For First/Business, British Airways is still tops by far.....so much so that it's started getting difficult to find available seats... Otherwise Singapore, ANA, Austrian, and Finnair are very good as well.... Alitalia is Awful. Delta used to be decent before the 9/11 attacks......I'd have to say Continental is the least worst of the domestic carriers now...
I'm surprised Virgin hasn't been mentioned among the best airlines to fly. American Airlines sux dog shiat. Baqui99, i agree with everything you wrote about SWA except Sometimes one has to ask that to be sure where he is in the stupid line, but i guess its better now that they have boarding groups. In the past it was horrible with everyone lining up for hours before the flights.
Virgin is definitely one of the tops from what I've seen/heard. I'll never be able to afford it though. Hence, I don't really consider it in my thoughts.
I haven't had bad experiences on CO... the domestic flights don't have entertainment, but the 777s from here to CDG and AMS are in pretty good shape and have TVs for every seat. Air France is the best airline I've flown on, though
Actually, I think it's just the opposite. We have terrible performers that the government won't let die. Stop bailing them out, let them go bankrupt, and give their market share to a company that's got their **** together.
Very good point. It's just cool to have the ability to fly. I'd rather read or play Sudoku than watch the movies anyway. It's not like you don't have enough time before or after the flight to look at stuff happening on a screen.
I've flown AA to South America but mostly in Business First and First Class and they were nice...Now, from what I hear, not as nice as Singapore Air, but still nice... I thought all coach seat had tvs on long flights, but I could be wrong..We're going to hawaii in the summer on Continental, so hopefully they do...
I flew to Hawaii on Continental a couple years ago...they had movies. I dunno how well the selection was, I was asleep most of the flight.
If you're flying long distances, it makes sense that they would make the trip as enjoyable as possible. It's 26 hours from here to Singapore including a 3 hour layover in LA or San Francisco and an hour layover in Tokyo or Taipei. I think it's 18 hours in the air from LA to Tokyo. That's a long time to be bored off of your ass (if you're not sleeping). So it makes sense for them to provide more entertainment options than they would on domestic flights.
As ferrari said, Virgin is pretty sweet. Now they have Virgin America (but not in all cities yet), and it is the bomb. I use it for SF->NY or SF->LA all the time now. So professional.
That's exactly what I'm talking about. Even though they have the boarding groups with the big poles for 5 positions, you see that one idiot who have to be in their EXACT fahking spot. "Oh you have B43, I'm B41...wait what are you?"
You'll find that most countries have at least one government subsidized airline. The airlines are squeezed really thin right now due to several factors: - Unions: airline workers (mechanics, pilots, hostesses) are all unionized and get wages not based on merit but on seniority. They have all kinds of ridiculous vacations and pensions that are driving the airlines into bankruptcy. - Fuel: SWA used to have an advantage due some favorable fuel hedging. Now they're pretty much all screwed as input costs have gone up but ticket prices have not moved much. - Regulation since 9/11 increased regulation has cut further into airlines' margins, which were already thin enough. I guess you're concerned with the moral hazard piece, but the airline industry is already government run to a certain extent with all the regulation.
Probably nothing. Boeing Dreamliner is the plane of the future. Of course Emirates has already ordered the most of these.
You have to pick the good planes. 777 or 757. 737's are most likely old. If going international pick a 747, or 757 (small but nice)
I've flown Air France and Continental business class to India, and I thought they were both really great, but Air France was definitely a little nicer. But we had plenty of movies and shows on both. Not having a TV on Continental just sounds like bad luck to me.
