RE: Swiss in ONEWORLD?

You are absolutely correct Mongu, and I knew you’d have a reaction to my more emotional rather than logical post(I usually stick to logic, I went off on a tangent here). If BA doesn’t want Swiss in the alliance for the reason of them being in some sort of economic dismay, I can understand that. Ansett surely left Star high and dry down under when they ‘went under.’ I mean, what is the status of the new Swiss anyway? Is it a shadow of the old Swiss, or has nothing do with? Isn’t CrossAir somehow involved? I don’t know. It seems to me however that the big issue is slots and relative proximity of Swiss’ hub airport. At least, that’s what I gathered from the post, I haven’t read the actual report. After all, BA, AA, and QF are the backbone of Oneworld, and I suppose they should have the most sayso, if indeed that is possible. I thought the purpose of any alliance is to benefit all players involved. In that instant, there may be some sort of sacrifice involved. I’m well aware that the problem at Heathrow extends much beyond BA’s involvement. However, I’m sure that for one of their alliance members, they could give in order to take. As far as London beyond close to Zurich, that’s weak. Isn’t London close to Madrid and Shannon, as well. Yet, Aer Lingus and Iberia are both in Oneworld. Was their relative proximity to Heathrow an issue back then?

GD1

RE: Swiss in ONEWORLD?

Now, why does that not surprise me? BA not sacrificing it’s precious slots at Heathrow for the good of a potential member, and them veto-ing their membership because their hub airport is too close? This is shocking news…..NOT! I’m surprised BA has allowed any European airline to join Oneworld, to begin with. I figured any hub airport in Europe would be too close to Heathrow, in BA’s eyes. These are the very reasons why I despise BA, AA, and Oneworld. They should change the name of the alliance from Oneworld to BAworld. It would be more appropriate.

GD1

RE: VIRGIN BLUE and UNITED A/L TO CODESHARE IN AU

This is tremendous news! I myself, was just thinking the other day about a possibility of United codesharing with VirginBlue for connections throughout Australia. But then I was thinking, they could just connect with AirNewZealand through Aukland, but ANZ only serves 5 destinations to Australia from Aukland, so they are rather limited there. I fly to Australia quite often from LAX, and I fly either United or ANZ. In April, I flew to SYD via AKL and MEL. UA841 does LAX-AKL-MEL. They had always done that, even when Ansett was around. I guess the load factors on the AKL-MEL portion justified it. On my flight, it was pretty full. After the Ansett callapse, UA861 did SFO-SYD-MEL, so they had 2 continuation flights to MEL. I was on UA862 MEL-SYD. Let me tell you, that’s the emptietst flight I’ve ever been on. It was a 747-400 with maybe 50 people on board. That’s a generous estimate. Operating a jumbo with that load factor has to be killing you econonomically! But what can you do? You want to serve the market and not lose customers to QANTAS. For a short time back in late 2000/early 2001, UA served MEL nonstop from LAX, but that flight did not last long. They just went back to serving them from AKL. But then Ansett collapses, and they start serving them from SYD, as well. Hopefully this thing gets finalized quick because I’m going to be down there in July and I’m going to make a Melbourne trip from Sydney and I’m definitely going to fly VirginBlue, and hopefully I’ll get my mileage now. The only thing left to happen now, is for United to Codeshare with Virgin Atlantic! I think I’m asking a bit too much for that to happen though!

GD1

RE: New members to the Star Alliance

I figured as much. By the way, instead of flying JAL, why can’t you just ride jumpseat on your own carrier?

GD1

RE: Virgin Red-New US low cost airline

I haven’t flown on Jetblue, but my cousin does on a regular basis from JFK-ONT. The fact that he can avoid LAX is godsent, considering his proximity to ONT. He loves them. I have flown on SW only once, and it was exactly what you pay for. It was only an hour flight from ONT to Vegas, we got peanuts and a drink. But then again, SW has been able remain successful as a result. Would I rather pay a little more and get better survice, damn right! The amazing thing is, on similar routes, ‘scheduled carriers’ aren’t much more expensive than Southwest! At the time I used to pay $115US to fly from ONT to LAS on United, via LAX, and non-stop on SW I paid $99. Big deal, 15 lousy dollars. I’d rather pay that, get my mileage, get my assigned seat, and not have to worry. To get back to the subject matter, JetBlue is doing pretty well right now, and their growing. I’m sure maintanance problems will be dealt with as they arise. They have brand new aircraft. If I had a choice between the 2, I’d take Jetblue.

GD1

RE: ONEWORLD (PLAYING FAIR??)

I believe Pan Am had a similar gig in Frankfurt in the 80’s/early 90’s. When Delta purchased their European routes, they acquired this mini ‘hub’ as well. Delta had 727’s stationed at Frankfurt until the mid 90’s, when they withdrew them and everything to Europe was nonstop from JFK using 767-300ER’s. I know my father on more than one occasion, did LAX-ATH on Delta via Frankfurt connecting on 727’s. That’s the reason I know this.

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RE: Mobile Phones

I fly on United quite a bit, Mongu. I take flights as short as 10 minutes(ONT-LAX), and as long as 14 hours(LAX-SYD). United ALWAYS announces “The use of mobile phones is prohibited throughout the flight, as they may interfere with flight instrumentation.” This is done on every flight, regardless of length. I assumed every carrier did this.

GD1