United Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 at Durango – Photo: Blaine Nickeson | AirlineReporter
As a Silver Premier member with United Airlines (their lowest-level elite tier), getting a complementary first class upgrade happens almost as rarely as spotting a unicorn. In a year and a half of being an elite, I’ve gotten two first class upgrades. Recently, upgrade number two came in an unlikely form; on a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.
That’s right, folks – United is offering a first class cabin on planes with propellers. I caught my upgrade on a quick business trip from Denver (DEN) to Durango (DRO), Colorado.
All of United’s Q400s are actually operated by Republic Airlines, one of many regional carriers for UA. They are configured with 71 seats; seven in first class, 10 in Economy Plus, and 54 in economy. As to be expected on a regional plane, “first class” really only meant a wider seat, more legroom, and a free beer. Well, we got some pretzels too.
N580HW, Honeywell Aero’s CV-580 – Photo: JL Johnson | AirlineReporter
Late last month I had the opportunity to attend Honeywell Aero’s International Media Event in Phoenix, AZ. The symposium focused on all things Honeywell and AvGeek, with a small and diverse audience of mainstream media and bloggers from all across the world.
Prior to the event, I understood that Honeywell was, like many other conglomerates, well-established in the aviation industry. Indeed, we’ve written extensively about how Honeywell improves aviation safety, we have geeked out over their incredibly diverse fleet of test aircraft and, of course, have covered their innovative and (can we say exciting? Because it is!) Electric Green Taxi System, EGTS.
Honeywell Aerospace’s Sky Harbor Facility in Phoenix – Photo: Honeywell
But even with this coverage, we’d only begun to scratch the surface of Honeywell’s Aerospace operations. In just shy of two days, with their incredibly passionate crew, I learned more about the company and their products than I had over a lifetime of being an aviation enthusiast.
PeopleExpress Boeing 737-400 – Photo: PeopleExpress
This story was written by John Cameron for AirlineReporter
If you are old enough to have been flying commercially in the early 1980’s, especially along the eastern half of the United States, then you might recall a certain low-cost airline that rose to prominence in the blink of an eye, and faded away just as quickly.
By the end of its first year of operation, it offered nearly 50 daily departures from its home base in Newark, NJ (EWR) and eventually provided non-stop flights from Newark to London’s Gatwick Airport (on a 747) for $149 each way. A few years later, it purchased numerous airlines (most notably Frontier Airlines) to add to its ever-expanding route network.
However, by 1986 the company was struggling to stay afloat, and in early 1987 – roughly six years after it began operations – the wild ride came to an end as the plucky low-cost carrier was absorbed into Continental Airlines.
I’m talking, of course, about PEOPLExpress Airlines (PEx).
US Airways Airbus A319 getting work done inside the facility
All photos by Jason Rabinowitz
US Airways has a pretty large fleet of aircraft – over 340. From time to time, every aircraft needs to have some maintenance done to it; some scheduled and some not. We recently were able to take a photo tour of US Airways / American Airlines maintenance facility in Phoenix and wanted to share the photos. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show…
My Comfort Class seat on my Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300ER out of LAX
Introduction
When I first saw I was booked in Comfort Class on Turkish Airlines, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew it was a premium economy product, but that could mean anything from a few inches of extra leg room to having an almost-business-class experience.
Being able to check out the product during my recent flights to and from Los Angeles to Istanbul, I was impressed overall by my whole experience. I enjoyed the comfortable seat, my amenities, the delicious food, and the access to the in-flight entertainment (IFE) system. However, I felt let down by the service that I received during certain points of my trip, which left me wanting a bit more.
Turkish Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER sitting at Istanbul
It was nothing that horrible, but just added up enough to make me disappointed overall about the experience. I think some of the things could easily be avoided or changed to make the passenger experience a bit better, and make people who feel like they shelled out some additional money for a premium product feel a bit more special.
One of the main reasons that I was flown to Istanbul was to work with Turkish to help them look into the future of their business – and part of that was related to customer service. I am grateful to work with an airline wanting to learn, and I hope that they are listening.
