air traffic

[adrian_turtle]

I tried to use USAirways Shuttle this weekend. My plan was to fly from Boston to DC Friday morning, and back to Boston Sunday evening. There was bad weather in Boston Friday, but my plane was supposed to leave before it turned really nasty. I felt very lucky not to be on either of the earlier flights that were cancelled altogether, but I was

Comments

[mrf_arch]

I'm still angry, though. I'm not sure if I should be aiming my anger at USAirways, or DCA, or some other target. It bothers me that there was so little ability to respond to problems

At the end of the day, much as I have to say it, this is one where the consumers are pretty much entirely to blame. There has been nothing but vicious, downward pressure on fares for the last two decades. And at this point airline industry is a carefully balanced, but entirely ramshackle edifice. When every plane, and every crew, and every gate must be in use as much as humany possible just to break even, it's inevitable that even small glitches rapidly snowball into scheduling disasters.

[chienne_folle]

Um, you're probably right and all, but this doesn't seem like a very comforting response for Adrian to get when she's just had a bad experience. Maybe a "Gosh, that sucks; sorry that happened to you" and THEN your thoughtful analysis?

[mrf_arch]

Point taken.

I am sorry Adrian had a horrible experience. I also need to rmember that I'm the only one who just automatically equates having to get on a plane with having to have a horrible experience of some flavor anyway, so I shouldn't take that as a given. :-)

[adrian_turtle]

I did ask for advice as well as comfort. Thoughtful analysis is part of my future travel planning, and deciding whether I should be avoiding USAirways, or avoiding DCA, or doing something else entirely.

[ckd]

The US Airways/America West merger has continued to cause problems; apparently the big reservation systems transition was just a couple of weeks ago.

[adrian_turtle]

Thanks for the theory. I find it unsettling that they are still so unsettled weeks after the transition...it implies a basic level of incompetence that makes me doubt it's safe to fly with them, even though I know the systems are huge and that they probably build a lot more safety margins into the actual flying bits than into the reservations systems.

[ckd]

I was never a particular fan of either America West or US Airways; the story (probably apocryphal) about how US Airways got its original name (USAir) is illustrative.

As I've heard it, when Allegheny and Piedmont were merging, a market survey was done to see which name had a better reputation among the public. As a control, a fake name was included in the surv. The fake name (USAir) turned out to have a better reputation than either of the actual airlines involved.

(It was said that USAir stood for "unfortunately, still Allegheny in reality".)

[adrian_turtle]

I used to be a big fan of USAirways. The airline I hate passionately, and still want to avoid years after they did me any tangible wrong is Northwest.

[chienne_folle]

*hug* Airplanes and airports are uncomfortable enough when you're actually GOING somewhere; having to sit around in them while not going anywhere is no fun. And not being told anything really sucks!

I'm sorry you had that experience; it sounds like a lousy finish to your weekend.

[adrian_turtle]

Thanks for the sympathy. It really was a stressful situation.