Comments on: Is Continental Airlines the last great legacy carrier?

By: MikeZ

MikeZ — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:24:19 +0000

@JoeFarrell

I second Carrie Charney’s post. I flew out of SWF many times when I still lived in NY, so I know it well. SWF is a much better (and closer) alternate and would require a small fraction of what Sullivan County would need to work as a serious hub. Its long runways can handle anything that flies, there’s plenty of room for expansion, and direct access from i84 and i87 is being built as we speak. Plus, NYState has been actively exploring a high-speed rail link to NYCity (although the current budget crunch may hinder that). It’s also far enough from EWR/JFK/LGA that their congestion usually doesn’t impact it.

The downturn in air travel has hit SWF hard, but there’s no doubt that it’s the most viable option for a new NY-area hub. And like many others, my vote would be for CO — without a doubt the best of America’s “legacy” carriers.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:17:10 +0000

Unfortunately I haven’t flown a whole lot with Continental but I’ve had good experiences on the two trips that I did go with Continental – once to Belize and once to New Orleans. The trip from Calgary/Houston/New Orleans started out a bit stressful because there was a huge winter storm hitting Calgary the entire night before our departure and it didn’t let up at take-off time. Our flight eventually left Calgary nearly two hours after the scheduled take-off time and of course we arrived late into Houston. We ran like mad dogs to catch our connecting flight to New Orleans, and stood almost crying at the gate watching our plane back out of the gate (think of a slow motion film with two people pressed against a glass wall screaming “NO!!” at the plane backing out). We went to the Continental customer service desk and told a representative our flight from Calgary was delayed and we missed our connecting flight to New Orleans. We thought she wasn’t listening at all to us because the whole time she had a phone to her ear making the odd grunt into it, AND typing something in the computer. She barely made eye contact with us and never acknowledged anything we said. Within a minute of finishing our explanation, she handed us two new boarding passes on the next flight to New Orleans! And she was still on the phone and typing on the computer. We were so stunned that it took a minute to realize what she did for us. When we didn’t leave, she looked up at us and then we asked her “Any charge?” She shook her head “No.” We thanked her and left – extremely relieved and extremely happy. We’re still amazed at how fortunate this experience was for us and how she was quite the multi-tasker! I hope the merger with United doesn’t dampen any of the former service by Continental.

By: Candice Conerly

Candice Conerly — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:51:21 +0000

CONTINENTAL LOVES ELLIOT! Sorry, I’m a little biased-I work for CO.

By: Terry Retter

Terry Retter — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:19:51 +0000

I was at Continental in the days of “The Proud Bird with the Golden Tail” with Bob Six at the helm. The competitive nature of airlines in an expansion period was a lot of fun and differientiation was service. In between a lot of things have gone wrong with the airline industry and service seems to have been one of the casualties. It is good to see that a couple of airlines – Continental being one – are returning to the older proven value system. Customers are attracted by service frequently over price.

chef@YourSmartKitchen.com

By: Tom Dawson

Tom Dawson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:33:36 +0000

I am a retired – since 1984 – Continental employee! I was delighted with this article and the comments that followed. Back in my days with Continental – the seventies and early eighties – we were an expanding gutsy airline (also think Air Micronesia!) with Bob Six as our founding Chief and thousands of execs and employees who really “moved their tails” for you. What an outstanding company it was then, and glad some of that same spirit seems to exist now-a-days.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:29:14 +0000

Two years ago I was flying back from a credit union (sponsored by Continental Airlines) golf tourney. The flight was from Tampa Bay to Los Angeles via Houston. The flight was delayed leaving from Tampa Bay by 2 hours, the pilot felt that the mechanical crew needed to fix the noise problem on one of the engines. They did and we finally left (good job pilot). Arriving late in Houston, I missed the connecting flight to LA. Continental stated on the plane arriving in Houston that it would put passengers upover night free at a local Hotel. Great! We were given passes to take with us and I left the plane. But I had to get to a restroom and that took some time. When I came out and went to the front the bus was gone. This was about 11:30 P.M. and the airport was beginning to be desolete looking. So I decided to stay in the airport near where my flight was going to be rescheduled for the next AM. I pushed two of those seats together and began to lie down for some rest. This was extremely uncomfortable. About one hour later, a man with badge credentials approached me and asked if he could assist. He was an Contnental pilot. I told him my predicament and he stated please come with me. A very pleasnat person for the early hours of the AM. He took me to a private room filled with couches and stated stay here the rest of the evening. I will make sure that someone or myself come back here early in the AM to wake you and get you to your flight. WOW..he even gave me a blanket and pillow.

5 housrs later, HE returned waking me and with a smile on his face..stated good Morning and then had a cart and attendant take me to the front of the checkin to reconnect my flight and then the cart to my exact gate for boarding.

I thought I was dreaming..Great people , Great airline…

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:45:52 +0000

In 2008, I flew from Los Angeles to Albany, round-trip, on four separate trips to visit my terminally ill ex-husband. Each trip necessitated two flights each way, and I took Continental on all the flights, to and fro, to visit him, ending up taking four Continental flights for each trip. Every single flight was perfect, and on top of that, I was pleasantly surprised at how often a flight left early because all the passengers had boarded. I remember when Continental was considered the worst airline and I avoided them for years. Not anymore — they’ve become a great airline.

By: AG

AG — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:57:55 +0000

You guys are awesome and I promise you that everything you say is heard, wether is good or bad. I can guarantee you that we try to provide you with the best customer service possible. And yes, we are not perfect, but we try hard, and if we do it wrong once or if someone drops the ball, don’t judge us so quickly, granted we are humans still, although theres a lot of computer glitches at times. I would hate for anyone to turn their back on us just because one bad apple, those are in every company you go to.
Houston folks, bare with us patiently. Trust me, the construction also affects us, but is all for the better. Weather happens, mechanicals happens, no matter what airline you go to. But our main concern is safety and to get you there SAFE. What we try to make perfection is the way we handle our business and our customers.
On behalf of ALL my coworkers and myself, we so appreciate your business as well as all your comments. And if you don’t let us know what we do wrong…how can we fix it? Don’t just leave angry, please call in and let us know, good or bad, we want to hear it.

A loyal and proud Continental Airlines employee…Work Hard Fly Right

By: Deborah

Deborah — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:21:37 +0000

Continental is the best legacy carrier out there for one reason. It has the best people in the industry who are obviously given the right product and are treated with respect by management. I have flown many airlines but Continental seems like a “happy family”. They are consistently friendly and focused on their customers.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:51:12 +0000

I am a great fan of Continental – and as with all service industries, there are always opportunities for improvement. However, Whether I have flown in coach (where the snack or meal is welcome) or in Business First or upgraded to domestic First, I have found the majority of the time the meals are great, the flight attendants in good spirits and clean planes. I flew UA First from LHR-SFO recently, and their food service doesn’t come close to BF and the attitude of the attendants matched the tiredeness of the seat. From SAN, I have always found a way to get on CO vs even non stops on other legacy carriers.