Useless Airways

In the previous post, I described my recent trip to the Caribbean.  This trip-of-a-lifetime was marred by the flight home.   I should have expected this, since it was on US Useless Air.  I am somewhere between an infrequent and a frequent flyer.  I expect to make four round trip flights this year, two for work and two for pleasure, two international and two domestic.  Over the years, USAir has consistently provided the worst service of any airline I’ve flown.   Apparently, this experience is not unique to me:  If you google ‘USAir Sucks” you’ll find lots of other testimony to that effect.  I was particularly amused by the last line in the above photo from the St. Thomas airport.

We had booked a 6pm flight to Washington-Dulles airport via Charlotte.  When we arrrived at the airport around 2:30pm we immediately discovered a problem.  Passengers were milling around the check-in desk like cows being prepared for the slaughter.  The flight was delayed due to a mechanical problem, first for 3 hours and eventually for 5.  This, of course, meant we missed the last connection to Dulles.   Nothing to worry about, except for our three minor children waiting for us at home.

USAir generously gave us dinner vouchers for $10, enough to purchase a hot dog (the least expensive sandwich) and a small soda.  We arrived in Charlotte about 2:30am, and were put up for 3 hours in a hotel–I can’t tell what it was like since I was barely awake on both ends.  We got home successfully, only a half day late.  The kids survived.

PS, our morning flight to Dulles was delayed, for mechanical problems.