Ask the pilot

Finally, U.S. airlines are trying to make us more comfortable when we fly -- first class and business, anyway. Can they compete with the world's best?

Editor's note: First of a two-part series. This week: Signs and symptoms

By Patrick Smith

Read more: Technology & Business, Business, United Airlines, P. Smith, Ask the Pilot

July 21, 2006 | In 2004, an Ask the Pilot reader poll helped confirm what most people already knew or suspected: that the service standards of U.S. airlines were, if not the worst in the world, then ... I can't find an ending for that sentence. Among the top scorers were the usual foreign suspects -- British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, et al. -- with Singapore Airlines, perennial darling of the awards podium, coming in as the all-out victor. At the other extreme, Northwest Airlines was the not-so-proud recipient of the Golden Pretzel trophy, with U.S. Airways, America West and United bringing up the rear. More than two years after they were published, voters' critiques of the bottom finishers still elicit groans of commiserative agony.

At long last there are signs of change. Despite being pummeled by a moonshot surge in oil prices over the past 12 months -- destined only to worsen in response to the unfolding Middle East apocalypse -- America's battered and berated carriers are stepping forward with a host of proactive ideas.

Let's start with the largest of them all, American Airlines. For its business-class customers, the Dallas-based giant is phasing in lie-flat sleeper seats on its 767s and 777s assigned to international flights. American has also upgraded the forward cabin menus on transcontinental domestic runs.

Not to be outdone, No. 2 United is shelling out $160 million for first- and business-class hardware refurbishments, while reporting high passenger satisfaction levels with its domestic premium service product -- or "PS" as it's nicknamed in-house. PS, first available in select coast-to-coast markets, features 180-degree sleepers and numerous other enhancements. Elsewhere in the system, United has outfitted a portion of its affiliate-owned regional fleet with first class, a brand it titles "Xplus," apparently convinced that passengers want their planes to remind them of energy drinks.

Rounding out the Big Three is Delta. Several improvements are on tap for Delta's signature international product, known as business elite, including new seats, on-demand video and a revised selection of entrees. Even more welcome will be $10 million worth of desperately needed upgrades planned for Delta's massive international gateway at Kennedy International in New York. Delta splits its JFK operations between Terminals 2 and 3, and both buildings are the epitome of airport fixer-uppers. The former is what used to be the Pan Am Worldport. It's a historic, vibrant (code word for sweaty and overcrowded) and intensely dungeonlike place, connected by a glass-walled causeway to Terminal 2, previously described by one acerbic columnist as a "hideous modernist box with all the ambiance of an abattoir." Effective last week, business elite check-in at JFK is now consolidated at Terminal 2, an extremely smart move that will please the airline's most valued patrons while helping to disperse the enormous crowds that typically gather in Terminal 3 during the late-day overseas departure push. Over the past year or so Delta has added almost 50 daily departures from JFK, and pending nonstops to India and Ghana promised up to 550 more people being dumped into already unbearable queues. In another intelligent, crowd-thinning move, Delta will install automated check-in kiosks with passport-scanning technology. (Note to the airline: During renovations, please don't dislodge those resident pigeons and sparrows that live in the terminals' rafters. Maybe their being there is less than sanitary, but watching the birds forage for crumbs is considerably more relaxing and entertaining than having to hear those blasted CNN monitors.)

Next, to Minneapolis: Seems like only yesterday that Northwest was being skewered far and wide over its decision to charge passengers 15 bucks for the privilege of sitting in an aisle seat or in an exit row. Well, it's still being skewered, but earlier this month Northwest unveiled an enhanced meal service on domestic flights, giving first-class customers a choice -- a choice! -- of entrees from an improved menu. Admittedly that's not much, but this is an airline that went so far as to pull the plug on pretzels and peanuts. The old fish-or-chicken option had begun to seem very, very quaint. Meanwhile, changes to what Northwest calls "world business class," include lie-flat sleepers and new entertainment units installed on 747s and Airbus A330s used internationally.

Northwest's investments, as with Delta's, are made possible through the kind allowance of a bankruptcy judge.

Next page: The distinctions between first class and economy are often little more than academic