RE: Various interesting things

Northwest does have an old fleet, Andrew, especially compared to the rest of the US majors. United, American, Continental, and USAirways only fly modern types now, and Delta does for the most part. I think Delta might still operate a few 737-200’s with Delta Express and a handful of 727’s with the mainline carrier. I’m not sure of this, however. Northwest, on the other hand, still has a sizeable fleet of 747-200’s, DC-10 series 30’s and 40’s, and DC-9’s. From what I’ve heard, they have A330’s on order to replace the DC-10’s on international routes, and they’ve already started receiving 757-300’s to replace them on domestic services. As far as 744’s go, they only have the original 10 they ordered as the launch customer. We don’t even see them at LAX, only the classics. I flew out of AMS lately, and that was just NW haven. On the one hand, it’s good to still see those classics flying. I wish DL still had their Tristar’s and I wish United still had their DC-10-10’s.

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RE: A very cute pic of Qantas

I don’t think it’s an Olympic mascot, but the Lan Chile plane could have been one of the last to get the re-paint. Their new livery is only a few years old.

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RE: Blow it!Whats Your Favourite Airline Logo?

The stylized American Flag Logo of USAirways is very subtle, yet classy. That’s probably my favorite. I also like UA’s, LH’s, Condor’s, Singapore’s, Air New Zealand’s, Ansett’s. Looks like a trend towards Star Alliance, perhaps. I also approve of the Aer Lingus shamrock.

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RE: Have a drink on me…

Wysiwyg, I saw nothing holier than though about it. Nothing wrong with talking about alcohol consumption whilst traveling in the air. Just another aspect of airline travel. One event that baffled me was, I took a flask full of Scotch aboard my first fligth post 9/11. Mind you, it was 6 months later, but after nonetheless. During the security check, my metallic flask was identified in my carry-on and I was asked what was in it, so I told them. I was then ordered to dump it out, or to go back to check-in and have them retrieve my bags to put it in there. I didn’t want to deal with all that hassel, so I just unwillingly dumped it out. Is this only a U.S. policy not to be allowed to bring open containers of booze on board, or is this worldwide? Either way, is this a post 9/11 thing or was it like that before? If I’m not driving a vehicle, or flying the aircraft, why should I not be able to bring a flask with a few ounces of booze in there? What’s the difference between that and packing a 1.75 L bottle that is sealed into my carry on?

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RE: America West incident

There was actually an article in Airways magazine about 2 years ago that proclaimed them, “America’s Worst.” I had already experienced them at that stage, so I felt it was very appropriate. They suck for a variety of reasons. I will tell you what I have experienced. Mind you I’ve only flown them 4 times, each time return routing went through Las Vegas. They have 1 daily roundtrip from ONT-LAS. The first time I flew them, upon arriving in LAS roughtly 22:00, the plane sat at the gate for one hour because, “the jetway was inoperative and they couldn’t find an airstairs.” Are you kidding me? A huge airport like LAS and they couldn’t find a lousy airstairs? Out of the 4 return legs, which depart LAS at around 1 a.m. and are scheduled to arrive around 2 a.m., only 1 has actually left on time. The other 2 were delayed AT LEAST 2 to 2.5 hours. 1 was delayed 3. Instead of arriving at my house at 2:30, I’m arriving at like 5 a.m. My work day is history after that. So that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Back in June my parents flew them from ONT to Acapulco via PHX. The flight was the first one out of ONT to PHX at like 8 a.m. Needless to say, the flight was delayed 3 hours. By the time they got to PHX, HP’s only flight to Acapulco had left. They consequently got re-re-routed through Mexico City. As a nice gesture, they put my parents plus the couple that they were with in first class. How good was the service in first class, you ask? They got free booze, and peanuts. NO MEAL! Are you kidding me? My dad asked them why they didn’t get fed. Apparantly America West no longer serves meals on segments less that 4 hours, NOT EVEN IN FIRST CLASS!! On the way back, they also got first class upgrades all the way through to ONT. Did they get fed that time? Nope. That’s ridiculous. I understand airlines are making cut-backs, but this is ludicrous. Now, I know what all you people are going to say, “typical American carrier,” right? I don’t think so. Contrary to popular believe in here, I know I sound like a broken record but, United is a pretty good airline and it is comparable to any airline in Europe except perhaps Virgin Atlantic. I had a flight from ONT to DEN in Feb. which is about a 2 hour flight. Pre 9/11, everybody got fed a meal on that flight, even economy. Post 9/11, economy doesn’t get fed now, but first sure does! I upgraded on this flight, and got fed as a result. America West just flat out sucks.

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RE: A DIFFERENT PHOTO THIS ONE

Monster, a spelling error? NO!!!

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RE: PIC OF THE DAY JOE PRIES SPECIAL

the one on the right is a winglett, Handl.

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