Hi folks,

Here is my second trip report in March. It is a comparison of the shuttle service offered by Delta and US Airways. I have bought two separate tickets on DL and US on the route, LGA-BOS. I chose LGA-BOS because Delta is still using its Boeing 737-800s on this route. On the other DCA routes, Boeing 737-300s have almost taken over the DCA-LGA routes now.

Below are the itineraries –
March 5, 2003
DL 1828 LGA-BOS Lv1030 Arr1137 Boeing 737-800 N3735D
Load: 50-60% 37 minutes
US 2629 BOS-LGA Lv1300 Arr1359 Airbus A320-200 N112US
Load: 60% 50 minutes 16,000ft

March 12, 2003
US 2622 LGA-BOS Lv1000 Arr1103 Airbus A320-200 N104UW
Load: 40% 38minutes
DL 1833 BOS-LGA Lv1230 Arr1338 Boeing 737-800 N397DA
Load: 35% 43 minutes

March 5 was actually quite a challenge of doing a quick turnaround. New York had been raining since daybreak and the fog is pretty heavy. LGA was pretty nasty, although landings and taking-offs were nonstop. The visibility was low and it slowed it down. DL has actually cancelled the 10:30am flight to DCA, but everything was under control. To be honest, both airlines run an extremely efficient operation and the ground agents are very used to the shuttle operation.

March 12 was actually a great day for traveling. Skies are partly cloudy but things are running smoothly. Both airports were pretty much the same as March 5. Boston was being extremely quiet and when my DL flight took off, the only thing I noticed were two Northwest’s Boeing 747-200 parked in the E terminal. Other European flights had not arrived yet.

Ground Service
DL – I used the self check-in kiosk, which was very easy to use and there was a staff standing by to help any passenger. The agents looked helpful and friendly, and when I boarded, I was addressed as “sir” and “thank you for flying Delta Shuttle.”
US – I used the traditional check in line because I needed to enter both my United and US Airways number to take advantage of the six times bonus. The agents were very mechanical and not much smile… but they got the job done. Delta seemed to score a bit better. However, the gate agent at US was very friendly though.

Boarding Lounge
DL used the Marine Air Terminal, which was a bit ancient, but was pretty well maintained. There was no crown room facility but a business room at LGA. Newspapers, such as New York Times, New York Post, USA Today, and most major papers, and magazines, such as Profit and New York, were available. The paper selections impress me but the magazines are pretty lame. There was one coffee shop available in the lounge with snacks, such as sandwiches, and there was a complimentary coffee and juice station located opposite from the coffee shop. There were many chairs and tables available… definitely business oriented. The only thing that I did not like was the slightly darker interior, due to the lack of windows. I was impressed!

US station at LGA was similar with Marine Air Terminal. Major newspapers such as WSJ, NYT, and USA Today were available with a pretty good selection of magazines, including “Wired,” and “Nation” – both right and left. There was a station with complimentary coffee and orange juice set up behind the customer service desks. The space was larger with many individual workstations. It overlooked Runway 13-31, which was nice for plane-spotters.

DL station at Boston was pretty small, as the new Delta terminal was being built in the previous site of Terminal A. The check in counters and e-check in kiosks were located in a corner. The lounge was small but had all the amenities as the Marine Air Terminal. Newspapers, include Boston Global, Herald, and Metro were available, which were better than US, but magazines were a bit lacking. The selection was conservative for my taste. Complimentary coffee and juice were available, which were better than US’ Boston station.

US station at Boston Logan was shared with other mainline US flights and Alaska is located at that area. There is no complimentary juice or coffee, but there are the usual newspapers and magazines. Newspapers are very limited to business journals and DL at LGA is much better with the paper, but then the magazines are slightly better because they have the “Nation.” Other magazines are pretty much the same. There were many business stations set up at the US BOS station.

On time performance
Despite of late arrival as expected, we left the gate only a few minutes for my DL flight to BOS. Gate/Door Closed: 1034
Push Back: 1035
Take-off: 1059 from Runway 13 – (No. 10 in line)
Landing: 1136 at Runway 22L
Gate: 1140

For my US Airways flight, the rain in Boston was a bit lighter than expected.
Gate/Door Closed: 1258
Push Back: 1259
Take-off: 1311 from Runway 22R
Landing: 1401 at Runway 4
Gate: 1408
On a side note, I saw the array of European flights as I took off from Boston, include LX’s A330-200, LH’s A330, BA’s B777-200, and NW’s Boeing 747-200 parked in the remote area with a catering truck servicing it.

US 2622
Gate/Door Closed: 0959
Push Back: 1000
Take-off: 1019 from Runway 31
Landing: 1057 at Runway 27
Gate: 1101

DL 1833
Gate/Door Closed: 1230
Push Back: 1232
Take-off: 1244 from Runway 22R
Landing: 1327 at Runway 22
Gate: 1330

Both airlines run an extremely efficient operation and all four flights departed and arrived on time, which was an unusual achievement considering their three major stations, LGA, BOS, and DCA, had heavy traffic.

Cabin:
Delta’s interior works better with me. The blue leather seats with a similar color for carpet and interior make a bright and elegant atmosphere. The legroom is generous, especially for Y. There is an adjustable headset and the seats are tidy.

US Airways’ interior is pretty standard with the typical grey shade seats and the legroom was standard economy. Delta has definitely more legroom than US. But the seats are pretty clean and the cabin was cleaner than mainline aircraft.

Seating:
Both have 3-3 abreast seating arrangements. Delta has an open seat policy, while US Airways assigned seats.

Entertainment:
Delta has no entertainment at all, but US Airways has headsets at the gate, and FOX News (about 20 minutes) was shown after we leveled off. I am not a fan of FOX News program, and was extremely put off by the Pat O’Reily segment shown on my LGA-BOS segment. But at least, I got to get some US Airways’ headsets as souvenirs. BTW, US did not use the regular style headset, but those strange ear-pieces headsets used by CO.

Sorry BOAG, no more sky map for Delta – both DL flights did not show any video. I guess DL Shuttle had to align itself with the lack of video on its Boeing 737-300s.

Service:
On my first DL flight, LGA-BOS, service had to be suspended because of severe turbulence. However, the flight attendants tried their bests to make up to us, by passing out bagels, DL Shuttle’s breakfast in a brown SkyDeli bag. The bag had a moist, not dry, egg bagel, accompanied by cream cheese and strawberry jam, a knife, two napkins, and one moist towelette. Then as we exited the plane, DL bottled waters and orange juice were offered. But I was impressed that DL served snack on this 10:30am flight. On the other hand, my US airways flight at 10am did not feature any meal – only a beverage and a pack of Synder’s Snap pretzels.

Fortunately, my 1pm US Airways flight from BOS to LGA has a lunch service. As we boarded, a white bistro bag was passed out. The content includes a pastrami and cheese and mustard sandwich on a wheat bun, Cape Cod Chips, a chocolate chip cookie, and a small bottle of water. I guess the F/As were concerned with possible turbulence. Once we reached our cruising attitude, three F/As rolled out the beverage cart – three F/As with three different carts – all facing one way. The service was efficient and I got a whole can of soda.

On my DL flights at 12:30pm, a lunch snack featured on a distinctive Delta Shuttle’s plastic box with blue bottom was served, with a beverage of your choice. The snack contained a 1/2 size ham, cheese, and tomato salsa tortilla roll, a fruit salad of grapes and strawberry, a Toblerone chocolate fun size candy bar, and a mints. Strangely, a pack of utensils, including fork, knife, wet towelette and a napkin, were attached. Fork and knife… are they necessary? I think US lunch is slightly more filling, but DL’s lunch contains a fruit salad, that is not pre-packaged (sealed in a plastic bag). Most importantly, the flight attendants were more than happy to give you a few more boxes, if you ask. I got two extra boxes of snacks, which were sitting behind me. DL definitely scores higher in the food area.

Flight attendants:
Delta’s F/As are younger, energetic and charming, especially compared to some of the US Shuttle’s F/As, which were not too enthusiastic in being there. The morale seems to run a big higher in DL, and I am not afraid to approach them.

Aircraft choice:
I love Airbus tremendously, but the Boeing 737-800s were not bad… just a bit noisier and more movements, but it was okay. However, DL is going to switch the complete DL Shuttle’s fleet from Boeing 737-800s to Boeing 737-300s. Things may be different.

Mileage
US and UA are running these six-times bonus program now, which was very nice. The outbound flight was already posted on my UA account with the elite status bonus, but the bonus had not appeared yet. DL did not match US/UA/AA triple bonus, but its fare was twenty dollars cheaper than US Airways and AA.

Verdict!
I can’t believe that Uncle Leo allowed such a superior product, DL Shuttle, to continue to run in this era of Song and Delta Express. To be honest, both airlines feature similar service, but Delta scores better because of snacks all day long (not just some meal periods) and the better seats and legroom featured on its Boeing 737-800s. The open seat policy also makes much sense and it is very consistent in terms of its offerings at both LGA and BOS stations. Newspapers selection is definitely better with more local papers at corresponding stations, and magazines are not big of a deal. The crews were also nicer to deal with and I like the blue uniforms. So DL Shuttle wins my vote.

So what is your comment, regular Shuttle user?

Also a few questions –
Does Delta serves a proper snack (not the pretzels or mix) all day long and also weekend?
What kinds of snacks were served during the 1pm to 4pm non-traditional meal periods?
Any additional snack information will be appreciated.

Thanks for reading the report! My next one will be on America West and Frontier!

Carfield