Mexicana Air Lines

MEXICANA AIRLINES BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW

It was far from being an improved seat. Business Class consisted of 42 seats in a 2x2x2 configuration that proved to be a very cramped seat width. Seats were old style manual operation. Seat pitch around 64inches which was ample, however the foot rest only came up 6inches which made for an impossible sleeping position. Drinks were not offered after takeoff for the over 9hour flight to Buenos Aires. Meal served on a tray with salad, roll, and dessert all at once. Entree was served cold. Breakfast was a cold sandwich with no choice of a hot entree choice. Truly a terrible business class product that I would not recommend

United Air Lines

Causes

Investigation attributed the cause of the fracture of the fan disk to a failure of United Airlines maintenance processes to detect an existing fatigue crack.^[3] Post-crash analysis of the crack surfaces showed the presence of the penetrating fluorescent dye used to detect cracks during maintenance, indicating that the crack was present and should have been detected at a prior inspection. The detection failure arose from poor attention to human factors in United Airlines' specification of maintenance processes.

The crack in the fan disk was traced back to the Alcoa foundry from which the engine part was sourced. It turned out that there was a defect in elimination of gaseous anomalies during the purifying of the titanium disk ingot. An excess amount of nitrogen was in the material, causing a 'hard alpha inclusion' which cracked during forging and then fell out during final machining, forming a cavity with microscopic cracks at the edges. During the engine's normal running cycle, one of these cracks grew slowly each time the engine was powered up and brought to operating temperature, until it grew large enough for the disk to fail structurally. ^[3] Newer batches used much higher melting temperatures and a 'triple vacuum' process to eliminate these impurities.

The subsequent investigation and Airworthiness Directive also revealed several other fan disks already in service from the same batch of ingots which had started to exhibit the initial cracking symptoms of part failure.

Air Canada

Air Canada

My most recent transatlantic flights were on Air Canada (Paris to Toronto) and United Airlines (Chicago to Paris).

You may not believe this, but Air Canada’s tourist class actually had several rows of empty seats on this November 28th flight (the Friday after Thanksgiving) – which meant having an opportunity to stretch out and sleep for several hours – plus – yes, FREE WINE in tourist class.

With a connection to LAX, I was actually able to go through Canadian AND US customs AT THE TORONTO airport. The customs people were polite, professional, and extremely efficient. No lines, no hassles.

I haven’t taken a Lufthansa flight for ages, and I’ve never taken a British Air flight to Paris, so I can’t comment on the pros and cons of these to carriers.

As you can see, choosing an air carrier doesn’t depend solely on price. You’ll want to choose a low traffic hub for easy connections – whenever possible. You may be forced to use one airlines over another because of air mileage programs or alliances for RTW travel, but if your decision boils down to looking for the best quality service and product – Parisgirl would recommend either Air Canada or Air France. (Any readers who’ve flown on Lufthansa, Air India, or British Air from the US and Canada to Paris are encouraged to share their opinions about service and food quality!

American Air Lines

Overview

In May 2008, American served 260 cities (excluding codeshares with partner airlines) with 655 aircraft.^[3] American carries more passengers between the US and Latin America (12.1 million in 2004) than any other airline, and is also strong in the trans/inter/intracontinental market. American Airlines' total revenue for the year was 23.8 Billion, of which $18.2 Billion came from Mainline divison, $2.49B from Regional, and $874 Million from Cargo.

American has five hubs: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Chicago (ORD), Miami (MIA), Lambert St Louis International Airport (STL), and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, PR (SJU)^[1]. Dallas/Fort Worth is the airline's largest hub, with AA operating 85 percent of flights at the airport and traveling to more destinations than from its other hubs. Los Angeles (LAX), New York-Kennedy (JFK), and Boston (BOS) serve as focus cities and international gateways. American operates maintenance bases at Tulsa (TUL), Kansas City (MCI), and Fort Worth Alliance (AFW).

American Airlines has one regional affiliate:

• American Eagle Airlines, with hubs in Chicago O'Hare, Dallas Ft Worth, New York Kennedy, Los Angeles, Miami, Raleigh and San Juan.

American Eagle Airlines provides regional feed to American throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, and Mexico.

American Airlines is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance.

Northwest Air Lines

NWA Cargo

As of 2006, Northwest Airlines Cargo is the largest cargo carrier among U.S. combination passenger and cargo airlines. NWA Cargo’s fleet of dedicated Boeing 747 freighter aircraft fly from some key cities the United States and East Asia as well as Amsterdam connecting with the carrier’s cargo hub in Anchorage, Alaska (Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport), facilitating the quick transfer of cargo between large cities on both sides of the Pacific. NWA Cargo also transports freight aboard the passenger fleet of Northwest Airlines to more than 250 cities worldwide. Delta announced that the NWA Cargo hub will be shut down by the end of 2009.

As of early 2008, NWA's largest cargo client is DHL International. In December 2007, NWA announced that DHL International would terminate its cargo agreement with the airline effective late 2008. According to NWA Chief Financial Officer Dave Davis, the loss of its largest cargo client will bring significant changes to the division.

Further changes to the NWA Cargo division will continue into 2009 as it is merged into the Delta Cargo service.

Southwest Air Lines

Southwest Airlines:

A mother and her son were flying Southwest Airlines from Kansas City to Chicago. The son (who had been looking out the window) turned to his mother and asked, “If big dogs have baby dogs and big cats have baby cats, why don’t big planes have baby planes?” The mother (who couldn’t think of an answer) told her son to ask the stewardess So the boy asked the stewardess, “If big dogs have baby dogs and big cats have baby cats, why don’t big planes have baby planes?” The stewardess responded, “Did your mother tell you to ask me?” The boy admitted that this was the case. “Well, then, tell your mother that there are no baby planes because Southwest always pulls out on time. Your mother can explain that to you.

Kuwait Airways

Kuwait Airways offer free stopovers

Kuwait Airways is now offering a complimentary one night stay at a star class hotel for passengers on transit.

He said this free stop over facility at star class Safir International Hotel located at Kuwait Airport would be with Arabian hospitality.

“Transit hotel facilities include business center, cafe, restaurant, WI-FI facility, Jacuzzi/whirlpool, room service, safe deposit box and a swimming pool and room facilities includes cable, satellite TV, hairdryer, kitchenette, mini bar and many more,” he said.

“This is a privilege for our valuable customers as they can relax and enjoy the Kuwait hospitality until they board for their final destination,” he said.

He added that in addition all local passengers traveling on economy class services to Europe or USA will enjoy free lounge facility at the Palm Strip Lounge, Colombo Airport.