Jaunted

Zagat Airline Survey: The Winners and The Losers

11/21/2007 at 2:30 PM
Tags: Zagat Guides, Midwest Airlines, Virgin America, Continental, JFK, LGA, LAX, MIA, PHL, DEN, TPA (all tags)

TPA: Great airport=no lines...

We admittedly have a bit of a Zagat obsession right now, but we can't overlook the latest survey from the folks at the Burgundy Bible. A look at US airlines, it was compiled in conjunction with the Today show and relied on the opinions of 7,498 flyers and travel pros.

We probably don't need to tell you the big-picture findings:

Overall, our survey results reveal continuing frustration with the state of domestic air travel... Delays and cancellations were cited as the top airline irritants, follwed by cramped seats/crowding and poor service.

But there were some high points. Virgin America ranked as a "premium" airline (rather than an "economy" one, despite low fares) and performed miles ahead of other carriers in comfort, service and food. VA topped second-place Continental in all three categories. On the budget side of things, Midwest Airlines was the clear favorite. (Could it be simply because of the free cookies on every flight?)

Airports also got the critical eye, with Tampa and Denver earning the best scores from travelers. Two of New York's much-maligned time vortexes (JFK and LGA) earned spots at the bottom of the list, along with Miami, LAX and Philadelphia.

Related Stories:
· Full Survey Results [Zagat.com]
· Virgin America coverage [Jaunted]
· Midwest Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Tampa International Airport]

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More Rampant Speculation: Will Virgin America Announce Miami Service?

11/14/2007 at 3:00 PM
Tags: Virgin America, New Routes, MIA (all tags)

The future for Virgin America is staying murky, despite our best efforts to tease out the next destinations for the airline. This time, we got Miami International Airport spokesman Greg Chin's take on whether the upstart would fly into South Florida anytime soon:

We don't comment publicly about potential new carriers, because it can have a negative effect on the negotiation process with airlines.

Ah-hah, we thought! That means Virgin is considering the airport, right? Maybe:

We can't tell you what Virgin is considering because we are not Virgin.

Greg suggested we contact Virgin Atlantic, but that won't do us much good, since the US carrier operates independently from the Virgin Group. (Though Branson's company does control a 25% interest in the American airline.)

Instead, we scoured the yellow pages, and called up the number in Miami listed for Virgin America. No dice; seems to be a fax machine of some sort. Jaunted member herz says the airline is hiring in Miami, but Virgin's yet to confirm that for us.

Related Stories:
· Virgin America: Seattle Service? Not So Much [Jaunted]
· Rampant Speculation: What's Next for Virgin America [Jaunted]
· Virgin America coverage [Jaunted]

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