The Admirals Club in Seattle at 7:00pm was deserted. I ordered a double Jack Daniels and paid the $9.00 + tip, checked my email. Even though I was the only one there they made me move to change a light bulb :-)

I went to the Alaska gate and boarded. There were about 5 other F passengers on the 737-400. Nice seats. My reading light was out but I moved over to the next seat.

No drink offered before take-off, just bottles of water at the seats :-( Is this the vaunted AS service?

The captain said that the trip would be 1.5 hours with a possible delay due to ATC. Uh oh.

We took off after waiting for 3 or 4 other planes. The FAs took our drink orders leisurely. I ordered coffee & Courvoisier.

The FAs pretty much ignored us except to check back one more time. We got a little tiny bag of almonds, too. That was the terrific AS food :-)

A bit North of SFO we started circling. The captain said that we were stacked up for a few minutes for ATC.

About 30 minutes later we continue towards the airport. More circling.

Then we make an approach. There's the airport, clear as can be, but suddenly we aboart our descent, landing gear back up, and climb out again.

The captain mumbled something on the PA about another plane. Apparently ATC mistakenly put another plane on "our" runway.

More circling. More circling. More circling.

Over 3 hours later and we finally land. I wonder how much extra fuel the plane was carrying, considering the 1.5 hour expected trip and the light load? That's SFO for you, I guess.

Then of course it's a 15 minute ride to the rental car area, in a "generic" bus.

Altogether it was a little nerve wracking and I was disappointed in the AS service, which wasn't any better than AA or US and even a bit worse.

AS never has preflight drink service other than bottled water waiting at your seat (OJ in the morning). You lucked into one of the few flights with not even a snack in FC. Normally there is at least a fruit and cheese plate.

The competition on SEA-SFO run is United Shuttle. On AS at least you get nuts and glass glasses.

If you fly at a meal time, surprise surprise, you get more service

I had my 1st experience on AS this weekend (SEA-ANC). The flight in coach was all that others have praised AS for: The attendants were friendly and efficient. The food was good--given that it was coach. And there was no growling when I asked for something extra. The attitude was "Can Do!" Would have made my old Marine Corps dad proud.

My one complaint: The flight was a co-share with CO but there seems to be a problem interfacing bteween the 2 lines' computers. Fouled up my seat assignment and chances for an upgrade.

Wish AS flew in the Texas/Southwest area.

On the SEA-Bay Area route, snack service in First occurs on flights leaving between 6AM and 1:30 PM and then again between 4PM and 7PM. I'm not quite sure what they serve you in the morning (probably a fruit plate), in in the afternoon and evening they have a choice of a salad or sandwhich, served with all the tradition first class bells and whistles. Usually F/A service is very attentive, and drinks are re-filled many times. In coach, a choice of pastries is offered between 6 and 9:30AM and either a sandwhich or a salad for the rest of the day (same meal hours as First).

As QuietLion mentioned, even at non-meal times they still offer a cracker, fruit and cheese plate. I have only taken one flight between the Bay Area and Seattle on AS that didn't at least offer that. That was in a 9:25 PM departure, three years ago.

I guess the main thing that sparked this post was that you had already compared AS service to AA and US. I think it unwise of you to put down an airline (ANY airline's) service after only one flight. If you are on a round-trip, hopefully you have a better flight time going home. A three hour ATC delay is certainly enough to dampen anyone's spirits. I didn't fail to notice that your post was made at 1:45 AM.

Cheers, WCF

[This message has been edited by West Coast Flyer (edited 12-07-1999).]

I've flown three AS flights in the past six months. None have impressed me in the least. My SFO-SEA flight in F at around 7PM didn't have any snack, other than the almonds. Also, FA was less than attentive.

As for PHX-SEA-PHX in Y, well, no meals there, either. PHX-SEA flight was delayed, due to mechanics labor problems. On SEA-PHX, my latte was seized by the FA pre-takeoff. She claimed it was due to "FAA regulations."

The FAA was indeed hassling them about that. The rules have since been changed.

Trans World One----As I mentioned, AS essentially cuts off all meal service starting at 7 with a few exceptions. Your situation is essentially the same as Robert's. I will withold any further comments, but all I can say is that I don't take too kindly to people who chose to fly at non-meal times, and then complain that nobody fed them. When AS does "feed you" (which is more frequently than the competition) they do a good job.

Seriously now, airlines aren't restaurants. I can think of lengthy "no-service" flights on all major US carriers.

TWO,

I'll bet you had the PHX-SEA-PHX run sometime in the first half of 1999. The labor troubles didn't go unnoticed by me, either. AS's service was pretty awful at that time. Since then, however, it has improved to almost the same level it was this time last year.

The "FAA Regulations" issue you experienced applied almost exclusively to AS, because they're based in the Pacific Northwest. The FAA decision that resulted in the "latte removal" was made at a district level, so it didn't apply to UA (based in Chicago) or AA (based in Dallas), even on the same routes. It has since been overturned.


------------------
Michael
OnePass Platinum