Originally Posted by tarmac

Almost everyone I know in Seattle has this deep affection for Alaska, and I just don't get it. On the last AA flight, after all the passengers were boarded, then we were informed that the pilots hadn't shown up. We sat in the plane for nearly 3 hours waiting for pilots to show up. During this time, we were not given so much as a sip of water, snack or anything. Once the the pilots , the said that SEATAC was over-crowded and it was stretched to the limits. Then, they mentioned that their clock time would not allow them to fly all the way to our destination, so we had to land at LAX to change crews. Once we landed at LAX, we were informed that there was a dog in the cargo hold, that needed fresh air (I am not joking) and we needed for it to be off-loaded. So, then, we waited for that. On the four-hour flight to Cabo, there was no readily available in-flight entertainment, and the burger offered as a Tom-Douglas inspired meal was terrible. The seats were crowded, the plane was stuffy, the service was average. Alaska seemed to be on par with a low-cost carrier like Ryan Air. It was not terrible, but why people seem to have so much affection for a so-so carrier is beyond me. Just saying . . .