OK so I was one of three people actually LEAVING Miami yesterday (wish I could stay for the game, but I have a family). I did get to see the Heat beat the Cavs though....
Early to the airport, as the boss had an earlier flight--got on the First/Preferred line (only one on the line), and was completely ignored for about 10 min, while the agents took care of people on the regular line or those checking bags at the kiosk. It took an agent coming off break to look up and see there was a F/P customer waiting. Not an issue, just interesting.
Off to the gate, and awaiting my first experience with the now infamous 320. Well, I was not disappointed. This new configuration is an embarrassment, and is UNACCEPTABLE--to the flight crews AND the customers! I was the FIRST person on board, and there was only 1 and a half overheads available for customer use in F. PLUS, the hangar rack was mounted on the bulkhead, but there were NO hangars! The flight attendant just nodded in agreement, and apologized profusely. So my winter coat (yes we in the east have WINTER coats) went in the overhead squished next to my rollaboard, and I kept my suit jacket on.
We did have a full predeparture beverage service despite a quick turn (kudos to the flight crew), and I must say the 2 FA's were outstanding. One of my friends had told me that the original plan was to put oxygen bottles in a place in the galley so if there were a fire you'd have to reach beyond them to get to the extinguishers! Smart...
A slightly late arrival in CLT, and a trip to the club--as always a pleasant and productive experience. A nice visit with the club manager to catch up (we have missed each other the past few visits), and off to the gate to catch the mid afternoon lawn dart to JFK (read CRJ900). I had chosen JFK for this trip since I was traveling with colleagues on Tuesday, some of whom were on UA, and some travelled with me to IAD to begin the trip. It would be an interesting comparison between the lawn dart and my normal LGA flights.
Well I must say, this airplane was mostly full, and I would say only about 10 people on board spoke English. In the row opposite me was a mother and young child (read about 3) who was out of control--the mother had stuffed the seat back pocket so full that the row was obstructed and had left a large carry on on the floor blocking the child's portion of the row. On 3 passes through the cabin to check passenger readiness and compliance, BOTH flight attendants missed these items. On the final pass, I quietly nudged one of them and pointed to the bag on the floor--and he seemed annoyed that I was trying to help him avoid violating FAR's.
On approach, the same FA missed the fact that the child's seat belt was not fastened (it was not covered either), and the kid kept pulling the tray table down on final. The mom finally got the tray table up, but it appears that the landing was made without the kid belted up.
Other than slight delays, the overall trip was fine, but I am concerned about the professionalism of the Mesa crews--if they are this lax, how would they be in any kind of an emergency?
Just some ramblings, but the Mesa thing is somewhat troublesome.
PS--whoever designed to reconfig 320 should be forced to fly on it for a week--then fired.
My best to you ALL......
Early to the airport, as the boss had an earlier flight--got on the First/Preferred line (only one on the line), and was completely ignored for about 10 min, while the agents took care of people on the regular line or those checking bags at the kiosk. It took an agent coming off break to look up and see there was a F/P customer waiting. Not an issue, just interesting.
Off to the gate, and awaiting my first experience with the now infamous 320. Well, I was not disappointed. This new configuration is an embarrassment, and is UNACCEPTABLE--to the flight crews AND the customers! I was the FIRST person on board, and there was only 1 and a half overheads available for customer use in F. PLUS, the hangar rack was mounted on the bulkhead, but there were NO hangars! The flight attendant just nodded in agreement, and apologized profusely. So my winter coat (yes we in the east have WINTER coats) went in the overhead squished next to my rollaboard, and I kept my suit jacket on.
We did have a full predeparture beverage service despite a quick turn (kudos to the flight crew), and I must say the 2 FA's were outstanding. One of my friends had told me that the original plan was to put oxygen bottles in a place in the galley so if there were a fire you'd have to reach beyond them to get to the extinguishers! Smart...
A slightly late arrival in CLT, and a trip to the club--as always a pleasant and productive experience. A nice visit with the club manager to catch up (we have missed each other the past few visits), and off to the gate to catch the mid afternoon lawn dart to JFK (read CRJ900). I had chosen JFK for this trip since I was traveling with colleagues on Tuesday, some of whom were on UA, and some travelled with me to IAD to begin the trip. It would be an interesting comparison between the lawn dart and my normal LGA flights.
Well I must say, this airplane was mostly full, and I would say only about 10 people on board spoke English. In the row opposite me was a mother and young child (read about 3) who was out of control--the mother had stuffed the seat back pocket so full that the row was obstructed and had left a large carry on on the floor blocking the child's portion of the row. On 3 passes through the cabin to check passenger readiness and compliance, BOTH flight attendants missed these items. On the final pass, I quietly nudged one of them and pointed to the bag on the floor--and he seemed annoyed that I was trying to help him avoid violating FAR's.
On approach, the same FA missed the fact that the child's seat belt was not fastened (it was not covered either), and the kid kept pulling the tray table down on final. The mom finally got the tray table up, but it appears that the landing was made without the kid belted up.
Other than slight delays, the overall trip was fine, but I am concerned about the professionalism of the Mesa crews--if they are this lax, how would they be in any kind of an emergency?
Just some ramblings, but the Mesa thing is somewhat troublesome.
PS--whoever designed to reconfig 320 should be forced to fly on it for a week--then fired.
My best to you ALL......
