Frontier Airlines, which has remade itself into an ultra low-cost, low-fare carrier, said Tuesday it is ordering more aircraft from the Airbus A320 family. (aviationblog.dallasnews.com) さらに...
Everything in life has a price; your comfort is one. As long as *somebody buys tickets for this torture this sort of thing will continue. At some point people have to learn that in a democratic society their best weapon is their hard earned money. Cheaper isn't always better. One last word: ... nah, I think that covers it..
That's absolutely true. If not enough people will accept the squeeze in exchange for lower fares, then the airlines wouldn't do this. Because enough people do accept it, the airlines do it. Why wouldn't they?
Which doesn't mean that I accept it and would fly with them.
Try flying from Denver to Minneapolis in the morning and getting there at a reasonably "morning" time. Fact is, to some cities, the Frontier schedule is most convenient. However, I guess I'll just have to sacrifice convienience in favor of comfort.
These guys are learning from Walmart. Drive the price low, offer horrible service, treat the customer and employees like crap, and it's a winning combination, because most people have no self respect. They'll do anything to save a buck - eat shitty food, buy crap products, and endure lousy service as long as it's CHEAP.
Treat people like morons and cattle, and you can't go wrong...
Theses a tipping point on getting a good deal, and Frontier just crossed it. As others have said on this forum, even though I have SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND miles on Frontier, I'll find a way to use those miles without flying Frontier.
I used to be a Frontier frequent flyer with "status", pretty impressive flying out of New York.
When the airline was acquired by Republic, everything went downhill. When Republic spun it off, things got even worse.
Over the past three years I have witnessed an extreme de-evolution:
- Removal of free soft drinks - Loss of extended legroom (Unless you pay extra for it) - Removal of advanced seat assignment (unless you pay extra for it) - Loss of free moving map - Loss of Wild Blue Yonder Magazine - Loss of (free) Wild Blue Yonder TV - Loss of MSNBC TV - Raised price for TV, twice! - Frequent flights where TVs to not work - either for the entire plane or for many seats - Loss of free TV for Ascent and Summit - Discounted credit of economy-ticket miles toward Elite Status - Loss of free breakfast or snack - Loss of hot food completely - Loss of Udi snacks - Reduced or eliminated service from New York City - Loss of free checked baggage - Loss of free carry-on baggage - Loss of free checked baggage with Elite Status
I sent them an e-mail about this, and got an acknowledgement of receipt but no reply. I think they know they are screwing their customers, but figure there are enough cattle out there to fill the flying boxcars that it doesn't matter.
Even though I have over 100,000 frequent flyer miles banked, I will not fly Frontier ever again.
You consider the loss of MSNBC programming to be a negative? I'm not defending these cheap bureaucrats, but several of the things you say have been lost are still provided to Ascent and Summit members. Nonetheless, I'm done with them too, as a result of the additional seat cramming. The market will speak on this. frontier may not yet realize that for most travelers, schedule and comfort are most important, as we don't pay for our tickets anyway, our company does, and many of us still get to pick our own flights.
Nobody tell the FAA that Frontier is putting 230 seats in. The maximum the FAA allows is 220 (see the type certificate data sheet at http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgMakeModel.nsf/0/BEBE127CB58BE7E386257E4D00594750?OpenDocument - page 35 and the note on page 42
Hate ta burst the bubble David, but when Frontier gets these, they will be the A321NEO with a certfied rating of 240 seats...And I thot Spirit seats were bad.
236, actually, according to the Airbus page. I'll have to remember to look up the TCDS once the aircraft is certified. http://www.airbus.com/aircraftfamilies/passengeraircraft/a320family/a321/specifications/ shows the A321NEO specs.
I have actually been on planes before where when the pilot tells the f/a's to prepare for arrival and,they were still funning up and down the aisle collecting trash as the flight landed and not in their seats..kind of a "bumpy landing" for the f/s'not in a seat...I cannot imagine an executive thinking standing passengers was a good idea..airplanes are not quite like the subway or a bus where you can hold onto a strap if there are no seats!!
Friends recently flew Spirit out of BWI to PDX. A hurry-up trip and everyone knows last minute booking is pricey. By the time the extra's were paid, they could have flown Alaska N/S out of DCA and they live in DC!
Yeah, they've got to work on their timeliness, kinda hard with all the mainline freight though. Even tougher if you have a one track mainline. City of New Orleans has been running early lately. Don't know how long that'll last though.
well..the name of the game is not really passenger comfort or cheap fares,its how to make money..frontier has been doing pretty well,so in spite of passengers who might complain,they will still get the people who need to fly on whatever routes they have, and feel they are getting a bargain price..cramming people into smaller seats,closer together is common practice nowadays in the old coach section!!
Since the primary objective of the regulators (the FAA) in the US is to "promote the aviation industry", and not to ensure safety, any rule change is likely to be in the airline's favor, not the travelling public!
Message to all airlines...PACK THEM THICK FOR SHORT HOPS....GIVE US SPACE FOR ANYTHING ELSE! Charge therefore accordingly. The Japanese did this with B747SP and if memory serves, DC10-40? Special and specific models for unique routes.
There was a DC10-40, different engines than the -30 if I recall correctly. The JAL high density 747 was the SR, not SP-- beefed up landing gear among other mods, again IIRC.
From Wikipedia: The first long-range version fitted with Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines. Originally designated DC-10-20, this model was renamed DC-10-40 after a special request from Northwest Orient Airlines as the aircraft was much improved compared to its original design, with a higher MTOW (on par with the Series 30) and more powerful engines. The airline's president wanted to advertise he had the latest version. The company also wanted its aircraft to be equipped with the same engines as its Boeing 747s for commonality. Northwest Orient Airlines and Japan Airlines were the only airlines to order the Series 40 with 22 and 20 aircraft, respectively. Engine improvements led to the DC-10-40s delivered to Northwest featuring Pratt & Whitney JT9D-20 engines producing 50,000 lbf (222 kN) of thrust and a MTOW of 555,000 lb (251,815 kg). The -40s for Japan Airlines were equipped with P&W JT9D-59A engines that produced a thrust of 53,000 lbf (235.8 kN) and a MTOW of 565,000 lb (256,350 kg).[23] 42 were built from 1973 to 1983.[31] Externally, the DC-10-40 can be distinguished from the -30 series by a slight bulge near the front of the nacelle for the #2 (tail) engine.
Hm, this is about the same as a 186 seat 738, which is the typical Ryanair configuration. Compared to 10 abread on a 77W this is far more comfortable. So while not luxury, something you can survive for flights below 5 hours...
Welcome to SARDINE CAN AIRLINES, we don't serve any but we pack them tightly. We have already requested Airbus to weld 2 rows of seats (25 abreast) on each wing and 1 row of 5 seats on each side of the horizontal stabilizer and we are not done yet, our aerodynamicists are hard at work trying to see how many seats can be bolted or glued down (does not matter the method) on top of the fuselage. Passengers will have to don heavy parkas though.
I have seen the seats they plan on using, close to a recaro racing seat, very thin strong material This is partially the reason behind the added capacity. I personally have never flown frontier as they do not service the great white north and don't do much out of buffalo (1 hour drive for me) But I do fly to Vegas semi often and would endure the tight confines for the 4 hours to save the 400$ for the tickets for my wife and I. Frontier take note......buffalo to Vegas please....
another reason to stop using commercial airlines. Earn a private pilot's license and fly yourself. Don't have to put up with this kind of treatment from the airlines, or TSA either.
this is an excellent point..however..you must take into consideration the very high cost of the lessons to fly,the number of hours required,the cost of a flight instructor,the rental of an airplane,or buying one yourself..and then..i hate to say it,there seem to be a large number of private plane crashes reported,where the private pilot does not have the equipment/instruments on his or her aircraft,nor the training to say,fly in foggy circumstances or avoid that mountain..not every private pilot has been trained as a commercial pilot,bells and whistles included..i agree tsa is a pain when you have to make sure your shampoo or whatever is in a tiny little bottle in a plastic container, and you still have to remove your shoes and walk through the machine,where they do not even use lysol to sanitize the floor ..I don't see any major improvements in the near future however,even with congressional hearings...
Yup they do, no wide bodies yet but the article says they have orders for the 350. Just flew on 320 from Chicago to Pearson But the CFO reiterated how key the 787 was to them.