That’s a rhetorical question, I suppose. Who do I fly? Well, aside from whoever has the GSA contract for a citypair at work, I do have a few particulars. And since Lady Astrojets and I are both typing on our laptops and watching what’s on TiVo at the same time, I thought I’d post my thoughts. I should add that this is nothing but my opinion, you may disagree, and that’s fine. But the following has worked for me since exiting the airline business and becoming an honest to goodness paying Customer.

My airline picks are as follows:

1) American
2) United
3) US Airways (Star Alliance partner with United (more on this later))
4) Whoever else can get me there.

Yes, I’m a little biased towards American. I mean…I worked there, I know (or think I know) the good, the bad and the ugly about AA’s operation. AA ain’t perfect, but they have not filed for bankruptcy (yet), perform the overwhelming majority of their own aircraft maintenance and have the world’s oldest and largest frequent flyer program which by some fluke of nature still seems to have a seat available from time to time unlike some of their bretheren that shall remain nameless. I wish I could fly American more than I do. I’m currently a Platinum status frequent flyer with them, but that won’t last past this year. I just don’t fly them enough anymore. Not by choice, but by their lack of routes in and out of the Washington, DC area.

United, on the otherhand, has a plethora of routes from the area given that they operate a hub at Washington Dulles. They have a lot of contracts with the government for routes I fly with work, and if I direct my personal travel to them, I can come up with enough miles to maintain elite status on them. And it just so happens that I can collect United Mileage Plus miles (including elite qualifying miles/segments) when I fly the other big DC airline, US Airways. So, for better or for worse, I fly United and my primary mileage program is United’s Mileage Plus. I’m clawing my way up to some elite status on United as I spent most of the last 18 months crediting my United flights to my US Airways Dividend Miles account out of habit more than anything else. Dividend Miles has undergone quite a few changes since US Airways’ merger with America West. Enough change that I’ve elected to spend down all my Dividend Miles and go with Mileage Plus when I’m flying US Airways. As much as I’m going to miss the Chairman’s Preferred Desk, I think I’m doing the right thing. But if something happens to convince me I’m wrong, I’ll admit it here first. Right now, I think the jury is still out on whether or not the new US Airways has it right with the changes they are making to their frequent flyer program. (OK…I’m teetering on the edge of pontificating now…. While I’m sure to do some of that on this blog, that’s not what I want to do in this post.)

Now, none of this is meant to say that you shouldn’t fly some other airline. Hey…if I lived in Houston, I’d be a Continental kind of guy for sure, and you could bet I’d be all over Delta if I lived in Atlanta. But right now, and right here in DC, United and American, along with their alliance partners provide what I need.

Some airlines post the on-time performance of their flights on their websites as you are booking them, and some do not. Some of the online travel agencies also offer this information. It’s most likely posted as a range (60 to 70% on-time) which is all they are required to report.

However, there are some other alternatives out there that offer a good bit more in depth information about the performance of specific flights, routes, etc.

I’ll start with Uncle Sam’s offering from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Here’s the link directly to the airline on-time performance section of their website. You can look at the performance stats of specific flights, airlines, and markets (i.e. LGA-MIA). It’s not exactly fancy, but it is free, and your tax dollars are financing it. So check it out when you get a chance.

There are some other internet sites out there that offer similar information. One I’ve recently discovered is flightstats.com. It contains a wealth of information, and displays it in very neat charts and graphs. Give it a shot.

Next time you’re getting ready to fly, check out one or both of these sites to see the historical on-time performance of your flight. This is very handy information for travelers of all types, business or leisure.

I spoke with several friends of mine who are still working for various airlines late yesterday. Based on those conversations, I believe that security wait times improved markedly as the day wore on yesterday, and news reports this morning indicate things have improved today as well.

Just arrive as early as possible, check those pesky liquids (or leave them at home), and bring that patience hat with you, and you should be fine.

I think I’ll fly somewhere just to thumb my nose at the terrorists! And I may even check a bag.

I woke up during the night and sat down with my laptop. I saw that a major terrorist plot had been thwarted in England and that new security procedures were in effect.

I thought back to my own experiences as an airline Customer Service Manager on 9/11 and immediately after. I remembered how patient Customers were with ever-evolving security procedures. We (employees and Customers) were a lot nicer to each other than we’d been in a long time. I then thought about how that civility has deteriorated in the years since 9/11/2001.

If you are flying today, take your patience hat with you to the airport. You ARE going to need it. I suspect that the worst of these new procedures (no liquids, etc.) will be eased over the next week, but I don’t KNOW that. In the meantime, be thankful that the system worked this time, be as patient as you can possibly be, pack lite (and be prepared to check it anyway), and have a backup plan in case your flight suddenly gets axed or you don’t clear the checkpoint in time to make the flight.

Edited to add:

After having 48 hours to read and think about what’s going on, I’ve come to think that my original hopes of the latest TSA restrictions being eased in the next week may have been too optimistic. I continue to think that they will be reduced over time, but we may be in for several weeks of tossing your Evian at the checkpoint unless something changes.

It has been hot. I mean…HOT. It’s been a long time since we’ve had so many 100 plus degree days here in the DC area. Heat doesn’t bother me like it used to. I spent 2 years in Dallas during my airline time. I moved there in April. It was 75 degrees and sunny everyday. I thought…wow..what a great place. On June 1st the temp rose to 110 degrees, and I don’t think we had a break at all until the middle of September! Before my time in DFW, I didn’t care for summer at all. Ever since…heat just doesn’t bother me anymore.

Summer can be especially tricky for travelers. Thunderstorms, hurricanes, crowds, density altitude…. What’s density altitude? It’s an airplane thing. Without getting too technical, and thus embarrassing myself, I’ll just say that as air gets hotter, and more humid, it becomes less dense. Here’s an excellent article on the subject. This negatively impacts aircraft performance in a variety of ways, most notably, airplanes need longer runways, and don’t climb as well.

This is especially problematic at short runway fields such as Reagan National (DCA). I remember getting yelled at by a particularly testy passenger telling me that I had overbooked the flight and all this weight restriction stuff was bullsh*t. I wonder what he thought when the flight left with 20 empty seats because we just couldn’t carry the passengers due to the negative impact of the hot summer day on the aircraft’s performance?

Just a little friendly advice, one way to help survive summer on the road is to fly early. Not only are those pesky thunderstorms far less likely before the day gets hot, but you are also far less likely to run into a relatively little known problem with summer travel from certain airports, weight restrictions. I’ll stop babbling for now!

I know my first reaction to the title of this post would be a big “so what?” But I honestly don’t remember the last time I called an airline and offered them the opportunity to sell me their product. I had a discount certificate that could only be done by phone, so that was the reason for my old style ticket purchase technique!

It got me to thinking… it is entirely possible to purchase a ticket, print your boarding pass, board a flight and fly all the way to the other side of our great country at a speed of 9 miles per minute, and never speak to another human being. And we wonder why some airlines seem cold and impersonal.

For the record, the airline was US Airways, and the telephone agent could not have been more helpful. Probably helps that I’m a Chairman’s Preferred flyer with US Airways, but still.

Well, as I warned in my first post….this blog could contain some stuff that falls into the “just what’s on my mind” category. This certainly qualifies for that, huh?

I haven’t flown much this summer. Once in May (I know, not quite summer), a few times in June, a few in July. Only 6 or 8 flights in total. How many were on time, you ask? Exactly one. I’ve been flooded out, stormed out, timed out and we don’t know why’d out on every flight but one. That one flight was to San Juan where Lady Astrojets and I boarded a very fine cruise, so a quick shout-out to American Airlines for an equally very fine flight!

I know a lot of people have flown much more, and I feel for them. I didn’t have a good feeling for travel as the summer approached, and it turns out that I was right. Knowing the things I know about airlines and their semi-dysfunctional functions, I correctly (ok, I’m biased) forecast that the combination of record numbers of passengers, reduced numbers of seats, fewer employees to handle them and global warming would not yield a good result for travelers this summer.

How’s your summer on the road been so far? I’ll share some more details about mine as I get the time.

Well, who knew? I have entered the blogosphere. Those that know me, know that I’m all about travel. I’ve been involved in aviation in one form or another since I was 15, and wanted to be involved before that.

I spent most of my childhood drawing pictures of airplanes, staring at airplanes in the sky, thinking about airplanes, building model airplanes and wanting to be an airline pilot. For me, high school, college, and all that goes with it were nothing more than a means to an end. I started flying lessons at age 15, and progressed through my various licenses and ratings all through high school and college. I joined a large regional airline as a pilot not long after graduating from college, and was fairly certain I was on path for reaching my ultimate goal: to be the Captain of a passenger jet for a major U.S. airline. I was on my way until January 17, 1996. That’s the day that I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. FAA will not issue a medical certificate necessary for commercial flying to Type 1 diabetics. My career as a pilot was over.

I spent several months in a management position at the airline and later joined the major airline parent company progressing through several management assignments in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Washington, DC. I was working for the airline at Reagan National Airport (DCA) on September 11, 2001. Maybe I’ll write about that someday, but suffice it to say that things got interesting at the airport that morning. A little over 2 years later, I elected to leave the airline for a job with the U.S. government in Washington, DC. I’m still heavily involved with aviation through my current work, and travel fairly frequently. But no longer as a non-rev!!

I may change my mind as I move along with this, but I’d envision some serious poetic waxing and pontificating about the state of our airline industry, the state of travel and my state of mind as I get this blog going. Don’t be afraid to let me know what you think!