Fly The Freindly Skies

[Geezer]

Woudn't that be nice if (beside gas lighters, scissors and penknives) they also banned gross, sweaty, ugly and loud people from aircraft, while children would have to go in the hold with the mutts? bigeyedsmiley.png bigeyedsmiley.png bigeyedsmiley.png

Hay, wait a minute, I have often been called some of those things, probably all of them at one tiime or another....

Seriously, I enjoy travelling but hate flying. The least comfortable way to go. I am planning a trip to Africa next year with some friends and the one thing that is giving me second thoughts is the long flight (from the US).

 

[teerex51]

Hay, wait a minute, I have often been called some of those things, probably all of them at one tiime or another....

Geezer, I though I knew you from somewhere.... :haha: :haha: :haha:

Stef

PS: No, seriously. The idea of a such a long flight would put me off, too.

In 3 weeks I'm traveling from Milan to North Carolina and I'm not looking forward to the flight and associated hassle.

 

[TejasFJR]

Last Thursday I'm flying home on an American Eagle Regional jet. 1 seat on the right, 2 seats on the left, about 18 rows. I settle into 4B and watch as the crowd shuffles in. This attractive woman in her late 20's or so starts to slow down as she comes in. She looks at the seat next to me, looks at her ticket and proceeds to sit down in 5C. Damn! That's typical.

So... a few minutes later in comes this huge woman, walking sideways down the isle toting this huge duffle bag that no way no how is going to fit overhead. "Please God, please... keep going, keep going." "Heeeheee excuse me, I'm in 4C" Damn! twice! I'm not a big guy, 165, 5'9" I fit into my seat just fine but this woman has me jammed up against the arm rest on the isle side and her bag has to be jammed under both seats in front of us and I've all of the sudden got the leg room of a toy Kia.

Once the plane get's loaded, the flight attendant comes on and announces that because of weight issues (big surprise) they need 5 volunteers to move from the first 7 rows to the rear section of the plane for takeoff. My hand shot up so fast I almost dislocated my shoulder.

I move back to row 13 or so and settle in. The attendant then comes back on the PA and says maintenance has to replace a bulb that should take about another 15 minutes. All of the sudden this guy in 12A starts muttering and cussing to himself about how he only has half an hour to make his connection in Dallas and starts jabbing the attendant button over and over.

When she comes back he's all high and mighty about how he travels all the time and this just isn't going to do. This plane has to take off or else he'll miss his connection and they can fix the light when they land in Dallas. The attendant politely reminds him that it was his choice to book such a tight connection but there really is nothing she can do. Perhaps he can contact the American desk and see if they can change his connecting flight. And that after the plane is up in the air, maybe one of the passengers that moved to the rear of the plane would offer him their seat so he could get off the plane faster to try and make his connection.

*Bingo!*

"Excuse me sir, I moved back from 4B and would be happy to let you have my seat in exchange for your exit row seat."

"Yeah, ok whatever, damn airline." They can't rebook him, the plane get's off the ground and when the seatbelt sign goes off, he gets up, gets his stuff and moves and I move to his seat.

I got the biggest grin when he got to 4B looked at his seatmate, the lack of storage room and just about blew a gasket

 

[SoCalMike]

Last Thursday I'm flying home on an American Eagle Regional jet.  1 seat on the right, 2 seats on the left, about 18 rows.  I settle into 4B and watch as the crowd shuffles in.  This attractive woman in her late 20's or so starts to slow down as she comes in.  She looks at the seat next to me, looks at her ticket and proceeds to sit down in 5C.  Damn!  That's typical. 
So...  a few minutes later in comes this huge woman, walking sideways down the isle toting this huge duffle bag that no way no how is going to fit overhead.  "Please God, please...  keep going, keep going."  "Heeeheee  excuse me, I'm in 4C"  Damn!  twice!  I'm not a big guy, 165, 5'9"  I fit into my seat just fine but this woman has me jammed up against the arm rest on the isle side and her bag has to be jammed under both seats in front of us and I've all of the sudden got the leg room of a toy Kia.

Once the plane get's loaded, the flight attendant comes on and announces that because of weight issues (big surprise) they need 5 volunteers to move from the first 7 rows to the rear section of the plane for takeoff.  My hand shot up so fast I almost dislocated my shoulder.

I move back to row 13 or so and settle in.  The attendant then comes back on the PA and says maintenance has to replace a bulb that should take about another 15 minutes.  All of the sudden this guy in 12A starts muttering and cussing to himself about how he only has half an hour to make his connection in Dallas and starts jabbing the attendant button over and over.

When she comes back he's all high and mighty about how he travels all the time and this just isn't going to do.  This plane has to take off or else he'll miss his connection and they can fix the light when they land in Dallas.  The attendant politely reminds him that it was his choice to book such a tight connection but there really is nothing she can do.  Perhaps he can contact the American desk and see if they can change his connecting flight.  And that after the plane is up in the air, maybe one of the passengers that moved to the rear of the plane would offer him their seat so he could get off the plane faster to try and make his connection.

*Bingo!*

"Excuse me sir, I moved back from 4B and would be happy to let you have my seat in exchange for your exit row seat."

"Yeah, ok whatever, damn airline."  They can't rebook him, the plane get's off the ground and when the seatbelt sign goes off, he gets up, gets his stuff and moves and I move to his seat.

I got the biggest grin when he got to 4B looked at his seatmate, the lack of storage room and just about blew a gasket

:rolf: :rolf: unk:

 

[Overfly]

[SIZE=21pt]Fly Southwest Airlines[/SIZE]

There's a reason they always make money and have the least DOT complaints in the industry. Besides you might just have an FJR Captain.

By the way Jetmaker737 is right........... [SIZE=21pt]If it's not Boeing, I'm not Going![/SIZE]

 

[twowheelnut]

[SIZE=21pt]Fly Southwest Airlines[/SIZE]

There's a reason they always make money and have the least DOT complaints in the industry. Besides you might just have an FJR Captain.

By the way Jetmaker737 is right........... [SIZE=21pt]If it's not Boeing, I'm not Going![/SIZE]

Stat'chu? Hence, Overfly? Can I get extra peanuts?

 

[teerex51]

fftopic: fftopic: fftopic:

Yo, Jetmaker

I was in Eastern Europe a few days ago and was pleasantly surprised.

Most airlines operate Seven-Threes as the mainstay of their fleet.

Even Bulgaria Air (I was already bracing myself for a nice Tupolev 154 flight) has 737s, although somewhat past their prime.

(This Dash 400 had signs in Portuguese :bigeyes: , which is not widely spoken in the Balkans, and turned out to be an ex-Varig machine)

Right now, only a few regional and charter operators still use the coal-burning Tupolevs. Good riddance...

 

[NoCage]

I "get" to travel with my work. Have you ever sat next to someone that needed a seat belt extender? You know, that thing that the steward(ess) uses to demo the extremely complicated maneuver of fastening your seat belt? I think if somebody is so fat that they need one of those, they should pay for 2 seats. I'm talking flab that envelopes the arm rest and continues into my seat space.

Whenever I fly on the company jet, it makes it that much harder to go back to commercial.

 

[Overfly]

TWN,

Extra peanuts, extra snack packs, heck I'll even upgrade you to First Class!! Oh, I forgot, it's all first class at SWA. :lol: Play your cards right and I'll even throw in some gen-u-ine Coca-Cola/SWA playing cards. :blink:

Just keep posting, you crack me up! :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha:

 

[twowheelnut]

TWN,Extra peanuts, extra snack packs, heck I'll even upgrade you to First Class!! Oh, I forgot, it's all first class at SWA. :lol: Play your cards right and I'll even throw in some gen-u-ine Coca-Cola/SWA playing cards. :blink:

Just keep posting, you crack me up! :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha:

On second thought, there was this red headed stewardess based outta Dallas on a flight I took a couple of years ago... Now, I'd glady skip the peanuts and the cards for that one! Woof!

 

[Windjammer]

Air travel most definitely sucks the big one. Ditto the remarks from Stef about co-workers giving me the "you get to travel" bit. Yuk-ola.

My worst experience was a flight from northern Europe to the midwest about 6 years ago. To make a long story short, it took 30 hours of travel time due to airport closure (high winds), aircraft problems on the tarmac, and other assorted misadventures. So after 30 hours they finally get me to Chicago, but my destination is Mpls. It's 12 midnight and there are no more flights out. So they thought I should shuck all my luggage (it had been a 4 week trip) to a hotel and come back the next morning to check it all in for round two. No fuckin' way. I rented a car and drove the last 7 hours to home, and despite being exhausted, it was the best 7 hours of the journey. I've HATED air travel ever since. Nothing against you pilots/airline workers, most of whom bend over backward to try helping the passenger. You guys have a tough job! Nonetheless, I avoid the "Greyhound of the skies" anytime I can.

And one more thing, the last time I was on an Airbus I thought is was a POS deathtrap compared to Boeing products.

 

[BobbyBlue]

I recently read in the British journal NewScientist that former Space Shuttle pilot Hoot Gibson, like 8 missions or something plus a shuttle instructor, is a Southwest Airlines Pilot. Its a great airline and a great plane !!! I always like the rear facing seats...beats the hell outa the C130 sling I dealt with in the Navy ! By the way, Hoot Gibson is the photographer who took the ass-kickin photo of astronaut Bruce McCandless(sp) floating in space with the jetpack on with a Hasselblad!

Bobby

 

[Overfly]

That's correct, Hoot Gibson of space shuttle fame does fly for SWA. I think he is a Captain based out of Houston. Considering it was probably his choice which airline he flew for, it was a nice compliment that he chose Southwest. B)

 

[BobbyBlue]

I'd fly with y'all anytime Overfly, as a matter of fact just earlier today I stopped on 281 and watched several SWA 737 pilots drive 'em right down in a rather gnarly crosswind. I'm still mesmerized by flight. When in high school I used to take my Dt-100 at night and lay it down at the end of Randolph AFB runway and lay on my back and the t-38s and 37s would fly so close if you stood up the jet wash would knock ya down. I LOVED it !!! I could have kept it up but I turned some buds on to it and before ya know it the Wing Commander gets wind of some brats ridin' across the golf course and smoking something at the end of the runway and commiting other nefarious acts in a much more innocent time...Today we'd be shot and Dad court-martialed.....Ahhhh the good ole daze !

Bobby

 

[RonC]

Seriously, I enjoy travelling but hate flying. The least comfortable way to go. I am planning a trip to Africa next year with some friends and the one thing that is giving me second thoughts is the long flight (from the US).

The comfort of your flight depends on where you are flying and what airline you take.

If you go to South Africa, take South African airlines rather than British Airways. On more than 5 round trip flights to SA, all my SA Airlines trips have been terrific and the British Airways stunk. The SA Airlines had larger seats, much better food, courtious service. BA didn't.

Ron

 

[teerex51]

@TWN and all a y'all Frequent Flyers out there.

Does this sound familiar? :haha:

Flying Hassles

... and what's your least favorite airline?

Stef

 

[TejasFJR]

I catch a plane out of town every Sunday evening and catch one home every Thursday night. I've found that flying comfort/discomfort is not only a matter of the airline, destination and equipment, but also of seat choice. On just about every plane there are seats that are sometimes a little bit better and sometimes a little bit worse than others. On those small regional jets, any flight over an hour can be tough on the butt but for flights under an hour they're kinda nice.

I also think the courtesy of the flight crew can make a big difference. I've had really great crews and a few really cranky ones.

I typically fly American Airlines since I live in the DFW area but all things being equal if I could create my own airline, I'd cross Midwest Express with Hooter's Air. Obviously taking the best of both.

Anyone ever made it on one of these flights?

Linky

 

[teerex51]

TejasFJR,

'fraid not. Would not mind that at all, though. :wub:

My typical destinations make me a likely victim of the following carriers

Alitalia (bad to very bad)

British Airways (which I dubbed Brutal Airways..need I say more?)

Bulgaria Air (better than BA -- how 'bout that?)

Cathay Pacific (as good as it gets)

Royal Air Maroc (not bad at all)

Swiss (pretty good)

and every low-cost airline in Europe, but - hey - for €79,99 what do you expect?

Stef

PS: but in Coach they all suck

 

[TejasFJR]

Midwest Airlines is a regional airline that flies out of Milwaukee. I've only flown them on one trip but it was great. The entire plane is essentially business class. Big comfy leather seats, meal was good, fresh baked cookies... good stuff.

Hmmm... I wonder if I can find another project up in that area.

Midwest Air

 

[NoCage]

I flew New Zealand Air once... L.A. to Auckland. Got to L.A. via Eastern... who turned a 6 hour layover into 20 minutes. :dribble: I actually made the connection. There were large comfy leather seats, attractive female flight attendants, Nice hot meal of poached fish and vegetables using metal utensils, free alchoholic drinks, choice of different wines with the meal... it was pretty amazing. Hooters Air looks, er, uh, exciting.