Southwest without a doubt!
Ever since they came to Albany, NY I have used them constantly. I usually take at least two trips a year for vacation and have used them a few more for business. While the check in process is not my favorite I would not switch back to another airline unless I had no option.
Southwest is almost always on time. I used to take Delta and US Air all the time. In my experience Delta was ALWAYS late and US Air was usually late.
I find the staff to be the friendliest around, with the possible exception of the people who give out the boarding passes at the gate (I have not flow since they changed their process a couple months ago though). I can understand why they are sometimes a little less "delightful" with the mobs of people jockeying for a place in line to be the first to get a boarding pass.
They have only one class of passengers.
All the planes I have flown on with Southwest look brand new and are always very clean.
Did I mention price?! Albany used to be one of the most expensive regional airports in the nation before Southwest came. Not any more. A flight that used to cost me $400 round trip to Orlando now cost me on average of $150. I have taken a couple of the $98 specials too!
I cannot say enough good things about Southwest. I even bought 5 shares of their stock at buyandhold.com. I have never done anything like that before!
There is wind in the air that Jet Blue is coming to Albany in 2004. From what I understand they are in direct competition with Southwest so it will be interesting to see what happens. But that wont change the fact that I LOVE SOUTHWEST.
Thanks, Ken
