First I should mention that I am not anywhere near as frequent a flyer as most are in this forum. I take between 10-12 trips per year and live in Buffalo so I mainly travel on US Airways. My question is why do so many of the posters seem to dislike the airline (US=US Scare, USLESS etc.)? I find the carrier to be vastely improverd over the past few yrs. I travel some on American and Continental and US's service seems as good or better than American. I grew up in the south and flew Piedmont and USAir allot. There was no comparison back then between the two, Piedmont was much better but now I find US Airways to be just fine. I have not had a late trip in over two yrs. Just curious am I missing something here?

Having lived in Pittsburgh for many years, and now in Boston, my primary complaint is their poor service. I am not speaking about making the planes arrive and depart on time; they are as good (poor) as any other airline on this count. Instead, my primary complaint is their poor customer service. Some examples:
1. On a recent flight from BOS-PIT, my flight was not listed in PIT on the monitors either for arrival (making it difficult for the party meeting me to find me) or baggage claim.
2. Luggage retrieval is notoriously slow systemwide--often up to 90 minutes.
3. Counter personnel have told me that a flight has "the longest standby list I have ever seen," only to find the aircraft only 2/3 full when I finally do get on board.
4. In-flight service typically amounts to flight attendants tossing drinks off a cart as soon after takeoff as possible and then spending the remainder of the flight socializing in the rear of the cabin with first class meals from a previous leg. Peanuts or pretzels are by request only. Food--when served--is unpalateable (though they are hardly alone on this one).
5. They are making full use of their monopoly power to and from Pittsburgh, for example charging a 40% premium for a non-stop from Boston. Flights from BOS to PIT are often more expensive than BOS-ORD.
6. They have eliminated the ice cream cookies they offered on transcontinental runs some years back.

I have been flying USAir for many years, since it was a regional airline based in Pittsburgh (Allegheny Airlines). While price is my major determinant, all else being equal for these reasons I have switched to Continental or Delta whenever possible.

Chalf, my experiences have been just the opposite. I fly U quite a bit (Pref-Plus) and have seen steadily improving service over the last 5 years. A missing flight on an arrival/departure or departure board is an airport authority issue not an airlines. I fly out of DC and my flight's luggage flows of the baggage claim about 15 minute after arrival. Ever tried to claim a bag in MIAMI!!! I used to live there and once I waited with the entire load of an American 757 for our bags to show. They did, 90 minutes after we got on the plane. Only mine was given a free trip to Lima, Peru. Saw it three days later. Also, show me an airline that doesn't have high prices at it's hubs. Ever bought a ticket originating in Minn-St. Paul??? Try a full fare economy ticket out of Atlanta....Delta will love to take half your months pay for that one. That's a standard practice for ALL airlines. While not perfect, U is improving. Of course I may get a little extra treatment b/c of Preferred status. On last tale: I lost a family member last year. My sister had to fly in to DC at the last minute for the services. I called and used mileage for her ticket, explaining to the ticket agent why I was getting a ticket for my sister with my miles. I met her at the airport where she imformed me that the ticket agent at the departure gate told her she was "sorry to hear of her loss" and had upgraded her to first class...on a free coach ticket!!! Nice touch.

I fly from the Mid-Atlantic to destinations in the East, Midwest and sometimes the west coast. This generally means that I fly UA and DL with occaisional flights on US and NW.

For years I have generally avoided US, but find that more and more I end up flying on US Airways, since they tend to go just about anywhere I travel from Virginia to Boston to Florida to Wisconsin.

I must say that I have become more and more impressed with the carrier in many, many ways.

The pluses I see are: 1) very dependable service (perhaps due to the shear numbers of quck-hop flights, US tends to get people on board and in the air on-time); 2) positive attitude of staff; 3) willingness to make up for problems (paying for hotel rooms for weather delays, quick to compensate for delayed luggage); 4) abundance of First Class upgrades for full-fare coach, and 5) confortable First Class seating (compare US to DL 1st class and you will agree).

Now, the negatives: Too many propeller aircraft and too few larger planes and long-haul flights.

These negatives cause me to avoid US since I prefer to fly in an upgraded First Class seat, and the prop-jobs do not have First Class seating. I do fly US enough (perhaps 10 trips per year) to respect the good job they do.

I fly from the Mid-Atlantic to destinations in the East, Midwest and sometimes the west coast. This generally means that I fly UA and DL with occaisional flights on US and NW.

For years I have generally avoided US, but find that more and more I end up flying on US Airways, since they tend to go just about anywhere I travel from Virginia to Boston to Florida to Wisconsin.

I must say that I have become more and more impressed with the carrier in many, many ways.

The pluses I see are: 1) very dependable service (perhaps due to the shear numbers of quck-hop flights, US tends to get people on board and in the air on-time); 2) positive attitude of staff; 3) willingness to make up for problems (paying for hotel rooms for weather delays, quick to compensate for delayed luggage); 4) abundance of First Class upgrades for full-fare coach, and 5) confortable First Class seating (compare US to DL 1st class and you will agree).

Now, the negatives: Too many propeller aircraft and too few larger planes and long-haul flights.

These negatives cause me to avoid US since I prefer to fly in an upgraded First Class seat, and the prop-jobs do not have First Class seating. I do fly US enough (perhaps 10 trips per year) to respect the good job they do.

thank you for the info - please post individual airline offers under that specific airline - the buzz gets fatter and fatter!

I tend to think that the reason that a lot of people don't like the carrier is because of the short hops. There is not time to wine and dine the customers on these short hops. I think people tend to have a more favorable impression of an airline when they experience all the perks of a longer flight. ie "all they gave me was a drink" compared to the great service I got on United to London.

See my post under Buzz - USA to Eurpoe tix discounted...

I'm with Rudi - I think most of this US Air talk should have been on the US Air thread. The Buzz is getting too crowded. If it's specific to an airline, with the possible exception of a single comment, post it on that airline's thread.

A very LOUD DITTO from CMDR CATCOP!!!

THE BUZZ IS ABOUT TO BUST!!! CATMAN

Perhaps you are correct in that I should have posted the original message on the US Airways board. I choose to put it in the buzz because I was interested in the opinions of the entire group not just the US Airways posters. It always amuses me that online message boards have "Cops". IE the guy that is always the first to yell when someone uses the cap lock key or spells a word incorrectly. Anyway, thanks for the replies and I will remain a US Airways loyal customer for the forseeable future because I live in the great city of Buffalo...NOT

OK Rudy, Phil, Catman --

I don't contribute so much to this board but I have enjoyed eavesdropping on your conversations over the past several months. You seem like nice guys, but frankly, the gazillions of "OMNI" posts are the worst offenders. Entertaining, but often wildly off topic. It's nice to see the community you've got going, but if you're gonna have a hard time making up rules and then trying to enforce them if you don't follow them.

Maybe you could just cut folks a bit more slack and ignore threads with an airline-specific title, just as I can ignore anything headed "OMNI" if I so desire. After all, no one forces you to read every thread.

Charlie

AMEN

Chazas: I think you should have put an "Omni Warning" at the top of your post.
MF

Perhaps this should be in US Air. If there is a moderator here in charge, then that individual should have the rights to move the entire thread to "where it belongs."

If there is no such ability, then put it on the forum wish list.

I, for one, really do not find the volume of posts that large that an occaisional misplaced post should be a big thing.

I agree with the earlier post that points out that there are more egregious offenses than this post.