MilesBuzz! - LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE! <-----Northwest Air

I was reading an article that claimed NW to be On-time Airline of the decade amongst "Network" carriers. When I called to ask what a "Network" carrier was they indicated on that has intereline agrrements. The agent told me they indicated "Netwotk" Airline so Southwest Airlines wouldn't be included.

Apparently while NW claims to be number one with 80.6%, Southwest was actually number one with 84%, therfore having to eliminate them all together. I hate companies that try to decieve the public.

It filters down. Their Memphis-based commuter affiliate, Express Airlines I, recently announced a major improvement to service to Chattanooga. Access to another hub? Another flight? Regional jets? Turned out just to be an adjustment to one of the departure times, supposedly to improve connections.

maybe they should change it to decade leader of airlines that offer first class seats and overseas connenctions - that would eliminate southwest - huh

meant to say oversea flights not oversea connections

Well, then United has the best on time arrival of all airlines*


*Based on statistics for all airlines that have headquarters in Chicago and start with the letter U.

koko - you should read the latest Hemisphere magazine, where the United CEO is quite pleased about the significant improvement in on time performance, and puts a positive spin on the fact that now United is 5th out of 7.

America West has the top on time rating of international airlines based in Arizona.

This just in by the same PR agency as NW:

"AA rated number one airline by friends of Bill W." http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

ontheroad: I guess then CO would be the favorite airline of members of Al-Anon.

NONE of the "major" airlines consider Southwest when they list their ranking in on-time performance. This is because Southwest is not considered a "major" airline. It is also likely that it is because Southwest would otherwise be listed in first place. Nevertheless, Northwest's decade claim is fairly accurate among the top airlines.

Phil, you are incorrect. Southwest is the 4th largest carrier in terms of Customer Boarded at the D.O.T. website. If the are handeling more people, they open themselves up to more delays. Just because an airline goes international does not make it "better" in performance. Any international flight i've taken has had at least a 2 turnaround time, as well as a 30 min cushion time, thus minimizing any delays. I want the facts as they are, not skewed to fit the needs of Northwest Airlines to make thm look better than they are!

I have to say I was somewhat surprised at that Jim Goodwin article in this month's Hemispheres... I guess I wrote it off as a "progress report" rather than a "victory dance."

But I was somewhat annoyed that he "borrowed" the United Voices article twice in a row. They should give him his own article when he wants it and keep the United Voices column for highlighting employees and their community involvement.

It would seem to me that any airline that has a major hub at SFO (like UA) is going to have poor ontime performance since the airport is the worst in the US if not the world for ontime performance.(Perhaps I should paraphrase that and say "major" airport) As I look out my office window at the fog I do not need to go to the airport to know that only one runway is open as the airport authority can not get permission to expand into the bay and put the parallel runway the required 1/2 mile from the main runway so that instrument landings would be permitted in the fog.

jim

Milesman,I have NEVER seen Southwest listed as one of the five largest US airlines. Northwest is invariably listed as fourth, or in some years fifth. If this is a mistaken way of listing airlines, just about every list of "major" airlines makes the same mistake. Northwest ( with 2600 daily flights to 500 cities worldwide) should not be criticized for comparing itself to similar major airlines. Every other major airline does the same.

I finally found where I read Southwest was the 5th largest carrier! It was in the press release when they announced Albany!

"Southwest Airlines, the nation’s fourth largest carrier in terms of Customer boardings, serves 55 cities in 29 states—this will increase to 56 cities in 29 states when Southwest begins service to Albany International Airport. The airline currently has more than 29,000 Employees and operates more than 2,500 flights a day. "

I wonder who's in front and who's behind.

http://www.twa.com/pressrelease/document.html?iReleaseID=625

I understand that Southwest is just about always first in ontime flights. That it is first in passenger boarding for relatively short flights does not make it the fourth (or fifth) largest US airline.

However,What I am questioning is the general assumption ( certainly indicated by the title of this topic !) that the failure to list Southwest as first is some kind of Northwest plot or even peculiar to Northwest.Doc's link just posted demonstrates that at least one other airline( TWA) is following the same listing without Southwest. I have never seen any airline list Southwest in "first" for ontime performance. In a recent ad, Northwest once more published this list - sans Southwest- even though TWA appeared in first place.

I wonder why Northwest is promoting this ?

After all, if my experience is anything to go by, the airlines are all that serious about being on-time.

For example, on a recent Alaska flight (of only 1 hour duration), we sat on the runway for 45 minutes while cargo was loaded !! No air, no drinks, no apologies.

If the airlines were really serious they would give us frequent flier miles for the time we wait. How about 500 miles for every hour (or 50% of flight time) that they are late ? Then we might see some improvement.

It's a shame that the so called "majors" ignore Southwest. I think that SW scare's the hell out of the big boys.

Slowly but surely, they're adding longer haul flights. They're profitable and any city they go into they immediately drive down the fares. For short hauls, they can't be beat. US used to charge $600 full fare on a vintage 1970 prop plane for the 300 mile trip from BWI to ALB. SW's full fare will be under $150, and you get jet service, too! (See also, PVD, MHT, HFD, etc.)

I guess they figure if they ignore the enemy, they'll go away.

Touting "international" makes this claims even more ludicrous, because international flights are actually excluded from the on-time performance stats.