Center_Mid
Well-Known Member
For all the negative things people say and write about airlines, especially the regionals, I thought I'd write about my experience flying UA and Skywest from Seattle to Omaha, which was a great experience throughout.
I flew from SEA to DEN on a United 757 on Tuesday, November 14. Nothing unusual there. Friendly service, uneventful flight. I knew I'd be on a Skywest CRJ 700 from Denver to Omaha and, honestly, I was sort of expecting the level of service to drop a little. Sorry, but it's true. I think much of the media has conditioned such prejudice against "puddle jumpers." The thing is, I found that not only was the level of service and professionalism the same on Skywest as UA, but the appearance of professionalism was the same. And appearances count. Even on this forum, I've seen regional pilots ridiculed (gently and not so gently) for gelling their hair, wearing backpacks and sunglasses with their iPods, and generally looking less than professional. I found the opposite to be true. All of the regional pilots I saw in DEN and in the aircraft looked absolutely professional and carried themselves very well. I saw nary a backpack or iPod, not even among the pilots commuting as passengers. The aircraft interiors were clean. The FAs were friendly and, dare I say it, hot. And if you're in seat 4A, the CRJ is pretty damn quiet. I kept the Bose headphones stowed and had a pleasant conversation with the guy next to me on the return flight from OMA to DEN today.
From the back, the RJ seemed a little pitch sensitive to flap deployment. That is, the PF seemed to pitch the nose over noticeably to hold altitude when the first flaps were deployed. But seeing as how I've never flown anything larger than a 172, my observations are really just those of a layman. Overall, the ride was smooth and quiet.
The only negative was that some of the older 200s in SKW's fleet REALLY need a paint job. As one plane was taxiing in, I overheard a wife say to her husband: "Honey, is that our plane? Look at that, do you see that? It looks all...". She didn't finish her sentence, but I think she would've said "beat up" or something similar. It was N934SW and the paint was coming off all over the nose, fuselage, and tail. No big deal to me, but it definitely affects some customer's impressions of the company. I know it's not your department, but I didn't feel like posting on AirlineManagementCareers.com about it.
I'm still at KDEN as I write this. I guess it's possible that my leg to SEA could be awful, but I doubt it. Airline folks seldom get thanked for doing their jobs well, at least not publicly. So, thank you to all at Skywest and UA for a safe, comfortable, enjoyable flying experience.
One more note: I saw GLA operating an EMB-120 out of DEN. Are they going to replace the 1900Ds or just complement them?
I flew from SEA to DEN on a United 757 on Tuesday, November 14. Nothing unusual there. Friendly service, uneventful flight. I knew I'd be on a Skywest CRJ 700 from Denver to Omaha and, honestly, I was sort of expecting the level of service to drop a little. Sorry, but it's true. I think much of the media has conditioned such prejudice against "puddle jumpers." The thing is, I found that not only was the level of service and professionalism the same on Skywest as UA, but the appearance of professionalism was the same. And appearances count. Even on this forum, I've seen regional pilots ridiculed (gently and not so gently) for gelling their hair, wearing backpacks and sunglasses with their iPods, and generally looking less than professional. I found the opposite to be true. All of the regional pilots I saw in DEN and in the aircraft looked absolutely professional and carried themselves very well. I saw nary a backpack or iPod, not even among the pilots commuting as passengers. The aircraft interiors were clean. The FAs were friendly and, dare I say it, hot. And if you're in seat 4A, the CRJ is pretty damn quiet. I kept the Bose headphones stowed and had a pleasant conversation with the guy next to me on the return flight from OMA to DEN today.
From the back, the RJ seemed a little pitch sensitive to flap deployment. That is, the PF seemed to pitch the nose over noticeably to hold altitude when the first flaps were deployed. But seeing as how I've never flown anything larger than a 172, my observations are really just those of a layman. Overall, the ride was smooth and quiet.
The only negative was that some of the older 200s in SKW's fleet REALLY need a paint job. As one plane was taxiing in, I overheard a wife say to her husband: "Honey, is that our plane? Look at that, do you see that? It looks all...". She didn't finish her sentence, but I think she would've said "beat up" or something similar. It was N934SW and the paint was coming off all over the nose, fuselage, and tail. No big deal to me, but it definitely affects some customer's impressions of the company. I know it's not your department, but I didn't feel like posting on AirlineManagementCareers.com about it.
I'm still at KDEN as I write this. I guess it's possible that my leg to SEA could be awful, but I doubt it. Airline folks seldom get thanked for doing their jobs well, at least not publicly. So, thank you to all at Skywest and UA for a safe, comfortable, enjoyable flying experience.
One more note: I saw GLA operating an EMB-120 out of DEN. Are they going to replace the 1900Ds or just complement them?
