Panic! Tell me good things about America West...

[cammie31]

I have to fly from Newark to Las Vegas on business tomorrow, back on the red-eye on Saturday. Thought I had it all under control, now I'm FREAKING OUT!

I haven't flown at night in years, don't know if that's making the freak-out worse, or if it's just me being me or if it's just that I've never flown America West...I'm more an American/United kinda girl.

Wish I felt like this...:dragonslayer

But I feel like this...:eek

Cammie

[invert29]

Hi Cammie (funny, that's the name of my wife's car:) ),

I have never personally flown them but have a friend that uses them frequently from Florida to SF. He really likes them.

I am feeling more like this today :anon

Chris

[Passenger Mark]

Hi Cammie,

Welcome back... have not seen you around in a while. Are you still thinking about taking that Air Croatia trip???

Back to this one... America West is fine, no safety issues. I flew them once from Los Angeles to Denver and back (with a change in Las Vegas)

Was not too crazy about the service, but the planes, pilots, etc were fine. I think they are based out of Phoenix.

Mark

[Huey]

Correct, they are based out of PHX, their service does suck, and they are accident free.

[canoga]

Flew them from SanFran to Las Vegas last year. We were delayed for 1.5 hrs and when we finally boarded, the captn came on the PA and apologized for the delay but '....safety is our number one priority.'

For some reason, that made me feel really good. Like, the pilots felt safe enough to take off (mechanical delays are the worst!)

:hyped

[spleisher]

No worries. Airplanes are airplanes. As long as they are properly maintained and flown by experienced pilots (which American carriers are pretty good about to say the least) you have nothing to worrry about. Say hi to the pilot when you board. That will definitely give you greater confidence!

Scott

[beaugest]

My biggest complaint was the food. They gave us these little lunch bags that you picked up out of a bin on the way into the plane. we dubbed them "bags of joy..."
Not a bad complaint though,right???

[cammie31]

Hi, guys, sorry I haven't been around more lately, but thanks a lot for telling me that this week's flights will totally suck but I will likely get to my destination alive (but, apparently, late)!:lol

And Mark -- I got skittish enough about the Air Croatia idea to put it off until next year -- if I'm having this much trouble with America West, I think I"m going to have to really work up some confidence for "Air Croatia" (somehow all I can envision is a bathtub with wings...)

C

[jzinky]

Hey Cammie! Hope your flights go well! Mine are coming up - let me know how you do on America West! I am flying them too!

[LesliePHX]

Aw, Mark and Huey, give an airline a chance, will ya?

America West is my "hometown airline" in Phoenix, and it's true, their service was awful years ago. Also they were very bad about delays and flight cancellations. They just didn't have their act together, their management stunk, and I think they declared bankruptcy twice during that time. The local paper gleefully covered all their travails.

But that was many years ago. They've turned themselves around with new management, and they're one of the few airlines that's not in financial trouble these days. In fact, there's talk about them acquiring ATA in the near future.

I quit flying them back in their bad ol' days, but once when I missed a Delta connection a year or so ago, Delta rerouted me on a flight that included a midnight America West Vegas-to-Phoenix leg.

I don't know if every America West is like this, but this one was a fearful flyer's dream flight, from the minute we boarded: the A320 interior was done all in soft blues and lavenders, very soothing colors. The monitors were showing tranquil nature scenes, and the PA was playing classical music. And this was just during boarding! I mean, you couldn't NOT calm down. I was really impressed.

I've wondered ever since if that is typical of America West now. Please let us know!

(I never resumed flying with them because my employer encourages us to fly with the five airlines that have low-fare deals with the company, and America West isn't one of them -- that was America West's choice, not the company's. But America West is my mom's preferred airline when she visits here from Dallas. She likes them better than Dallas-based American. She has her December America West flight booked.)

Leslie

[sengelin]

Tell me good things about America West...

They have a perfect safety record!