I become more and more impressed with US Airways as time goes by. This is an airline that has worked hard to change its performance in quite a few areas. There was a time not too long ago when US Airways (and America West) really resembled the Continental Airlines of the early 1990’s. You felt abused at every turn. Not anymore.

They are doing spectacularly well in baggage handling and that’s after being atrocious and particularly so in Philadelphia. But it’s not just baggage that shows great performance. This airline has managed itself very well through weather events as well. They are, by the very nature of their hubs, avoiding more problems than many airlines as well.

It’s the customer service that just kind of stuns me. Particularly with reservations agents on the phone. Over the past 12 months, I’ve had several occasions to call (instead of just making a booking online) for reasons that, in my opinion, confound most US airlines call center staff at this point.

Instead of being on the phone a long time and then fighting to make my desires understood, I keep getting agents who “get it”, get it done and manage to be polite and friendly throughout the experience.

No one is going to have a 100% positive experience with an airline. Fly one long enough and you’ll have a problem that annoys. US Airways is no different. You can count a lot of things as important when selecting an airline but I think the ability to fly more or less on time, receive your baggage at your destination and the opportunity to deal with service staff that acts alive and interested is tops. Power on board, wifi onboard and even fees (and US Airways is the king of fees) come second.

If you buy on price, reliability and service, you can do fantastically worse than US Airways and I think they’re even giving even LCC airlines a real run for their money.

Filed under: Airline Service by ajax
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