Slasher. I hear what you say about planning for a delay but in this day and age how many companies are willing to have employees sat in hotel rooms (or bars for that matter) on the off chance that a flight will be delayed? I'd love to be able to leave plenty of time for missed connections, hangovers etc. but the boss won't pay for it! If nothing else if you do make your connections at least you get to see some of the place you are visiting!

------------------
I want to live forever and so far I'm doing ok!

AN missing from your list Slash? Never paxed with them? :)

Checks er..no I havent. I was ex-Australian (nee TAA). Ive never flown QF domestic since 89 either. I shouldve said "Qantas (mainline international)" on my Safe list. Ive paxed with them a few times into and out of Oz. I have no first hand experience in paxing with either Qandom (post 89) or AN so I cant comment.

Slasher,

Your post on fuel planning very interesting in the light of the recent happenings with the A310 at Vienna!

------------------
Ah, the VC-10, Wasn't she lovely!

Because of the racist comment made by one of their staff, AN is on my list on Black Listed airlines. QF is my choice should I fly domestically in Australia

[This message has been edited by fishlips (edited 19 July 2000).]

Safety-wise all of Canada's carriers are fine so the choice is service. The worst one here is charter carrier Air Transat. Some stories I've lived and/or heard of with them:

1. CDG-YYZ, nine hours late. Okay, it happens, but the kicker is how they handled it. I showed up at Pearson to wait for a passenger, no staff at the counter. Called the airline's flight status info line, got a recording of the status of all arrivals- from 60 days earlier. There was no way to find out if the airline was still in business, never mind the arrivals.

2. Cuba-YYZ, mechanical problems over Florida. Airline only had one shop in FL, but because the plane was coming from Cuba US authorities required them to land at an airport where they didn't have their own facilities. Instead of paying another contractor to do the work, they diverted back to Cuba and made the passengers stay aboard while repairs were carried out (a 10-hour job).

3. YYZ-YUL, they used L1011 taking an hour to load for a 45-minute flight. Aircraft at gate 90 minutes late, when asked for explanation (no announcements about delay) the customer service rep said "charters are subject to change" and walked away.

Hmmmm... Very interesting. I've paxed quite a bit with MAS--mostly PER-KUL-SIN etc, but also on their World Airways (wet lease) service KL to Johannesburg/Cape Town/Buenos Aires and rtn and I've always enjoyed the service and the flights/aircraft handling etc. Was this only because the tech crews had uneventful flights then? Apart from the World Airways contract (this was in '95/'96 - is it still operating?), I think MAS had a few expat pilots. I've read the above - why do some of you consider MAS to be something of a liability?

Here's something else. It wasn't such a bad flight, but for some reason a Biman Bangladesh experience--Jessore-Dhaka--made me a bit nervous once. Was it the oil leaking from the Port engine nacelle of the ancient F27 (can an F27 be 'ancient'?), or the airforce officer standing on the ramp holding a "ghetto-blaster" in one hand and a microphone in the other as we taxied (was he taping a soundtrack for their training simulator?), or was it my seating companion--a young Bangladeshi Airforce pilot--who refused to confirm whether or not the aircraft I could see lined up across the field were Nanchang CJ-6A's, DID allow that he flew the Mig-25, and DIDN'T know what a C172 was? I don't know. At any rate I was relieved when the short hop was completed.

From personal experience BA, Cathay, Virgin, KLM, Lufthansa, Britania, Air 2000, Airtours are all safe with KLM offering the best service. BA's service varies from great to awful all depending on the Cabin Cheif. Virgins service has always been great outbound from UK and dreadful inbound so I suspect crew are all feeling second-hand.
The worst airline I have flown with is Aeropostale who regularly operate Air France flights, suitcases and baggage stuffed between the seats, pax left with their seatbelts hanging into the aisle and whats more the staff don't correct anything when its pointed out.