nimbus said:
Thanks KCFlyer... but have you flown Jetblue to say it beats AA?? Honestly, I haven't.... so for those airline employees or forum contributors that contribute to this site.. How does AA and Jetblue compare those in the NY - Florida and NY - OAK/LGB markets.
It is a good point that the planes AA will be using are the 757 for the low fare transcons. Assuming AA and Jetblue ARE going head to head competing on price (low fares); how does the onboard product compare. They both offer free video(s) but now that JBLU offered more legroom in their coach only cabin.... is it more roomier than AA's 757???
Although... you are all so right about a nice greetings and a smile making a flight more enjoyable.
No...I've never flown JetBlue...you can't fly what doesn't serve your town. And AA serves a heckuva lot more of the USA than JetBlue does. There is more to the USA than the New York to Florida market - and there are a lot of potential customers in the "flyover country" in America's heartland. AA serves a significantly larger portion of that area than JetBlue does. But here is my take:
1. Legroom - From everything I've read, legroom isn't high on JetBlue's priority list. Even after removing the rows, only
some of the seats are just slight above "industry standard". The rest are at or below this standard. So it's a draw. On MRTC AA flights, AA wins, hands down.
2. Video Entertainment - Personally, I'd rather not watch reruns of "Good Times" on a transcon flight. And if what's "served" on the video channels on a night transcon are at all similar to what my Direct TV serves up at night, then one has to wonder how long one will be entertained by Ron Popeil saying "Set it and forget it". IMHO, Video is going to be one of the biggest areas of "hidden costs". If a low tech tray table can be damaged on an airliner, how much wear and tear can an electronic device take before it breaks down? Who's going to fix them? Will they fix them for free? How much will it cost to fix them? How many will have to break before they ground an otherwise airworthy plane? Will they offer customers some form of "compenstation" to maintain good "customer service" because of a broken TV in a seatback? Call me old fashioned but a good book beats the boob tube every time. So I'll give AA the edge on this one
3. Departure and Arrival times - JetBlue still lacks any kind of "frequency" on their flights. AA has a large number of nonstop transcons, or one stop with a change transcons. AA usually offers more than just one or two daily flights in the "flyover cities"...cities Jetblue has yet to serve. And some cities that Jetblue does serve (Denver for example) get one flight per day. AA has 12 options to get you there (from New York). So, AA takes this category as well.
4. On board snacks - Pretzels or peanuts are not adequate for a transcon flight. Shorter hops, they're okay, but if my flights are over a meal hour, then I usually grab a sandwich at the airport and bring it on board. But since AA does offer some meal options on longer flights, the advantage has to go to AA on this one as well.