IMO NWA should have waited till Compass was certified to yank the mainline service from MSO. At least during the time of year when we run into this problem. It's not like the mountains sprang up over night :-)

Unfortunately, the need for increasing yields and revenue by switching gage of a/c was probably more important that waiting for full Cat II certification and certification for that special approach. The need for Cat II abilities is few and far between and landing to Cat I minima are the norm nearly 99% of the time.

JAKE-
Speaking as a cabin crew member for the above mentioned airline, I do apologize for that. Our traning is nothing less then a huge joke and they do not cover service all that well. You will occasionally run into this problem and I run into this problem too with my co workers. Some want to do a limited service on DTW MDW. Its catered for a full service and thats what it should be. When ever I work in the back I always make sure to stash extra pop so I can give out the whole can and if its a 48 minuet flight, you better belive that I will be doing a full service.

I try really hard to please people service wise with a smile and it usually goes unnoticed. It would be nice to sometimes get recognition for it, but ill just sit back and do my job the correct way and maybe someday it will be recognized.

In short-Most of our flight attendants have what I like to call, time management issues. Something that is not being addressed in training, but we get frequent memos about it.

I appreciate that. I know its just a diet-pepsi, but I was really surprised to hear from this particular FA that it was a time vs. pax number issue. Thanks for the information.

Some think it is, but a lot of our f/as have never been one before and think a 55 minuet flight is quick when it reality you up in the air and able to get out of your jump seat in 7 minuets, out in the aisle in the first 15 and done in a total of 35 minuets or so. It should take no one longer then 20 minuets to have a full flight served. I have never actually timed myself. I also have two years of experience too and coming from the CRJ, the E175 is not that huge of a jump in terms of passengers having to be served.

It just isn't that hard to do, and believe me, I am just as frustrated as you are.

I totally understand that its just a Diet Pepsi, but service is service.

I hope you expedience does not deture you away from future Compass Flights. We have some extremely talented people working with us with lots of experience more so now then when they first started to hire due to ATA and other airlines going belly up. I just wish that when they recruited they were looking for quality, not quantity.

My flights with Compass in the past (at least 15 in last 6 months) have been nothing but exceptional service. I find the F/A very polite and attentive. And E175 is my favorite. ^

You should try flying Mesa airline jets with US Airways. You will see how bad they are (eg. keep the customers very uncomfortable by pilots not turning on the A/C, and F/A will tell you "you will have A/C when we take off" with a rude tone). US Airway is one of the lowest priced as well as lowest quality airline. What you pay is what you really get with them. Cheap. BIG thumbs down!!

deleted. already answered!

That is partly true. However, at the regional I'm familiar with its simply a time issue. There are many other projects that require the same amount of time and money that affect operations on a day to day basis, than getting an airline CAT II or III certified. It's very rare that CAT II or III minimums are needed and thus its very low on the list of priorities for an airline.

Checko

Totally agree
 

We flew the e-175 EWR-DTW and I really liked it. First, the plane itself has the nicest cabin of any RJ I've flown by a large margin. It's very quiet inflight, and has a nice solid feeling in the air, unlike some of the others I've flown. Service was good as well, we got a full beverage and snack run. Cabin crew was young, but very friendly and professional. I liked it..

Agreed, we had a very nice flight MSP-STL Saturday morning, good service in F, very nice flight attendant.

The issue is MSP when the weather is bad, mainline flights are landing in MSP or could have landed in MSO, and your Compass flight has to divert because the crew is not certified.

I myself connected through Minnie this past Saturday and it was a nice day. Cold, but nice :)

Greetings all:

Yes, I'm new here, but I spotted a thread which I might be able to shed some light on. Permit me to expand on the explanations provided thus far by some of my colleagues. I will try to explain as best I can in layman's terms.

MSO is a "special qualifications" airport due to the terrain in the area. Because of the hazard presented by that terrain, the normal Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach requires visibility of five miles for landing. MSO also has an additional ILS approach, called the "NAPTN ILS" with much lower landing minimum weather. However, the NAPTN approach is a special certification landing approach, requiring the airline to be certified to do it, and special training for the flight crews who fly it. Most airlines that operate into MSO have this approval.

When Compass started flying into MSO, the flight crews were trained to do that approach, and the company believed they were certified for it. But, sometime during 2008 after MSO service had already started, the FAA inspector who oversees the company declared that Compass could not fly the special NAPTN approach at MSO. We are not exactly sure why this was suddenly decided; the rumor is that the inspector was being very cautious, and was concerned with the aircraft's ability to fly an aborted approach ("missed approach") at MSO with one engine failed. It's not that the E175 is not capable of that, I think it was an issue of proving it, since that aircraft had not operated regularly at MSO before. Departing MSO does require unusual climb performance due to the terrain, and airliners are required to operate safely in those circumstances even with one engine failed. The loss of that approval caught everyone by surprise, and for a while there was confusion even among the crews as to whether we could fly that approach or not.

Anyway, I will end with some good news. As of approximately one week ago, Compass Airlines is now approved (again) for the NAPTN approach into MSO. Hopefully these problems will now be a thing of the past.

In addition, I'll point out that this special certification is particular to MSO. Compass operates under normal Category I landing minimums for all airports; in other words, the issue we are talking about here at MSO does not apply to other places Compass serves. Eventually, Compass will be certified for Category II (lower) landing minimums.

Thanks for bearing with me and I look forward to the opportunity to serve you on one of our flights.

I would like to put a little bit of insight into this as well. I know this is an OLD thread, but I was just browsing and found it. Anyways...

I worked for this airline for 2.5 years and I know all to well the issues going into MSO. I am not a pilot so I cant exactly say what goes on up there, however I do know (from asking) that the min visibility is NOT 5 miles as some have said on here, it is 2.5 miles. We would divert to FCA, refuel and then be on our way once the visibility improved. No time in the history of Compass (that I know of, and we got emails of irregular ops) have we ever "bused" people to their destination. Let me also include that Compass was wholly OWNED by NWA and then later Delta. So Compass essentially didnt do ANYTHING on their own, everything they did was what Delta told them to do. I have actually worked a flight that opperated MSP-MSO that got diverted. I know that we did everything in our power to inform the passengers, give them options, feed them and give them drinks to the best of our ability. I no longer work for the company but I can say that of the regionals and sometimes even the majors, Compass had an excellent base of customer service and did EVERYTHING they could when they could. Sometimes things are our of our realm of control and sometimes things arent exactly what they seem to the passengers. In my years of experience I have noticed that most complaints made against crew members and airlines are really just the ignorance of the person complaining.

All in all, think before you speak. Ask questions before assuming, be nice and usually people will be nice back! Once you have covered all those bases and someone is still being difficult, then you have a right to complain.

PS... try being on a CRJ 200 for 4 hours. If you have never done that, dont complain about the Embraer 175, their seats are BIGGER then the major planes... bigger means more comfort as well!