Best Airlines

September 30, 10:23 AMInternational Travel ExaminerRita Cook

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Flying the friendly skies

Hardly a week goes by without some type of airline story in the news.  Either customers who are being forced to pay for bags when airfares have already gone up anyway or soft drinks and water being an extra charge onboard, having gone the way of food service.  However, in the bleak outlook for air travel and with summer vacation upon the masses, there are a few airlines that do offer a bang for the buck even if the buck might not go as far these days.

Asian Airline EVA is a Taiwanese-based airline that was founded in 1989 with its maiden flight taking off in July of 1991.  The airline still offers good service, even in economy and with that, there is also lots of legroom.  One throwback from the past is the fact that men are not allowed to be flight attendants on board and the women who are flight attendants are young and still wearing those cute hats from the 60s. 

All flights from America filter through Tai Pei, Taiwan’s capital, but it’s an easy transition and the airport is comfortable and friendly.  Once in Tai Pei you can get to just about anywhere in Asia quickly and comfortable with EVA Air flying to more than 40 destinations on four continents, also including Australia and Europe. 

EVA Airline’s focus is on flight safety and this philosophy has actually gained worldwide recognition with the airline being awarded the Gold Wing by Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration.  EVA Airlines is also ranked as one of the world's top-10 safest carriers by Aero International Magazine in Germany.   With as many as 11 new Airbus A330-200s in the fleet, four advanced Boeing 777s for long hauls and eight more scheduled to be in service soon, passengers really do experience all the comforts.  Even in the economy section there is a leading-edge sound system. 

German service and quality at its best, Luftansa is the must when flying anywhere on the European Continent from the United States or beyond.  Big seats, good food and friendly service are just a few of the reasons, but one big selling point is that Lufthansa is almost always on time.  Let’s face it, that does make a difference these days when connecting flights have most people sprinting through airports like track fields. One airport to avoid a connection in if possible might be Frankfort, unless you have a lot of time.  The airport is a city, and a large one and it does take some time to navigate, but if you have a few hours to kill it is one of the best in Europe. 

Lufthansa also offers over 207destinations in 81 countries, so even if Europe is just a connecting flight to perhaps, Africa, this airline is still a good choice.  Lufthansa also just added both Seattle and Calgary routes for the summer so there are more than 280 weekly connections to fly nonstop to 22 North American destinations, major gateways in the United States and Canada being Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New York, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. 

For Central and South America, TACA, meaning Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano (Air Transport of the American Continent) is a good choice.  Founded in 1931 and known for years as the worlds largest cargo carrier, the airline flies the El Salvador flag as the home country, but the TACA group is made of up five combined Central American airlines, which are Aviateca (Guatemala), Lacsa (Costa Rica), NICA (Nicaragua), Taca (El Salvador) and Taca de Honduras (Honduras).  The airline flies not only in South and Central America, but also has many flights in North America as well including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, New York, Miami, Dallas, Toronto, Houston, Oakland, to name a few.  The logo, five golden macaws flying in formation, actualy depict the five original airlines in the group. 

The fleet currently has four Airbus A321-200s, 25 Airbus A320-200s, seven Airbus A319-100s with 11  Embraer 190 on order.   TACA actually operates with the youngest fleet in the Americas and offers excellent business class service on board with big, comfortable seats and all the amenities needed including an excellent audio/video service and friendly flight attendants. 

Either love the airline or hate it, but American Airlines is one of the best carriers in North America also being the world's largest airline. American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection ® airlines actually serve 250 cities in over 40 countries with more than 4,000 daily flights. That said the combined network fleet is more than 1,000 aircraft, which means when you get stranded somewhere there is a more of a chance this airline can get you home faster on another flight.  In fact, American Airlines alone has more than 655 active jets in their fleet.

American Airlines is also the founding member of the oneworld ® Alliance, bringing  together some of the best names in the airline business and allowing for all of these airlines to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own.  In fact, with all the partners American has it and its members serve almost 700 destinations in over 140 countries and territories worldwide. 

The good news with American is there are so many different types of planes flown that depending on where you are flying business class seats on long hauls will be premium (for example from Dallas to Maui the business class seats are sleepers) or even on the shorter flights business class service is still number one with friendly flight attendants and excellent food.  While other domestic carriers might be working to catch up with American, the airline does know how to move people from place to place and keep people happy onboard as good as any of the competition these days.  

The airline also recently began charging $15 for the first bag, however Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American Airlines notes, “We have not noticed any change of behavior in passengers carrying on or checking bags this summer. Since our new first checked-bag fee took effect for tickets purchased on or after June 15, most customers traveling this summer will not be affected. Most summer travelers bought their vacation tickets well in advance.  We have had absolutely no issues with our baggage policy at any airport across the nation so far this summer. Our customers seem to have taken it in stride." 

For an excellent low cost carrier with no frills Spirit Air is really worth the mention.  Celebrating its 17th year, the Fort Lauderdale-based airline is the leading ultra low cost carrier, serving 43 markets in the United States, Bahamas, Caribbean, Central and South America with 200 daily flights.  

The airlines goal of becoming the leading low cost carrier to the Caribbean became a reality in 2005 – 2006, with new flights to the Bahamas, Jamaica, US Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and Turks & Caicos Islands with additional service to the Caribbean beginning in 2007 to Haiti, Aruba, St. Maarten/St. Martin, and increased service to Puerto Rico via Aguadilla and Ponce.  In 2008, Spirit added more flights to Latin America with new flights to Panama and Colombia.  Spirit also grew to many new markets.  Service to Boston; Atlanta; San Antonio; Columbia, South Carolina; Long Island MacArthur; and Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago will all be onboard by mid-2008. 

However, if you are looking for high-end frills Spirit Air is not a good choice.  The airline charges for just about everything, but the good news is you know it upfront.  Spirit’s optional services and products include big front seats with over six inches of width, two by two seating and an extra six inches of legroom compared to the deluxe seats. 

Forced to fly to get from point A to point B, take a deep breath and keep your wits about you and try one of these customer-friendly airlines for better service in the (friendly) skies.