Eagle to Envoy - Changing Your Name Does Not Mean You'll Improve

I have ranted about American Eagle for years on this blog.  Recently they changed their name to Envoy.  Sounds poetic.  Changed nothing.

I rarely do American, and the biggest reason is Eagle/Envoy.  In summer 2013 I was to do Eagle from Dallas to San Angelo, TX and they cancelled on a beautiful day, and I had to drive many hours to get there.

Eagle is the only airline I've ever flown that had to make a fuel stop on a flight of less than 500 miles (TYS/ORD, earlier post)

So by pure coincidence I had to do Amarillo and Dallas recently.  I've said on this blog many times how difficult it is to get to AMA.  And this trip was a nightmare.

Cancelled Envoy flight out of DFW to AMA on a beautiful night made me show up to a job half a day late - only the 3rd time this has happened in 30 years.

Two cancelled Envoy flights out of AMA to DFW.

AMA has a nice terminal and counter which is practically empty.  It is shocking to see how little air service exists.  If I were a city father in AMA I would desperately try to recruit somebody to put pressure on Envoy/United both running 3rd party metal.  Even Southwest has cut back.  I've never seen so much lost air service.

I also did a round trip on AA from Tampa to Chicago and a round trip on AA from Tampa to Dallas.

But this was all arranged by customers, not me.  AA metal is much more reliable than Envoy.

I can't wait to get back to Delta.  They don't seem to have as much dependence on third party metal.

This AMA stuff is just a nightmare.  If they call me back for more work, I'll do it, but I'll have to do some kind of creative planning to get there.  AA/Envoy just can't get it done.

A few other segments tossed in as well:

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2372/history/20140616/2020Z/KTPA/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL2344/history/20140617/2230Z/KORD/KDFW

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASQ2522/history/20140618/1235Z/KDFW/KAMA

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL2226/history/20140620/1155Z/KDFW/KTPA

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL1679/history/20140620/2115Z/KTPA/KORD

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL2409/history/20140621/2235Z/KORD/KTPA

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL2375/history/20140622/2305Z/KTPA/KDFW

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL2201/history/20140627/2355Z/KDFW/KTPA

Wilmington, NC - Beating the Odds into a Mid Sized Market

This was my second trip to ILM in six months.  The number of flights reflects the size of the market, and that means total dependence on third party regional airlines into and out of ILM.

And as you can tell by many of my older posts, I don't like them at all.

The segments from TPA to ILM were good enough.  We were 30 minutes late out of TPA due to storms near ATL, which caused a flow control delay.  The Delta MD88 to ILM was 45 minutes late.  I guess I have to give them a pass on this segment.

I was surprised that DL flies any metal into ILM.  In this case, it's their only branded trip.

The work finished early in ILM on Friday and since I suspected this on Thursday, I called DL about standby for earlier segments on Friday.

How can something so simple get so complicated.  During the days of their "same day confirmed" product, this was an easy, stress free thing.

Not now.

I explained to the agent on the Diamond line that I had flown for 40 years and simply did not understand the procedure for standby anymore.  And after listening to a 3 minute explanation, I still wasn't sure.

So I show up at ILM and am told I am on the list.

And I did clear.  The CRJ2 was not full.

Due to a slightly late departure I had to hustle to get to the next standby segment in ATL for Tampa.

And I made that one also.  But I had to check my bag since I was the last pax to board.

Stand by worked this time.  I'm sure status helped.  But I simply don't understand how standby flying got so complicated.

Chicago is next.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2372/history/20140608/2020Z/KTPA/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1395/history/20140608/2305Z/KATL/KILM

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASQ4970/history/20140613/1757Z/KILM/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL950/history/20140613/2012Z/KATL/KTPA

Another Trip to Hartford

Seems like I've done a lot of work in New England in the last 6 weeks.  It's certainly less humid than Florida!

This trip was all Delta, as Southwest's non stops out of TPA leave too early for me.

The second segment from DTW to BDL was delayed by 90 minutes.  No real reason given.  Stuff like this sends me into "Delta flashback" when they were excessively delayed and never told  you why.  It meant I pulled into my hotel in Keene, NH at 1 am.  Short night, and I"m too old for this.

The return segments were on time and if you look at the BDL/ATL segment you will see how we had to fly out over the Atlantic to avoid a big line of storms which was hitting Bradley just as we left.

All in all, I'll say it's a 7 out of 10 on this one. 

Wilmington, NC is next.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2588/history/20140601/1945Z/KTPA/KDTW

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1076/history/20140602/0010Z/KDTW/KBDL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1724/history/20140603/2229Z/KBDL/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2304/history/20140604/0305Z/KATL/KTPA

Delta to/from Albuquerque - Battleground Upgrades still Work!

I used to go to ABQ a lot when I lived in Knoxville.  Now, only rarely.  Southwest prices aren't cheap anymore, and required connections, so I'll take DL and the possibility of first class any day.

But buying first class in this case would  have exceeded the travel policy of the customer, so I was forced to buy a fairly cheap coach ticket.

And hope like hell the upgrades cleared.

The TPA/ATL segment cleared in the 5 day window.

ATL/ABQ went to the gate.  And when I checked in, I was number 13 on the list for 10 seats.  As the day wore on I dropped to number 17 for 10.

So upon arrival in ATL, I bought a $9 sandwich to eat in coach.

I'll be damned I get to the gate and look up at the GID and see I cleared into first!  How does this happen?  I know a lot of people are saying now that the DL website is quite inaccurate when it comes to these things.  And I wasted the sandwich.

The return is via MSP and the first segment cleared in the 5 day window, but the MSP/TPA was going to the gate.

But I finished the work early and called DL to change to a one day earlier departure.  I knew a $200.00 change fee was in the works, but the agent told me that even with the fee I had a credit coming.

Which I used to buy my way into first for the return through ATL.

A casual traveler, upon reading this post, will shake their head and think I'm insane.  If you fly to work, you aren't shaking your head.  You know what it takes to get back and forth.

Hartford (actually, Keene NH) is next.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2352/history/20140530/1917Z/KABQ/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1491/history/20140530/2305Z/KATL/KTPA

Providence RI - Southwest and Delta

Very little to say here about the flights.  Everything was ontime.  Again, to avoid a battleground gate upgrade, I bought first class back to TPA on Delta.  It's the only way to work it nowadays it seems.

But, since I have to find something to gripe about, I'm gonna yell loudly about the fact that it's a good 20 minute inside walk between the terminal at Providence and the rental car garage.  I knew this going in there, so I mentally prepared myself for the astounding 1000 plus steps dragging the bag.

I noticed that at this time of night, there was no golf cart to be seen anywhere, so I wonder how handicapped people get around.

And since I'm a jerk, yes I did ride the golf cart back to the terminal on my return.

Attn PVD airport administrators, this is a terrible situation!

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA1276/history/20140519/2325Z/KTPA/KPVD

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1112/history/20140519/2212Z/KPVD/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2565/history/20140520/0140Z/KATL/KTPA

Delta to LaGuardia and Back - Vacation

I like to sit on this island when I don't have to travel but I've been wanting to visit NYC for quite some time now so I took a long weekend.

I'm not going to bore you with how great a place NYC is.  I enjoyed it tremendously.

Again, in an attempt to avoid connections into LGA (the delay capital of America) I did Delta nonstop.

The predicted weather for the day of my arrival was horrible, with 2 inches of rain forecast.  I knew we were gonna be delayed going up so I had all the resources I could find ready to consult.

But again, I have to hand it to how DL has changed.  The captain came out, spoke at the gate about the shifting wheels up times.

Making a long story short, we were only an hour late into LGA.  The place went into a long ground stop very shortly after we lifted out of TPA.

The return was EARLY.  I'm not sure I'll ever say this again.  The A319 closed it's doors 5 minutes early and we pulled into the gate at TPA 10 minutes early.

I'll take it anytime.  I'm sure the next time I go into an NYC airport won't be so lucky.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1316/history/20140516/1210Z/KTPA/KLGA

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2498/history/20140518/2159Z/KLGA/KTPA

Tampa - Baltimore: Despite Growing Concerns, Southwest Delivers

I've noticed that since Southwest has been dancing around with AirTran that their service just seems to be different.

They don't seem to be as flexible on certain things anymore, and the one thing I really need, which is on time performance has dropped dramatically.

It is hard to believe that the last set of stats released by DOT shows that Southwest is worse than most legacy carriers when it comes to on time performance.  I did read somewhere a little press release they put together claiming all kinds of stuff.  It read like it was written by the PR department of a legacy carrier.

But in this case, non stop, even if late, is better than a connection.

So I did SWA back and forth from TPA to BWI.  And it worked, on time.

This time.

We will see how they do with a trip up to Providence, soon.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA424/history/20140511/2250Z/KTPA/KBWI

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA1537/history/20140514/2205Z/KBWI/KTPA