Foul weather and a delayed Continental Airlines flight gave me the opportunity to sample US Airways yesterday from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. While I won’t be defecting to US Airways anytime soon, the experience wasn’t half-bad.
The flight was operated by a brand-spanking-new A321 and featured gogo wi-fi internet onboard. The all-leather seats were fairly comfortable and the aircraft was immaculate inside. As a traveler who generally sticks to airlines that do not offer internet onboard, I found it wonderful to have speedy broadband access during the five hour flight for only $12.95. That’s a hefty price tag when you consider the monthly fee most people pay each month for internet, but when you are stuck in a metal canister for five hours, it sure is nice to have access to the outside world.
Flight attendants were in good spirits, though they only came through with one beverage service and one water run on the flight, and the US Airways buy-on-board menu (featuring wraps, sandwiches, and snack boxes) looked pretty good. With 24-seats in first class and even a few silvers upgraded (I overheard one), it looked like upgrade chances are not bad either.
The flight even landed 45 minutes early, which was appreciated considering my early departure this morning from LAX.
But even with all that went well, I cannot see myself deflecting to US Airways. Legroom was tight, the gate agents were rude, and I just like United, even without internet onboard. But with US Airways recent investment in their first class product and the seemingly high upgrade rate for top-tier Chairman Preferred flyers, I might one day be swayed–particularly if I remain in the Philadelphia area (which I wouldn’t count on…).
Nice job US Airways!
I flew quite a bit on US last year, although quite a bit of it was on USAirways Express flights. Based on comments here and elsewhere I had low expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised. Almost all of my flying has been on American, because I live near DFW airport and they have 90% of the departures, but American does not go to Burlington VT, which is where I had to go every week for a while.
I found the airplanes (mostly Embraer 170/175, some 190) to be new and clean; the in-flight service was usually good; the ground staff were helpful (except PHL). I had them try several times to go the extra mile to get me home – it just never worked out due to spring storms. They have an early warning system of problems that worked pretty well – it’s just that they had too many problems!
I did encounter some US agents who could be considered rude in PHL. But AA is no better there. Something about PHL.
PHL is not a place to base opinions of gate agents from US. To really get an idea of their staffing, connect in CLT sometime, and you will find it night and day
Looking forward to the days that UA installs wifi, fleet-wide.. I could definitely see myself purchasing a monthly pass.
Sorry you had to “experience” US 😉