Air Tran
 

Hi. I'm considering flying Air Tran from Washington, D.C. to Minneapolis next month. I've heard the airline often cancels flights, has many delays, etc., often delaying passengers even overnight. Has anyone had that experience, or is the airline okay? Thanks.

I have flown Air Tran on 3 different occasions in the last year, all Chicago-Atlanta, and have had no problems whatsoever-

I have had less problem with Air Tran than with Delta or United.

Just remember that they have one of the worst maintenance records in the industry. They used to be ValueJet.

Area Man, get your facts straight.<BR>Valujet and Air Tran merged. All of the Valujet employees except a few pilots are gone. Management is totally changed.<BR>They have gotten rid of the old DC9 and use 717's all new. They now have a much younger fleet than DL other majors.<BR>They are expanding, while the majors are shrinking.

Not true on Airtran...they still fly DC9-30's!

So the 27 DC-9's that they have don't really exist?

Cheryl,<BR>Go with Air-Tran. It isn't the same company it was even 3 years ago. It may still have some DC-9s, but the vast bulk of its fleet are brand new Boeing 717s.<BR>I think it may be a tie between AirTran and Air Jamaica for youngets fleet.<BR> The FAA has been monitoring the company and maintenance is no longer an issue.<BR>The company's passenger volume keeps going up, it keeps adding new cities, and its frequent flyer membership keeps going up, signaling a lot of repeat customers. All good signs.<BR><BR>Fly Air-Tran and save a lot of money. Then post back to us your trip report.

I have flown Air-Tran three times in the last year and have had delays due to "mechanical problems", cancellations, and was given a lot of confusing, often misguided information. First time flying with them was from BWI to Atlanta and the flight was delayed for 3 hours before being cancelled altogether. I was put on a Delta flight which was preferred by me anyways. The second time we flew Air Tran was from BWI to Tampa and the flight out from Tampa was once again delayed because of mechanical problems and then ultimately cancelled. We luckily had relatives nearby who could put us up for the night because we didn't fly out until 10am the next morning. I know the airlines are not obligated to put one up in a hotel but it was hellacious. I usually fly Northwast or United and will not fly Air Tran anymore unless it is absolutely necessary.

United? Atlanta Denver Outbound supposed to leave at 8a left at 1P 3 airplanes later (the others had mechanicals).<BR>Return Flight 3 hours late-mechanincal and they held us hostage on the plane 2 hours after we boarded. <BR>Remember a lot of Air Tran flights come out of Atlanta- I don't think any flight has ever left on time out of Atlanta (I live there).