Delta it ain't: A flight on US Air
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/busine...6deltamatt.html
A flight to Phoenix on US Air
By MATT KEMPNER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/16/06
Not one, but two stray threads are sticking from a seat back on US Airways Flight 639.
And they call this an airline?
(ENLARGE)
Matt Kempner
Welcome to a flight into the heart of darkness, on the very day US Airways announced its bid for a hostile takeover of Delta.
Flight 639 is leaving Atlanta and heading straight for Phoenix, where the airport sits beside the suburb of Tempe, the home of US Airways.
Yes, US Airways has graciously offered to rename itself Delta, but it says it hasn't decided yet whether the headquarters for its dream of a combined airline should be in Atlanta or in the middle of the Arizona desert.
Is US Airways really up for the challenge? Flight 639, say hello to the white glove test.
Issue One rises well before boarding. The self-check-in machines won't print out the boarding pass. Too close to boarding time? Whatever.
OK, otherwise the boarding process goes smoothly.
It's packed on the plane. All but five seats are filled. And the only ones that are left are the center seats. US Airways notices this situation. Five more passengers are called up the jetway to fill the needy seats.
It is raining enough to drown a frog in Atlanta, which is all the more depressing on this particular day, because up ahead Phoenix is sunny and clear.
Everything on this trip seems to carry some double meaning aimed at Delta.
How else to explain the pilot's loudspeaker greeting to passengers that includes this warning: "You can expect some turbulence as we depart the local area."
Yeah, we know.
Hostile takeover seems so ... hostile. What about another tack, like, say, friendly, good-natured or intriguingly persuasive takeover?
Back to the rundown on Flight 639.
The lavatory: Soap comes from one of those foaming dispensers.
In-flight magazine: New, fresh and no stains of unidentifiable origin.
Safety video: The usual half-smiling actors showing how to stow laptops and strap oxygen masks on an unreasonably calm kid. The video includes an artistic close-up of an aisle light. The video's lead-in music is stirring string instruments. It kind of makes you feel proud about putting your seat back to the upright and locked position.
Keep this in mind. US Airways planes are generally white, with red and dark blue tails. Delta's planes are mostly white, with red and dark blue tails. Coincidence?
Flight 639 pulls back from the gate on time. Maybe it's even a couple minutes early. Big deal. The real test is when you land.
In one exit row sits Nathan Kitchens. He is on vacation and he is dressed like a passenger, but he confesses that he is a pilot who flies US Airways routes out of Charlotte.
"I'm not really a mortal enemy," he tells an inquisitive Atlantan who happens to be carrying a reporter's notebook and a pen. He explains that he is employed by Mesa Air, and Mesa flies planes for a host of carriers, including both Delta and US Airways.
Beside him, sits Catherine Zasada, who says she is the national advertising director for the big Phoenix newspaper, The Arizona Republic.
She says she likes US Airways –– and its predecessor airline America West.
If any corporation has to move, Zasada says she'd prefer it be Delta going to Tempe rather than US Airways moving to Atlanta. She sticks to this view despite the withering stare of the Atlantan with the note pad and pen.
"I bet we land on time," Zasada says.
A flight attendant's voice comes sweetly over the loudspeaker. Soft drinks and juices are free, she says. (Delta does that, too) Two bags of mini pretzels also are complimentary. Delta gives out snacks, also.
A meal –– a roasted chicken sandwich, "luscious" fruit and cheese plate or a snack box –– costs you.
An hour after Flight 639 left the gate, drinks arrive at Zasada and Kitchens' exit row, courtesy of smiling flight attendants.
The drinks come with a drink napkin emblazoned with an ad: "Thirsty for more travel? Explore over 225 destinations worldwide with US."
This is, after all, the airline that put ads on seat-back tray tables as a way to goose up revenues. Every bit helps in the flying business.
Three hours and 35 minutes after pushing back from the gate in Atlanta, meal service arrives, including a chicken sandwich for Zasada.
"That was kind of slow," she admits after the cheery flight attendant has gone.
Another thing that's "weird," she says, is that the crew sometimes refers to the carrier as US Airways and sometimes as America West. The merger of the two took place last year, but the two are still in the process of trying to operate as a single carrier, with the US Airways headquarters moving from the Washington, D.C., suburbs to America West's base in Arizona.
One of the flight attendants, wearing an apron with the America West symbol, says she's sure Delta will move too if the latest deal goes through.
"Who wouldn't want to live in Phoenix?" she says. "It's delightful."
Another flight attendant comes down the aisle. She carries a handwritten list of all the US Airways frequent flyers on board and she stops to thank each personally and to invite them to fly again.
"See why I like them," Zasada says, though she adds she's never seen them do that before.
Kitchens, the vacationing pilot, is philosophical about the passenger flying experience. Every flight, he says, has its pluses and minuses.
But when it comes down to it, he says, "you have an equal number of takeoffs and you have an equal number of landings. That's all that matters."
On Flight 639, touchdown in Arizona is smooth and more than punctual. "We're on the ground approximately 15 minutes early," Zasada says. "For the record."
The captain's voice has already comes over the loudspeaker.
He tells the passengers he hopes they have enjoyed their flight.
And, he adds, "I hope to see you real soon on a future US Airways ... or Delta flight."
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/busine...6deltamatt.html
A flight to Phoenix on US Air
By MATT KEMPNER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/16/06
Not one, but two stray threads are sticking from a seat back on US Airways Flight 639.
And they call this an airline?
(ENLARGE)
Matt Kempner
Welcome to a flight into the heart of darkness, on the very day US Airways announced its bid for a hostile takeover of Delta.
Flight 639 is leaving Atlanta and heading straight for Phoenix, where the airport sits beside the suburb of Tempe, the home of US Airways.
Yes, US Airways has graciously offered to rename itself Delta, but it says it hasn't decided yet whether the headquarters for its dream of a combined airline should be in Atlanta or in the middle of the Arizona desert.
Is US Airways really up for the challenge? Flight 639, say hello to the white glove test.
Issue One rises well before boarding. The self-check-in machines won't print out the boarding pass. Too close to boarding time? Whatever.
OK, otherwise the boarding process goes smoothly.
It's packed on the plane. All but five seats are filled. And the only ones that are left are the center seats. US Airways notices this situation. Five more passengers are called up the jetway to fill the needy seats.
It is raining enough to drown a frog in Atlanta, which is all the more depressing on this particular day, because up ahead Phoenix is sunny and clear.
Everything on this trip seems to carry some double meaning aimed at Delta.
How else to explain the pilot's loudspeaker greeting to passengers that includes this warning: "You can expect some turbulence as we depart the local area."
Yeah, we know.
Hostile takeover seems so ... hostile. What about another tack, like, say, friendly, good-natured or intriguingly persuasive takeover?
Back to the rundown on Flight 639.
The lavatory: Soap comes from one of those foaming dispensers.
In-flight magazine: New, fresh and no stains of unidentifiable origin.
Safety video: The usual half-smiling actors showing how to stow laptops and strap oxygen masks on an unreasonably calm kid. The video includes an artistic close-up of an aisle light. The video's lead-in music is stirring string instruments. It kind of makes you feel proud about putting your seat back to the upright and locked position.
Keep this in mind. US Airways planes are generally white, with red and dark blue tails. Delta's planes are mostly white, with red and dark blue tails. Coincidence?
Flight 639 pulls back from the gate on time. Maybe it's even a couple minutes early. Big deal. The real test is when you land.
In one exit row sits Nathan Kitchens. He is on vacation and he is dressed like a passenger, but he confesses that he is a pilot who flies US Airways routes out of Charlotte.
"I'm not really a mortal enemy," he tells an inquisitive Atlantan who happens to be carrying a reporter's notebook and a pen. He explains that he is employed by Mesa Air, and Mesa flies planes for a host of carriers, including both Delta and US Airways.
Beside him, sits Catherine Zasada, who says she is the national advertising director for the big Phoenix newspaper, The Arizona Republic.
She says she likes US Airways –– and its predecessor airline America West.
If any corporation has to move, Zasada says she'd prefer it be Delta going to Tempe rather than US Airways moving to Atlanta. She sticks to this view despite the withering stare of the Atlantan with the note pad and pen.
"I bet we land on time," Zasada says.
A flight attendant's voice comes sweetly over the loudspeaker. Soft drinks and juices are free, she says. (Delta does that, too) Two bags of mini pretzels also are complimentary. Delta gives out snacks, also.
A meal –– a roasted chicken sandwich, "luscious" fruit and cheese plate or a snack box –– costs you.
An hour after Flight 639 left the gate, drinks arrive at Zasada and Kitchens' exit row, courtesy of smiling flight attendants.
The drinks come with a drink napkin emblazoned with an ad: "Thirsty for more travel? Explore over 225 destinations worldwide with US."
This is, after all, the airline that put ads on seat-back tray tables as a way to goose up revenues. Every bit helps in the flying business.
Three hours and 35 minutes after pushing back from the gate in Atlanta, meal service arrives, including a chicken sandwich for Zasada.
"That was kind of slow," she admits after the cheery flight attendant has gone.
Another thing that's "weird," she says, is that the crew sometimes refers to the carrier as US Airways and sometimes as America West. The merger of the two took place last year, but the two are still in the process of trying to operate as a single carrier, with the US Airways headquarters moving from the Washington, D.C., suburbs to America West's base in Arizona.
One of the flight attendants, wearing an apron with the America West symbol, says she's sure Delta will move too if the latest deal goes through.
"Who wouldn't want to live in Phoenix?" she says. "It's delightful."
Another flight attendant comes down the aisle. She carries a handwritten list of all the US Airways frequent flyers on board and she stops to thank each personally and to invite them to fly again.
"See why I like them," Zasada says, though she adds she's never seen them do that before.
Kitchens, the vacationing pilot, is philosophical about the passenger flying experience. Every flight, he says, has its pluses and minuses.
But when it comes down to it, he says, "you have an equal number of takeoffs and you have an equal number of landings. That's all that matters."
On Flight 639, touchdown in Arizona is smooth and more than punctual. "We're on the ground approximately 15 minutes early," Zasada says. "For the record."
The captain's voice has already comes over the loudspeaker.
He tells the passengers he hopes they have enjoyed their flight.
And, he adds, "I hope to see you real soon on a future US Airways ... or Delta flight."
