time! Offer a sandwich for cryin' out loud!
The Stupid:
* Maybe someone can explain the rationale of making people who are on a flight to Vancouver, with a stop in Minneapolis, switch planes and seats even though its the same flight, with the same flight number. I don't get that!
The Bad:
* No entertainment of any kind. Each flight was more than 3 hours but they didn't even have the overhead TVs. Boring!
* Charged to check my suitcase. I know all the airlines do it, but it still doesn't make it right.
Writer Anxiety
11 hours ago
Yea for the Minnasotans!
ReplyDeleteWe might talk funny but we're really super nice!
I loved Northwest - and it is still okay flying Delta out of Minneapolis as long as you aren't heading south.
I'll never completely understand the switching of planes, but I do know that they have to take account of luggage loads and number of people. These days they do everything they can to reduce fuel costs by sizing the plane to the passenger load and destination (how much fuel they have to carry to get there - or even get there and back).
Oh, and I'll put in a plug for my fellow ARS workers here who've been developing managment practices to grow bioenergy crops for biofuel production, including biodiesel and jet fuel.
As bioenergy really gets off the ground-fuel costs for airlines should come down, but I doubt they'd change their policies for baggage charges, now that it's started they'll never give up getting the extra revenue.
Sharon W
Summer's now over, how sad!
ReplyDeleteWhen will we get another dose of Dori?
Sharon W.