Just recently the wife and I and some friends had the pleasure or disgust to travel on both American Airlines and United Air Lines. Actually we traveled on both Airlines and they only traveled on American. Their return trip was just as harrowing as the going trip.
American Airlines:
Scheduled to depart NOLA for Dallas and then on to Reno on American Airlines. Start with an hour wait for departure (the back door sensor was going off although the back door was locked, someone had to sign off on it) from NOLA to Dallas, followed by a 30 minute wait for a gate in Dallas (it was occupied); we were then rerouted to another gate and had to wait another 30 minutes (the guy that directs the plane into the gate was not available) to deplane. Then we moved quickly (it took us 5 minutes) from our now new arrival gate to 8 gates down to board our connecting flight that had been held for us.........we boarded the flight to Reno and the announcement came that they were holding the flight for some more passengers coming from another connecting flight. They finally boarded after about an hour and then another announcement (another sensor problem and again someone had to sign off on it) so another 30 minutes to resolve the problem and we were airborne. From 8:45am to 5:45pm we were on board a plane all but 5 minutes. There were many announcements during the different situations that occurred on these planes and every time the announcement came it told us that in about 15, 20, or 45 minutes everything would be resolved. When we deplaned in Dallas I noticed that the crew was gone.....no where to be found.......usually they are there to greet you as you depart......not this time.
Of note: We all envisioned a nice leisurely lunch during the "wait time" between flights (which ended up with us moving quickly down 8 gates under extreme time pressure). No lunch. However, on board they did serve (for a nominal fee) a turkey wrap and some tater chips. Several comments made by the group later in the day indicated that the food came at an opportune time, but, that everyone had eaten so fast that no one was exactly sure the overall quality of the food. Suffice it to say, we were hungry and we didn't care.
Now the return trip!
United:
We arrived at the airport just about 7ish for an 8 o'clock departure. No lines through security and we were at the gate in no time at all. As we entered the gate area the wife and I noticed that the departure time being shown on the electronic board manned by UA employees indicated 7:45 am. A quick check of my flight info showed a 15 minute discrepancy. Before we could check this we were summoned on the plane and pulled away from the gate 15 minutes in advance of projected departure time.
The flight went without any hitches and we arrived ahead of schedule into Denver where we were able to leisurely enjoy a nice lunch from the Steak Escape. The fries with malt vinegar were great. Onto the next gate were we sat and saw two passengers for Orlando arrive at their gate (located in front of us) about 5 or more minutes before departure only to find the plane gone. One, in fact it appeared, had stopped off at the TCBY concession to pick up a snack that he was eating on only to find his plane had left him behind. After several angry minutes of him chewing on the UA employee (who by the way held his own and explained that in order to depart at the correct time one must be boarded within 30 minutes prior to take off and find themselves strapped into their seat). The UA employee rebooked the passenger and presented him with new tickets, pointed him in the direction of his new gate and the passenger apologized profusely for having come off like an ass. This whole attitude that our planes will be on time and in fact will leave as soon as possible was a refreshing one for us to encounter coming off the AA experience. Kudos to United! You won the this Sky War. BTW, again we backed away from the gate a good 10 minutes before take off and upon conclusion of the flight into MSY we found the flight crew at the door to greet us and thank us for flying United.
Early reports from our friends return trip included text messages about on plane delays, missed connections, and a call (in further disgust) about their general opinion about future usage of AA.
Winner of this War: United Airlines, Hands Down.
Peace Out.
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