Ooooops, forgot to mention my nomination of "worst mainstream airline".

Not to sound too mean on this thread but I nominate two U.S. carriers as the "worst mainline airline", Delta and now-defunct Piedmont Airlines.

I can't seem to have any luck when it comes to DL (I'm kinda forced to use them a few times a year)- lost luggage at BOS [first time ever happened after decades of flying], frequent late connections/missed flights, too much chaos at ATL, senseless boarding procedure, cheated me out of a couple B727 flights when replaced with inferior B738 aircraft, beverages not served on many flights, and so on and so on and so on.

As for Piedmont, the worst flying experiences ever! Terrible customer service, very dirty aircraft (and I mean DIRTY, literally....crumbs and napkings on seats, sticky armrests, cigarette butts on the floor.....arghhhhh), always loud cabin noise/rattling on their B737-200 aircraft, and snooty FA's who have no interest in providing you with any kind of service. And I loved flying as a youngster (still do today) but Piedmont left such an unfavorable impression- I was so discouraged to fly (until I began using Pan Am on MSY/CLT/MIA/NYC flights). *grumble* I say good riddens to this lousy airline!

Cheers,
MIKE