So, over last weekend I took my first non-rev trip in 3 years. After reading the messages and discussions on this board, I really had no high hopes for anything.
When I checked in for my flight from IND to DCA everyone was so nice and in generally good spirits. The flight was great too. I hadn't been on the ERJ 170/175 before. It was clean and comfortable, very nice leg room. The crew was very congenial and helpful to everyone. It just all made the flight to DCA nice.
DCA was a whole different story. That has got to be the most ghetto and white-trash airport I've ever been in. I could barely understand the gate announcements due to the heavily accented voices or poorly spoken English. The gate area was filthy and smelled like a restroom. Every time I walked past the special services desk or a check-in desk I would overhear the agents complaining about something. I heard "oh in Charlotte they don't know sh**" , "In New York they do it all wrong".. it was just bad. I knew that paying customers heard that too.
The flight from DCA TO BOS that I took on the "former" shuttle was horrible. That was the dirtiest plane I have ever been on. You could barely see out the windows for all the smudge and residue on the inside of them. The seats were filthy as well. The outside of the plane was horrible looking with paint chipped and cracked, and several body panels that didn't match the rest of the aircraft. The crew practically threw drinks and pretzels at the passengers as they hurried down the aisle. As for the other passengers on the flight, oh my. It was like a greyhound bus station had thrown up - but it was the same kind of crowd I saw in the terminal and getting on other flights too.
My final flight for the trip from BOS to IND was great. The terminal was a bit "blah" but I wasn't expecting a mall or anything. The gate agents were all nice and very talkative to everyone who checked in. The flight itself was very smooth and nice. The CRJ was clean inside and out which was great. The crew were all friendly and talkative. The other passengers on that flight were more of what I would expect, mostly business and no odd smells.
Sadly, and I know I'll probably catch flack for this - the best flights and crews were all express. The mainline flight and employees I encountered were awfull - and I am furloughed from mainline. It was really sad to see what had become of it all, nothing like it was just a few short years ago. I know that bankruptcies and "mergers" can do some harm, but it all looked like the employee's just didn't care at all. Yeah, mainline employee's have taken some hits and had some rough times - but if they stayed then they evidently care or like the job, so why not show it? If they are so unhappy as the ones in DCA and on that flight seemed - then why not leave? Why let it leave the impression it does with fliers?
Just my two cents..
When I checked in for my flight from IND to DCA everyone was so nice and in generally good spirits. The flight was great too. I hadn't been on the ERJ 170/175 before. It was clean and comfortable, very nice leg room. The crew was very congenial and helpful to everyone. It just all made the flight to DCA nice.
DCA was a whole different story. That has got to be the most ghetto and white-trash airport I've ever been in. I could barely understand the gate announcements due to the heavily accented voices or poorly spoken English. The gate area was filthy and smelled like a restroom. Every time I walked past the special services desk or a check-in desk I would overhear the agents complaining about something. I heard "oh in Charlotte they don't know sh**" , "In New York they do it all wrong".. it was just bad. I knew that paying customers heard that too.
The flight from DCA TO BOS that I took on the "former" shuttle was horrible. That was the dirtiest plane I have ever been on. You could barely see out the windows for all the smudge and residue on the inside of them. The seats were filthy as well. The outside of the plane was horrible looking with paint chipped and cracked, and several body panels that didn't match the rest of the aircraft. The crew practically threw drinks and pretzels at the passengers as they hurried down the aisle. As for the other passengers on the flight, oh my. It was like a greyhound bus station had thrown up - but it was the same kind of crowd I saw in the terminal and getting on other flights too.
My final flight for the trip from BOS to IND was great. The terminal was a bit "blah" but I wasn't expecting a mall or anything. The gate agents were all nice and very talkative to everyone who checked in. The flight itself was very smooth and nice. The CRJ was clean inside and out which was great. The crew were all friendly and talkative. The other passengers on that flight were more of what I would expect, mostly business and no odd smells.
Sadly, and I know I'll probably catch flack for this - the best flights and crews were all express. The mainline flight and employees I encountered were awfull - and I am furloughed from mainline. It was really sad to see what had become of it all, nothing like it was just a few short years ago. I know that bankruptcies and "mergers" can do some harm, but it all looked like the employee's just didn't care at all. Yeah, mainline employee's have taken some hits and had some rough times - but if they stayed then they evidently care or like the job, so why not show it? If they are so unhappy as the ones in DCA and on that flight seemed - then why not leave? Why let it leave the impression it does with fliers?
Just my two cents..