There's mention of Delta in the article.
Needless to say, I swore to never fly Delta again after that. As an aside, I had a lot of good experiences whenever I flew Southwest.
The difference in quality when comparing Delta to other airlines is stark enough to me that I will book with them, even if the flight is slightly more expensive or less convenient.
I've generally had better experiences with Southwest than other domestic airlines, and that includes spending the night in an airport because Southwest canceled my flight due to "snow" when nary a flake was seen at the destination.
Delta, I don't even know why they bother publishing a schedule. But I'm sure our relative experiences are completely dependent on specific airports and time of day.
(I have flown Singapore once and the actual flight service was fantastic. But I'm not going to drop my guard over one uneventful data point, and even they haven't pushed back against the molesters)
After taking the Singapore flight, I did joke about flying across the US via Asia just for the better service. But (thankfully) I still have no idea how they handle problems.
I want to believe that there are still businesses that believe in customer service and doing the right thing, and not just for customers who have paid an out-of-touch price. But part of me thinks it's just a matter of time until "market efficiency" gets to them as well.
Edit: And this is what I get for checking HN before I've had my first cup of coffee. Of course you refer to TSA.
My delta flights are almost always on time and are usually a little early. The only big delays I've experienced are because of weather, which all airlines experience. The international meals are fine, as in, I wouldnt pay any more money to get a better meal.
Quality of the seats for delta is good for comfort+, which is in the same price range as regular economy for 'nice airlines'.
Choice of entertainment has been the in-flight system loaded with a bunch of new and popular movies for free, which is good enough for me.
Price is always in competition for the cheapest. There is a reason the airline is so large...
Not sure what you mean about flexibility of carry-on...
They've treated me with respect. They've changed flights for me to have a quicker flight. For the most part.. they've been a heck of a lot better than Delta. I liked NWA, not Delta.
You can see the analysis at http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/flights/. The explanation, linked to at the top of that page, is at http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-we-found-the-fastest....
One of the Scoot flights had some sort of medical emergency. Who knows what happened, but from what I could tell the guy lived. The closest we got to a medical emergency on the United flights was the food.
It's all relative.
Just pray to god that something doesn't go wrong with the flight. If it does.. it's your fault.
With Air France, the breakpoint is making Gold Status in Flying Blue (their frequent flyer scheme). Irregular traveller or Silver or below? If there's a problem with your journey, you own it. Gold and above? If you encounter a hiccup, they own it, and if you show the folks in the business lounge your card they'll go out of their way to fix things for you.
(I was once flying economy on a Delta seat paid for by someone else, and the Delta flight was late enough coming in that I was going to miss my onward connection. But I had Gold Status to fall back on: AF picked up the ball, bumped me a class, and re-routed me on one of their own flights so that I got to my destination, a bit later than planned but the same day, rather than being dumped in Detroit overnight.)
Delta are the best of the "big three" US carriers in terms of customer service, and considerably better than American or United. On their intercontinental services they <em>try</em> to measure up to their non-US carrier alliance partners. Nevertheless, they're in third place relative to KLM or Air France as far as the passenger experience goes.
Relevant bit: I was on an AF trans-Atlantic flight a couple of years ago when a passenger a couple of rows behind me became unwell, and the passenger at the other side of my center aisle turned out to be a doctor on her way to a conference. Rubbernecking discreetly, I observed the cabin crew prioritizing the sick passenger's wellbeing and fetching the doctor the emergency kit and all the support she needed. Anecdata is not data and all that, but what I saw was what you'd hope to see in such a situation, not the fiasco described in the OP.
I will have flown ~100 sectors by the end of this year, to ~45 airports, about 2/3rds long-haul, and all but a handful in J or F. It's not an especially unusual year.
Service varies much more on flights with any one carrier much more than it varies between carriers. Seats vary depending on plane deployed by carrier as much as they vary between airlines. About the only constant is the amenity kits, food, and crew uniforms.
The best service I've had this year was on China Airlines (an ROC carrier, not a PRC carrier), and the worst by far was Asiana (out of South Korea). I have no trouble believing next year I'd have the complete opposite experience.
Service in any industry can be such a variable. I've sat in a restaurant and had outstanding service while watching the couple next to me get terrible service from the same server, culminating in that server accidentally crushing the reading glasses of one of the other diners. I got lucky, they didn't.
In short, in my experience: when booking flights, it's generally worth just ignoring any claims of service excellence or otherwise, and looking at the food and seats you'll get on the specific airplane you'll be flying on. I'd take the Vietnam Airlines 787 Dreamliner with the Zodiac Cirrus seats any day over a Singapore Airlines A330 with the 7811 seats, and if I was flying in Y, I'd be basing my decision purely on a combination of seat dimensions and how new the airframe was.