Trip Report

I'm back in the States after nearly three weeks in Europe. I flew over in Business Class on US Airways and return on TAP Portugal and US Airways. I'll add a few comments about the return later on, but the highlight was the outbound on US Airway's fairly new 767 product.

US Airways #742
PHL (6:20 PM) - BCN (8:25 AM +1)
Monday, July 7

The trip started with a very typical US Airways experience. As we were relaxing in the US Airways lounge we noticed on the board that our flight had been delayed. There was a mechanical on the old 767. No big deal, the lounge staff told us they'd keep an eye on it and let us know when we should head down for boarding. So after about 90-120 minutes we got the word and headed down to board. It turned out the staff wasn't really paying attention and my wife and I boarded as they were closing the door, nearly missing the flight. Classic.

Once on board, though, I was impressed with the product. I've been spoiled by Eos for the past couple years, but this product definitely served me well. I even got a good nights sleep.

The service began with with olives and a wonderful “make-your-own” salad. I had the mahi mahi entrée and it was subpar. The fish was fine but it was incredibly dry with no real sauce to spice it up. I ended up dumping balsamic on it.

The personal entertainment device worked well enough, but the movie selections were lacking both in quantity and quality.

However, I was sleepy after dinner and I pushed the sleep button on the seat. These seats are lie flat angled seats so for a while you feel like your falling down the seat. But, eventually I got very, very comfortable. I'm only 5'10, so the seat fit me well. However, I'd imagine it would start getting uncomfortable for anyone over 6'0 ft. By the time we arrive in Barcelona, I was fully rested and ready to go to breakfast at Barcelona's famous Boqueria (I had octopus, pictured below).

Luv Does Chicago

The Chicago Sun-Times has a quick roundup on a luncheon with Southwest Gary Kelley in which he discussed Southwest's future. Unlike most of the other carriers, Southwest is actually moving forward with a strategy rather than simply reacting to the latest jump in fuel prices. Of course, the article notes Southwest's fuel hedging that they claim will save them $2 billion this year. And it mentions Southwest's plans to add Internet and other entertainment options.

But, the speech's emphasis, the article notes, was about treating people well -- both the Southwest employee and customer. Personally, sometimes I find the "cheer" a bit over the top, but these days Southwest is one of the few places you will find people smiling. Setting aside financials and route structure, the comparison really tells you why Southwest is on its way up and US Airways is stuck at the bottom. While waiting for my 3rd US Airways flight of the day to be cancelled earlier this week, I overheard another gate agent announce that, due to a computer glitch, they were going to board alphabetically. Apparently, a passenger or two made a joke about it and it was only a matter of seconds before the gate agent was back on the microphone berating the passengers for improper behavior. It was really quite shocking.

I'm sure the Republic Airways employees that were actually flying the plane were cheerful, but I doubt anyone on that plane got beyond the behavior of the US Airways gate agent. These days the stock prices on the Yahoo chart to the right react solely on the rise and fall of crude oil. But, it is important to remember that, once this all settles down, there are factors, such as service, that do matter.