Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I'll be flying Airtran for the first time this week. At least I don't think I ever flew them before. MSY-ATL-IND. I've heard the B717 and the XM Radio on board are nice. Anyone have any comments for a newbie?

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

If your jet has XM it is nice . Get there early enough to try and get an upgrade.

Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 333
Location: St. Louis, MO

i remember flying AirTran on the x-fares back in the days when they were "new"...circa 1999/2000 on the old DC9's. interesting experience, to say the least. the cabin crews were friendly, but i remember one day in Atlanta where i was delayed because of t-storms in the northeast and the airport staff having quite the attitude to anybody who gave them trouble.

i remember one guy was cussing out a gate agent. the gate agent took the guy's ticket and ripped it up and said "you can get your ticket reprinted but not from me, and i suggest losing your attitude first. good luck getting to Orlando."

it was classic.

i hear they are a great airline. i liked the 717's when i flew them on TWA. if i simply lived closer to an AirTran airport, i'm sure i'd use them. but don't they have a weird seating policy where you get your seats assigned at the airport?

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

I think that guy works for Southwest now

j/k

BTW... does anyone know what the loads are like for AirTran out of IND?

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

So I haven't been on indairport.org for a while to report on my first experience with FL, but better late than never...

I had to fly to MSY for a business trip back in late Nov., just going down in the morning and coming back in the afternoon. With the lack of the WN nonstop, I just looked for early and late flights. I didn't know how long I'd need, and my corporate travel site steered me to the CO flight in the morning, which I've flown many times to MSY before. The CO return was a 1630 departure, and not knowing how long I'd need to be in MSY that day, I opted for the FL flight which departed MSY at 1800.

So the first thing I have to say - New Orleans is still in pretty bad shape. The airport looks to be back to only about half the business it had before Katrina. Whole airlines have yet to resume service there, like Jet Blue. And driving around - I was only in the near suburbs, not the hardest hit areas in NO proper - there was still a ton of damage that had yet to even be cleaned up. When I landed at the airport, about a third of the rooftops were covered in blue tarps. And the people I met with all told me that even small amounts of damage wouldn't be fixed for months, because they can't get workmen or materials. Of course, that's just stuff, and it pales in comparison to all the people who lost their lives...

But back to the flight. I ended up done much earlier than I thought I'd be. This happens on my business trips fairly often, and I usually get an earlier flight home. But there is only one FL flight in the afternoon from MSY to ATL, and it was the one I was already on. So I arrived at the airport just before 1500, and I had to wait until 1800 to leave. And there ain't a thing to do in that airport while you wait. The flight to ATL was nice; I got the window seat in row 5, which had a ton of legroom due to the first-class divider in front of me. XM kicked ass - especially on my Bose QCII's. I have two XM radios of my own, so I knew what to expect.

The flight was a little late leaving, but Airtran did a good job keeping us informed about the delay. And the connection at ATL was pretty easy - much less territory to potentially cover than when connecting on DL. The flight back to IND was similarly uneventful and generally pleasant.

Overall, I was pleased with FL. Nothing that would blow me away, but clean aircraft, courteous employees, solid service, good price. It's not Singapore Airlines, but it's also not Delta. I flew DL a couple weeks ago, and they make FL look like the freaking Concorde. I'm not going to go into how bad DL has become, but suffice it to say I'm an Airtran Fan now. I just wished they'd had more service to MSY, but I can't really hold that against them.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Glad to see you back. I was wondering if you fell off the fact of the planet . So what were the loads like in and out of IND?

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

Loads on CO IAH-MSY 99+% I heard that CO has actually added a couple more IAH flights to MSY since they restored service there.

Load on FL from MSY-ATL was probably 80%, and probably 75% ATL-IND. Not too bad - FL has definitely got some good business going here.