Bleh.

/rant_on

Some time ago NWA downgraded my home airport (MSO). We lost our airbus service and got the E175 instead (no additional flights, which means a fair number of seats lost). We also lost NWA and got Compass instead.

Apparently Compass has a bargain-basement operating certificate acquired from some bankrupt east coast carrier. With that operating certificate come some flight restrictions, so even though every other airline can land here in the winter (Horizon, TED, Sky West, even Allegiant), good ol' Compass can't.

Approx half the Compass flights MSP-MSO have been diverted during the last two weeks. The passengers get treated to a 3-4 hour bus ride to MSO, and the plane just flies back to MSP. That means the return MSO-MSP flight has simply been canceled. Naturally this is the most delightful time of the year to travel anyway, but having to try to manage business travel in this charlie foxtrot has been maddening.

I certainly hope this has cost NWA a lot of money re-accommodating pax.

/rant-off

I guess I'll have to switch to Alaska.