Hi everyone. Just returned from a week in San Diego (bizarre how chilly it was there after leaving oven-like NYC!) I flew US Air round-trip and am not impressed with them at all. I haven't flown US Air in many years, I usually opt for Continental, Delta or Northwest on domestic trips but I got a low fare with US Air, and you really do get what you pay for. To begin with on the outbound flight the plane was literally filthy. It had to be the first flight out, before 7:00 AM, and yet the floor of the cabin was thick with firt, it looked like someone had spilled coffee grounds on the carpet and a powder compact had broken on the floor in front of me, leaving chunks of powder makeup lying there. It was really disgusting. The vegetarian meal I'd pre-ordered was truly inedible, even the fresh fruit was nasty. On the return flight, there were no pillows or blankets available for anyone in coach. When I asked for one, the flight attendant looked in one cabinet and then told me "I'm working on it", which naturally meant "I don't see one right in front of me, and I'm not looking any more, so forget it." Coach can get chilly on long flights so many people were uncomfortable. Overall it wasn't a terrible experience but enough to enable me to decide never to use them again. I'd heard they were in financial difficulty and it's easy to see why.

What's firt?


"the floor of the cabin was thick with firt"


Thanks for the laugh on an otherwise miserable day!

DOH!! Stupid fingers! Of course I meant to type "dirt", not firt. Ooops.

Honey, all airlines are in financial straits right now! I too hate firty airplanes and hope USAirwayas gives that aircraft a bath!

I had just the opposite experience last month, flying U.S. Airways from Philadelphia to Paris. The only bad thing I can say is that the food was not good -- but I can't usually say good things about airline food anyway. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

Elfie,
Concerning your vegetarian meal: vegetables are not food; food eats vegetables!

To each his own, Les. ;-)

I kinda like "firt" !!

Sounds cool~my hair is firty?
Get your firty hands off of me?
The kids tracked firt in all over my clean floors.

Remember-if you are firty-take a bubble baff.

United is just as bad....

Takl firty to me...oh yeah, that's it!

As long as my cloths don't get soiled or bug-infested, the craft is safe, and reasonably on-time, I wouldn't care. Would you (and your fellow pax) wished to wait 15 min while a porter w/ vacuum cleaner was called?

Same with meals. Ya know, I never pay more per mile than when I ride a taxi, but I've never been offered a meal, good nor bad. I bring some snacks I eat when I want, and nap when I want, rather than eat the "free" meal, on their schedule.

You even admit, "Coach can get chilly on long flights", so why didn't you bring a sweater? Would you be SURE those blankets/pillows would be CLEAN anyway? Again, I bet few pax would "need" one if airlines charged for them.

Geez! Why do you want ME to pay for all your whims and desires? Maybe the cost of catering to those with champagne tastes at beer prices is why airlines are in financial straits.

Time for a little personal responsibility, Elfie.

Who cares?

I should have such little problems.

Put this message in the airlines section where it belongs.

I think I have flown all the major airlines except United within the past two years, most of them multiple times, and I can't think of any of them that have spotless planes across the board. I'd say that Southwest tends to have the dirtiest planes, Delta has the cleanest, and the others are all sort of in the middle. USAir doesn't stand out in my mind as generally being dirtier than the others.

As for the service, I think Southwest is the only one I haven't had one or more rude/indifferent flight attendants on. For the most part, though, I find that whichever airline you're on, the FAs are generally nice to you if you're nice to them. Sometimes you just get a real jerk, though.

Frankly I would be more concerned with the condition of the aircraft and pilots than weather or not you enjoyed your meal. Who really LOVES airline food anyways? Pack a lunch, bring a jacket and get there in one piece.

I was on a flight on USAir over Christmas, upgraded to first class using frequent flier miles. When I boarded, it appeared that someone's soda had exploded on the previous flight, as the seats, seat backs, trays and even the ceiling were covered with sticky brown droplets. After pointing this out to the flight attendant, she handed me a wet towel and walked away. It was then that I swore I would never fly USAir again. I agree that none of the airlines are not what they used to be, but I have never experienced such crappy service as I did on USAir towards the end of last year.