The Famous NFL Writer Who Absolutely Hates US Airways (And Why)!

If you are a fan of the NFL, then you likely read a terrific column written by Peter King of Sports Illustrated called the Monday Morning Quarterback.  He is insightful and writes with a style that can be appreciated by both the casual fan and the season ticket holder.  Not surprisingly, Peter King must travel extensively as part of his job, and always adds a “Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week” in which he comments on a recent travel experience he has had.  This week’s comment was reserved for US Airways, just prior to its final integration with American Airlines this past weekend.

Peter King of Sports Illustrated

In his Monday Morning Quarterback article this week, Peter King shared his recent experiences on US Airways:

On the last two days of US Airways’ existence—I have made it a point only to fly US Airways if every other airline is absolutely unavailable, because it has been a Double-A carrier, at best—I was scheduled to fly it on four segments, back and forth to Roanoke, as I was going to visit the Arizona Cardinals as they practiced last week at The Greenbrier Resort, which is in the middle of nowhere in southeastern West Virginia, about 105 miles from Roanoke.

The first segment was LaGuardia in New York to Philadelphia, Thursday at 6 a.m., connecting with a flight to Roanoke at 8:25. At about 5:40, there was an announcement that departure would be delayed by a mechanical issue. Delay. Delay. More delay. At 6:35, this announcement: “If you have a connection in Philadelphia, we’re not sure when this flight will leave, so you might want to visit our service desk and change your flight.” Went to service desk. Only option on US Air to get me to the Cardinals so I could see the coaches and players post-practice: fly to National Airport in northern Virginia at 7 a.m., rent a car, drive 246 miles to White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. And so I did it. Pain in the neck, but I did it. Next morning: Roanoke to Charlotte, Charlotte to LaGuardia. The tiny puddle-jumper on the first leg smelled like my late grandmother’s cedar closet, without the cedar. Mothballs. Ancient. But it got us to Charlotte. The Charlotte-to-Laguardia leg was only 65 minutes late.

I’m sure US Airways has some quality employees and good people. But I won’t miss it a bit.

This sounds just like my experience on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Boston last week.  The short hop was delayed almost 1 hour as a result of the pilot’s not having properly filled out some paperwork beforehand.  I certainly won’t be missing US Airways either.