The last time we heard from PEOPLExpress on their plans to fly again was one year ago. A year later, I am definitely calling it. People’s Express has permanently putted out. Despite a cheery New Year’s message on Facebook (see below), nothing of substance has resulted in the airline flying again. For those of you who have forgotten… The original PeopleExpress went out of business in 1987, despite taking advantage of US air deregulation to become the fifth largest airline in the USA by offering ultra low fares which the staff collected on the plane.…
Spirit Airlines
Tag Archives for Spirit Airlines.
Standing Room Section for Planes? Will it fly?
A paper published this week concludes that a cabin dedicated to standing only passengers “has a potential to be applied by low-cost airlines servicing short-haul flight markets.” Sounds like just the recipe for Ryanair, Spirit Airlines and Air Asia! It brings a whole new meaning to the term “cattle class“! F. I. Romli et al in the International Journal of Engineering and Technology, suggest that by installing a “standing seat“, airlines could fit 21 per cent more passengers into a cabin. The distance between seats could be reduced from the usual 30″ to a mere 23″. By removing…
Not People’s Express…Puh lease
So it seems the PEOPLExpress name which belonged to a low fare carrier that disappeared in 1987 has been revived. The new PEOPLExpress is selling tickets on its website for flights starting June 30. Their hub is Newport News in Virginia, a city of 180 000 people and the airline will offer one daily Boeing 737 service to the cities of Boston, Newark, Pittsburgh and West Palm Beach. PEOPLEexpress is billing itself as a Low Cost Carrier which will offer better treatment. I am not sure what better treatment will look like because almost everything costs: Check in Baggage starts at $20 for the…
Ranking US airlines by complaints
US airlines get about 10, 000 complaints a year reported to the US Department of Transport. The number of complaints rose until 2012, when they fell slightly. Last year, 643 million passengers were carried by US airlines, so the number of complaints in that perspective does not seem to me to be that high. Of course few of us take our frustration with an airline to the appropriate authorities, preferring to whine about it ourselves or post our experiences on Facebook! The report “Unfriendly Skies”, an analysis of five years of airline complaints by…
Spirit most complained about US airline
I have never had the delight of flying Spirit Airlines in the USA. The one time, I turned up for a Spirit flight, they cancelled it! In the mould of Ryanair, Spirit combines low fares and profitability and customer complaints. Over the last five years, Spirit has consistently received three times more complaints than any other airline and the number of complaints against the airline kept rising in that period. In a report compiled by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund based on Department of Transport statistics, Spirit managed to increase its customer complaints from 6.7 per…
Onion Satire: FAA declares Spirit worst airline
Last year in my controversial post on my ten worst airlines, I nominated Spirit as the third worst airline in the world (and worst in the USA). Now a satirical post highlights how bad they are! In an Onion report, the FAA is quoted as saying that passengers should boycott the carrier: “Nobody with any shred of dignity should ever fly Spirit Airlines, the report states” The article while intended to be humorous has major elements of truth: The airline touts its low fares, but it costs $45 to check your bag at the airport,…
Trying Spirit-First Time
A lot of miles to cover this week. Seven flights to three countries with four airlines. Qantas: Melbourne to Auckland, NZ via Sydney Virgin Australia: Melbourne to Los Angeles in Premium Economy product. Any Virgin Australia 777 flyers have any recommendation as to the better Premium Economy seats? Spirit: I chose Spirit deliberately so I could see what they are like as I have never flown them. Wish me luck for that flight! Spirit are supposed to be a little like Ryanair (who I hate flying with). I am fascinated to see. Related Posts Why is…
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