American Airlines deserves to die. Their equipment is old, their people are old, their attitude is old.

The only reason AA hasn’t died is that some corporate travel agents, high award miles travelers, and the brain dead are still willing to put up with their crap. That has to be the reason. We had a chance to choose a different airline when we took our vacation, but I went brain dead.

We love Southwest Airlines, and fortunately they fly most places we want to go. Except outside the U.S. Belize is outside the U.S.
On four short legs here is our American experience:

• Aborted takeoff because of cargo bay door open indicator light.
• Smaller seats than Southwest. AA = 31″or 32″; Southwest 32″ or 33″ wide. Yes, I can tell the difference! If Nancy wasn’t sitting beside me so we could put up the armrest I would have ended up disabled and need of a hip replacement.
• Videotaped emergency instructions. Yeah, it’s a big deal. I want to look at the people who are on the plane to ensure my safety. I want them standing in the aisle with a smile on their face reassuring me that if I need an “emergency flotation device” (not life vest because the opposite of life is death) when “outside” the aircraft (not bobbing like a cork in the ocean, which is outside the aircraft in the “unlikely event of a water landing.” Water LANDING?)
• Early arrival in Dallas – only to sit on the tarmac for 20 mintues waiting for a gate to open
• Waiting at the gate for another 20 minutes for somebody to bring the jetway to the plane
• An hour delay waiting for a plane to come from Nashville to Dallas to take us to Nashville. WTF?
• A really old dude crew member acting like a flight attendant. Older than Me! By five years! And he’s checking with people in the emergency row to make sure THEY can assist him in case of an emergency. Did anybody check him?

Southwest Rocks.

“If low-cost carriers have the capital to survive high fuel prices, they will find considerable new opportunities. In the U.S., legacy carriers are not only increasing fares but also adding a lot of fees. There is a bigger cost differential between Southwest and legacy carriers than there has been in a long time.”

American Airlines deserves to die. The sooner the better.