Observations on Passengers and Overall Airline Rankings

I was sharing this info verbally with Derra who should get all the credit for telling me to blog it, so there's your credit Derra!

When I started this flying every week gig, I was mainly flying on Delta. Shortly after I lost my Silver Medallion status when I missed the mark by 1012 miles. It is then I decided to try all of the different airlines that fly directly between Atlanta and Denver. Here's what I noticed:

I had a lot fewer options and amenities on other carriers but I was usually more relaxed. I noticed that there is a terrible vibe on the Delta flights. I think it boils down to their Sky Miles program. The customers have so much invested in Delta that they keep flying with them just to get more points but they are soooo unhappy about Delta that while they are earning points they are still miserable.

Does this come down to poor customer service? Is it just that Delta knows they have sucked them in so now they can say "SUCK IT!"?
Those things are definitely true but I don't believe it can be all there is to it. Maybe it is a matter of expectations. Maybe the Delta fliers are just so jaded. All I know is that while I have more features and amenities on Delta than most other carriers, I am stressed and tense on the flight. I think I prefer to fly with the schmucks who don't expect anything and are just happy to arrive safely. I definitely land in a better mood that way.

Below you'll see how I have ranked Airlines overall. I'll use this formula on my individual flights to rank them each time. Maybe I'll find that my perception is not reality if I jot everything down as it happens.


Please let me know if you want me to add others to this list.

Seats:
a) comfort
b) quality of material
c) tray table
d) recline
e) what are the features on board/at my seat
f) do all features work


Results:
A) I like Frontier seats best for one reason: they have adjustable head rests which aid sleeping on the plane. United seats are the biggest in coach so they are second best on my list.
B) When you can get a flight with the "leather" seats on any carrier it is always preferred over cloth. Of course first class has the "leather" for all airlines, but this is mainly written for the cattle in coach, and I rarely get to first or business class so, I'm focusing on Coach unless otherwise specified.
AirTran, United and Delta have more flights with the "leather" in coach.
C) Tray tables overall are just there. Rarely do any stand out. I've been on some that I am too scared to put my laptop on though and will note that in future posts. Right now I can't remember which had those. Also, while some of you may like bulkhead seats, remember those are the tray tables that come out of the armrest as there are no seats in front of you. Those are always smaller and flimsier and I wouldn't trust them with anything heavier than your single-serving drinks and snacks.
D)I'll have to be more specific in individual posts. Just know that it seems to me that none recline a lot but when they do, they limit the person behind you so much they often can't get out of their seat. So, overall, seats are just too close together! Duh! Best seat in the house is usually the second row of the emergency exit row if your plane has it. See Seatguru.com.
Reason: your seat will recline and the seat in front of you can't. SCORE. Worth the time to get to airport early or the extra $20 (AirTran)?
E) Features and Amenities:
Delta has tvs with movies, games, a lot of good TV channels built into the seat you are facing on newer aircraft (they still use the old planes too which have the 1 monitor per every 8-10 rows.) Big downfall: they charge $2.00 for their headsets and some older planes will not take your headsets/headphones so you must buy theirs (which I won't.) Movies at time of writing cost $6.00. Pay for TV like HBO is $2.00 per episode. Free tv has sports, comedy central, etc. Games are pretty good, especially the trivia. No time restrictions so be careful when you buy your movie. They'll take your money even if you don't have time to finish. No warning on that. They also have go-go in-flight wireless internet.
Frontier warns you that you must buy your movie no later than 45 mins into flight. Frontier puts their cost for TV and Movies into the ticket that you buy then comes around and activates it for you. You can purchase on board too. No internet though. They say that is coming with their merger with Midwest. All of their planes that I've been on have the TV monitors in the seat in front of you. Sometimes the screen will not turn off. Both Delta and Frontier have a way to turn off the screen but I've been on a few flights where the middle seat's screen would not. Luckily I had a creative attendant who figured out we could block it with the security card! :) OH, that's what they are for!!!!! Should've known.


Bathroom:
a) cleanliness
b) stocked

Overall, know that if your flight's departure is late due to a late arriving flight
your cabin will be disgustingly dirty. Again, this is why I carry wipes and Lysol with me just in case. Also know that the cleaning crews are employed by the airports not the airlines, so there is no point in saying "the delta cleaning crew sucks". The only correct thing to say is "the atlanta cleaning crew sucks."
No matter when. I've had 6am flights (first of the day) on Frontier and Delta and the cabin overall was not clean, but especially the bathroom.
I even once had a United flight where I was the first passenger on the flight and I found the floor sticky, I finished the TP, there were no towels and NO SOAP.
Know what the flight attendants can do about this? NOT MUCH. They don't really get supplies or anyway to store them. At least not on the ATL-DEN route. When I alerted the United attendant he had to steal some soap from the other bathroom and then had to water it down to make it last. He also stole TP from the other bathroom and used his little drink napkins as the towels for the bathroom. He admitted that it happens a lot in ATL and that he doesn't think much of the ATL staff.

Boarding and De-boarding process
a) time
b) ease
c) overhead storage

Since Southwest lets you check 2 bags for free, their process kicks ass. Swiftly on and off. Strictly speaking they don't fly to ATL so I can't count them.

All the others suck except for Frontier. They board correctly so people don't hold you up. Also, if for some reason the flight is delayed they check to see how many people are connecting elsewhere and make announcements to alert everyone else to stay in their seats while those who are connecting get to go first. Sure some could abuse that but it is nice that they care enough to try. No other airline does this.

Attendants:
a) courteous
b) efficient

See above about the announcements. Delta's staff are the worst usually, especially if they are an Atlanta based crew. United's crew were the nicest However, the one singularly most unfair and rude attendant ever was a woman on Frontier. The entire crew was biased and only was nice to one male passenger (the guy next to me so I saw it all.) Every attendant fawned all over him. The male attendant actually said to him "coffee tea or me." The woman was hostile about anything she had to do for any customers. She wanted everyone to sit down, shut up, never get up or need anything. Oh, but Mr. Perfect could do no wrong and she gladly got off her ass for him.

Food and Drink options

Most airlines are going cashless. Others are only cash based. I know of none that take both so you must come with cash and cards just in case if you want to buy anything.
United has no snacks at all, free or purchase, you only get your drinks. First/Business gets a full meal. If you look at the offerings in their magazine they really have a lot of good looking stuff.
Frontier/Midwest gives away freshly warmed cookies on flights after 10am. Before that you get no snacks, just your drinks. Later in the day flights too offer sandwiches and other products from Udi's which is a decent food business. I've liked their product.
AirTran: you get the basic pretzels. (I've been in first/business on AT and they get a BASKET of goodies to choose from.)
Delta has a lot of options. Free snacks are their Biscoff cookies, pretzels or peanuts. Sometimes they'll let you have more than 1, other times they are tight-asses. For purchase they have combo boxes of junk mainly, a few healthier options. They also sometimes have good selections of cheese and fruit. This is the only airline that really has a lot of options for breakfast or the rest of the day, however, they aren't always available. Bummer here is you read the menu and then find out that your flight only has the combo boxes of crap.

Again, Southwest doesn't count really as I can't take them from ATL-DEN, but just fyi: they do not have drink carts. This means they come by and take your order and bring it to you. Seems less efficient for them but a great improvement for the customer as you never have to wait for that damn cart that is blocking the aisle. :)

Read individual flights in other posts for more specifics.