JohnnyRockets

Pakistan International Airlines?????

SJC ORD LDR

What????? I like DD from time to time. They are in business becasue they make money on their coffee and lots of people like it.

Next thing you'll tell me is that Starbucks and Peet's should be eliminated too. That's craziness.

gooselee

I don't drink Starbucks, but they should continue to operate. I also don't drink DD, but they should be banned from the universe because they add cream & sugar to your coffee for you behind the counter, and I personally don't like that even though lots of other people seem to.

beachmouse

I like McDonalds coffee. Even though it's horribly inefficient how they have 47 different things on the menu and they really should streamline and go to an all McCafe menu.

People ordering Big Macs clog up the line for coffee, and the margins aren't great on it. Every coffee seller should be run like Starbucks.

SJC ORD LDR

Yeah, but adding cream and sugar behind the counter is more efficient since you don't have to take the lid off your coffee at another counter, add your cream and sugar, and then put the lid back on. DD does it all for you.

Using OP logic, Starbucks and Peet's should be banned for running a horribly inefficient operation.

MS02113

K-Cups are the be-all and end-all of home brewing. Coffee shops are a waste of real estate, a limited resource that could better serve the masses if repurposed as Southwest ticketing offices. They should all be eliminated.

IflyfromABE

Exactly. And if you don't like cream and sugar or the amount the DD baristas put in it, it's your problem.

IflyfromABE

Indeed, but K-Cups are ineffiecient because they brew one cup at a time; they should be replaced by giant percolators of Chock Full o'Nuts placed at the afforementioned flysouthwest.com ticketing offices.

Howste

I see what you did there.

For the record, I don't drink coffee, so not only should DD be closed, but coffee should be illegal.

BiggAW

Sounds like a PItA compared to the excellent service that you have, at least for CONUS flying, out of MDW.

I'm 6'3", and I don't fit in a Canadair 900 or Embraer 145.

YIKES that's cutting it close. That leaves 25 minutes to get through security and to the gate. I've been stuck in the security line alone for longer than that.

That doesn't sound realistic. Where did they start from? Jackson Heights, NY LOL? Also, no one in the their right mind would fly on the corridor just for the sake of getting somewhere else on the corridor, because Amtrak is just superior in every way. I fly PVD-BWI fairly often, but it's only to connect to another flight to somewhere else. I would never in a million years fly TO Baltimore unless it was part of a multi-stop trip that required me to fly in the first place, and if I could have had someone drop me off at the airport or go to LGA/JFK/BOS in the first place, then I would come back via Amtrak anyway.

Regional service provides little benefit to the few who use it, and a big detriment to the vast majority of people who don't use it [service to airports entirely without mainline]. And the utility of flying to airports that otherwise have mainline service can be achieved via consolidating regional airline flights into mainline flights, a la WN.

Yeah, WN broke into ATL and MSP, and they are hammering Delta in DTW. They are in a price war, and I like it. $89 tickets to DTW from here is something I can get behind!

No. The PANY&NJ, and the Chicago Department of Aviation, and the other relevant entities need to stand up for the public interest, and not allow airlines like Delta (at JFK) to squander the limited airport capacity with tiny planes, instead of bigger, more efficient planes. The world is already talking about the future of the A380 and how the 777 might be inefficient because it's less than half the size, and thus gets half the people per takeoff/landing. And here we are debating whether 50-seat aircraft should be allowed for domestic traffic? This is an idiotic debate, the answer is clear. The capacity isn't there to be squandering precious slots with useless flights like NY to MV, or any other regional airport for that matter. There are good arguments to even look at investing in bigger 737's, A321's, etc, and running all-economy to squeeze the maximum capacity out of the minimum number of planes. But the first step is just to do some housekeeping and get rid of regional planes at big airports.

It's the PANY&NJ's choice, and they are mismanaging JFK. The slots should go to bigger aircraft for more domestic service, as well as international service, as well as holding back a percentage of slots for weather recovery.

Who knows. It's brand new. Hopefully it is a big flop, and screws Cape Air in the process. They're marketing it to rich idiots, people with any brain would drive or take the Cape Flyer, which is an ironic name in this context. Hopefully MBTA expands the service down there, and gets the new sidings in to support more trains in and out of BOS.

Are the margin's factoring in DL's aging fleet, and WN's huge new plane orders? WN is investing in the future, DL is buying old planes.

Why would I mention a bunch of other trains? Yes, there are many trains in NYC. I know that.

Q70 is a bus that has to fight with city traffic. AirTrain, not SkyTrain, is electric, computer controller, much more spacious, and runs on it's own right of way. It's just plain awesome. It's by FAR the best airport connection I've ever used. Seattle is decent with the light rail thingy right next to the airport, Boston is decent with the Blue Line bus bridge (and the Silver Line which is sort of transit and sort of a bus).

That's not voting. That's a tiny minority interest overriding the greater common interest.

That's why rules and regulations are needed, and there is no such thing as a truly free market, because it wouldn't work.

I'm not convinced that they really are when you account for new plane orders on DL and WN.

Smaller aircraft aren't efficient. Period.

That's the wrong frame of mind. The who system would work more efficiently for everyone, including people flying out of the middle sized airports like PVD and BDL if there were fewer, larger flights. There's a reason why WN is dominant in some of these mid-sized markets. They are more efficient, and pass the cost savings on to their customers. So their marketshare has exploded, and now they are the dominant carrier in a lot of markets.

It's actually more convenient because there would be more mainline options at mid-size airports, and a few of the airports that only have regional service today might get mainline service if they have the physical infrastrcuture to support it.

I get the best boarding position possible on WN, and I make sure I'm at the gate at least 35 minutes ahead. And if I end up on a carrier using the antiquated old assigned seat system, I am sitting at the back, so I need to be there early to get on and get my overhead bin space.

No one travelling from DT Boston to DT D.C. flies period, if they have any brains. They take Amtrak. That's a nonsense route. You're just completely ignoring the transit time on the two ends, plus the waiting time at the airport, compared to just going to South Station and getting on the train.

There is no way in hell flying is more convenient. The only states anyone should ever fly within are California (maybe) and Alaska (because there's no other option except for FAI-ANC). If you want convenience, take the Cape Flyer to Hyannis, and take the boat from there.

Aside from these troll posts about food, Potbelly at MDW is the most efficient sandwich shop I think I've ever visited in my life, in addition to being at an efficient airport, served by a very efficient airline.

BiggAW

This article is 8 years old now, and JFK is still a mess. I didn't realize that the regional jets not only cripple capacity, but they actually reduce the number of slots available in total.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/ny...vironment&_r=0

It doesn't mention eliminating regional flights due to their limited seat capacity, but it mentions de-hubbing, which is absolutely something that needs to be done. It was never designed as a hub, and shouldn't be operated as a hub. In fact, PANY&NJ should ban hubbing entirely, but encourage keeping direct flights that have enough of a market in NYC alone. Of course, some savvy traveler could book two separate tickets, and no one is going to stop them, but most people wouldn't and the capacity would effectively only serve the greater NY area, including parts of NJ, PA, and CT.

Howste

beachmouse

Ummmm....this statement shows a great unfamiliarity with WN's history and core market. Love Field rules anyone?

I'd also throw Florida into the mix because it's a 12 hour drive from Pensacola to Miami. Even if WN stopped flying into Key West because they got sick of dealing with the extreme weight restrictions in place for landing 737s there.

SJC ORD LDR

Potbelly is not that efficient, they waste time in heating your sandwich. Go to Jimmy John's. They can make a sandwich in no time flat.

Back on topic, there is a reason why no US airline has ordered the A380. There is also a reason why the A380 is not found on the JFK - LHR route despite it being one of the busiest intercontinental route in the world.

IflyfromABE

This little piece of information is pretty enlightening. It does not have much data about wide bodies, and it is pretty specific but 738s are pretty much runway hogs. 739s are even worse. CRJs and MD-XXs are on the pathetic side pretty much.

Nobody could really believe that a 763 could land in a shorter runway than a CR2 (and of course a 738), but, yes this is the case, according to that data...