Denver, part un

I recently (okay, several weeks ago) got back from a business trip to Denver. I had never been there before, and was looking forward to going.

The trip out there was great. I was lucky enough to fly out of National (hooray short airport trip!) and was extraspecialsuperlucky to fly Frontier.

I really like Frontier. I had only flown them once before to visit my mother, but I was really impressed. For one thing, they seem to use only Airbuses. Now I don’t have any comparative data, but I can tell you anecdotally that there seems to be a l’il more legroom on an Airbus as opposed to a Boeing. The fleet looks new and clean, and the flight attendants are usually quite friendly. Nowadays, you usually get flight attendants that must've gone to the casting call of "DMV: The Motion Picture." Best of all, they don’t pull a US Airways and pour your soda in a cup, and then give the remainder to someone else. I’ve never figured that out. How does that help your bottom line? Is all your overhead really spent on in-flight refreshment? How many less sodas do you need to pack? Is it that much of a space saver?

At any rate, I've always enjoyed flying with them. For that matter, I’m willing to try most second-tier airlines since personally I’ll do whatever it takes to not give my business to American, United, Delta, etc. They’ve rode the gravy train for too long, and have gotten fat and complacent. Lousy service, uncompetitive fares, and hey, when they fuck up (and you just know they will every few years), Uncle Sugar gives ‘em a big cash bailout to reward shitty management. I should be so lucky to land a job like that.

Government: Jason, you really ran Air Suckfest into the ground. What were you thinking?

Me: Well, I had a lot of good ideas that looked nice on paper…

Government: Shag carpeted planes? Fondue service in coach? Paying staff in Canadian dollars? Man, you really screwed up. Here, here’s a big bag of money.

Okay, I kid. But I’ll never fly a major airline if I can avoid it. I’m not rewarding them with my ticket money for their lousy treatment of the flying public.

America West used to be a great airline… I’ve heard they’ve merged with US Scare, so I’m not holding out hope for continued success. Their in-flight meals were better than some sit-down meals I’ve had. Full-course meals, and hot too! I flew with them several times, and was always impressed.

But now, I think Frontier is gonna get the bulk of my travel dollars, at least as far as travel out West goes.

Now, onto part two…