Mesa Air Hasn’t Changed At All

Today I flew a United Express flight operated by Mesa Airlines for the first time in several years. Mesa has always been a half-assed operation in all respects, and nothing has changed. Case in point: One of our flight attendants announced the flight as “US Airways Express” twice, before catching herself the third time, and correcting it to “US United Airways Express.” Even better was her mangling to of the welcome announcement once we were in the air. She welcomed the “Chairman’s Preferred OnePass Plus members.”

She really needs to just stop with the announcements from memory since she obviously can’t remember them.

The tiny Livingstone, Zambia airport is crowded, humid, and very warm due to most of it being un-air conditioned. However, for travelers holding British Airways elite status, a British Airways business class ticket, or a Priority Pass membership, there is an air conditioned lounge. This lounge, which was also accessible for $15 cash (US currency and exact change only), supposedly featured cold air, and complimentary cold drinks. Unfortunately neither our South African Airways business class tickets nor our Star Alliance Gold elite status were sufficient credentials for entry. We weren’t willing to fork over $30 for a 30-40 minute wait, so we opted to grab three bottles of orange Fanta and a bottle of water from the bar (total cost - $8.00 US or just over 41,000 Zambian Kwacha) to help beat the heat while we waited for our flight to be called. During our wait we were able to watch the resident airport cat (yes, a cat apparently lives in the terminal) and do a little souvenir shopping at the small duty free craft stall.
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The tiny Livingstone, Zambia airport is crowded, humid, and very warm due to most of it being un-air conditioned. However, for travelers holding British Airways elite status, a British Airways business class ticket, or a Priority Pass membership, there is an air conditioned lounge. This lounge, which was also accessible for $15 cash (US currency and exact change only), supposedly featured cold air, and complimentary cold drinks. Unfortunately neither our South African Airways business class tickets nor our Star Alliance Gold elite status were sufficient credentials for entry. We weren’t willing to fork over $30 for a 30-40 minute wait, so we opted to grab three bottles of orange Fanta and a bottle of water from the bar (total cost - $8.00 US or just over 41,000 Zambian Kwacha) to help beat the heat while we waited for our flight to be called. During our wait we were able to watch the resident airport cat (yes, a cat apparently lives in the terminal) and do a little souvenir shopping at the small duty free craft stall.

The fact that they had to put a sign up with this policy means that someone must have regularly been asking for more than 10 packets of sugar and cream for their coffee. That’s rather frightening. Spotted while pulling through the drive-thru of a McDonald’s just outside the Detroit airport for a Diet Coke before hitting the road to Toledo.
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The fact that they had to put a sign up with this policy means that someone must have regularly been asking for more than 10 packets of sugar and cream for their coffee. That’s rather frightening.

Spotted while pulling through the drive-thru of a McDonald’s just outside the Detroit airport for a Diet Coke before hitting the road to Toledo.

Someone needs to remind American’s marketing team of the large number of 20+ year-old MD-80s they’re flying before they start making claims of being green and efficient.
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Someone needs to remind American’s marketing team of the large number of 20+ year-old MD-80s they’re flying before they start making claims of being green and efficient.

Check out one of the shows available on DirecTV on my Continental flight this afternoon.
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Check out one of the shows available on DirecTV on my Continental flight this afternoon.

There’s a really large German Shepherd working as an assistance dog seated across the aisle from me today.
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There’s a really large German Shepherd working as an assistance dog seated across the aisle from me today.

Perhaps one of the oddest things you’ll find in an airport restroom are the male attendants working each mens’ room at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. They’re always set up with a table with mints, Listerine mouthwash, and tip jar, and wish each visitor a good day as they enter and leave the facility. It wasn’t easy to snap a photo of this in the restroom without looking like I was up to something suspect, but you can pretty clearly see the attendant’s table from the entryway to this restroom.
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Perhaps one of the oddest things you’ll find in an airport restroom are the male attendants working each mens’ room at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. They’re always set up with a table with mints, Listerine mouthwash, and tip jar, and wish each visitor a good day as they enter and leave the facility. It wasn’t easy to snap a photo of this in the restroom without looking like I was up to something suspect, but you can pretty clearly see the attendant’s table from the entryway to this restroom.

I don’t think I could ever get tired of the river visual approach into DCA, my home airport these days. Nothing quite beats lining up with the Potomac River over Great Falls Park, then following the curving course of the river as it heads south along the Maryland/Virginia border toward the District. If you happen to be in a window seat on the left side of the airplane, you’re treated to the incredible views in this video.

Even on an overcast day, like last Friday, it’s still a treat. The good stuff starts at about 0:45, when the National Cathedral comes into view. That’s followed about 15 seconds later by the Washington Monument and Capitol dome in the distance, and a sweeping view of the city’s layout, revealing L’Enfant’s plan of diagonal avenues, circles, squares, and open park areas. You can then see the river’s curving path, which the plane will fly (most of Washington is a no-fly zone, so aircraft stay over the river, following its curves), and the Key Bridge between Georgetown and Rosslyn. Then there’s the Georgetown University campus and the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown, running parallel to the Potomac. Shortly afterward you get a great closeup of the Watergate buildings, the Kennedy Center next door, and, as we curve over the Memorial Bridge, a stellar view of National Mall past the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument to the Capitol. Next up are the new MLK Memorial and Tidal Basin, and the last of the big monuments, the Jefferson Memorial. As we get this aerial tour of the city’s landmarks, you can hear passengers in the background oohing and aahing at the view. Finally, there’s the rush of the engines speeding up as we make a low-altitude pass over the 14th Street Bridge complex, a tight right turn to line up with the runway, and then the fast drop onto the ground. That’s followed by quick and strong braking action to slow the 737, as the runway at DCA is shorter than most others. First-time passengers arriving at National often comment on the rough landing, as if we had a bad pilot, but with this approach to that runway, there’s simply no such thing as a smooth landing. There’s very little space to line up, the runway is old and bumpy, and there’s not a lot of runway length to slow down.

It’s a lot of fun, and even though I’ve done it dozens of times in the past year, I still get a little excited when I’m sitting on the left side of the plane and realize as we cross over Dulles Airport on our approach that we’re headed for the river visual.

An Old Story – Checking into a Hampton Inn in Mississippi, January, 2001

  • This one comes from one of my first business trips when I started traveling for work on a regular basis. A coworker and I flew to Jackson, Mississippi to do a presentation that evening at Mississippi State University. We were checking into a Hampton Inn near the Jackson airport when we encountered a well-meaning, but somewhat foul-mouthed, front desk clerk engaged in a phone conversation about some guy she was dating. What followed was my most memorable hotel check-in ever. In fact, it’s the only one I really remember.
  • Front Desk Clerk: (To phone) Hun – I gotta go. No, I gotta go. I got some people here I better check in. (Pause, then arguing) I’m hanging up on your ass now. I gotta go. You want me to get my ass fired? (Hangs up phone, looks up at my coworker and I) Help you?
  • Coworker: Yeah, we both have reservations for tonight.
  • Front Desk Clerk: Well, I’m sure you do. Don’t think you’d be standing there staring at me if you didn’t.
  • Coworker: Does the hotel have a gym?
  • Front Desk Clerk: Yep.
  • Coworker: Oh, that’s good. I can keep up my new workout regimen while we’re here. What’s in the gym?
  • Front Desk Clerk: Oh, that thing you walk on. And that thing you step on. And some heavy weights to lift. Hell, I don’t know. I weigh over 300 pounds. You must be blind or something. Do I look like I go in that gym? I just know we gots one. I ain’t never been in it. Ain’t planning on it either. But you can go check it out and come back and tell me about it. Here’s your room key. And some cookies.
  • Coworker: Thanks, but I’m on a diet. You can keep the cookies.
  • Front Desk Clerk: Oh yeah. Mama likes her cookies. You a good man. (To me) You got a reservation too? You gonna give me your cookies too?
  • A few years later I was quoted in the Wall Street Journal when they did a story on this particular Hampton Inn. Due to an error in the Hilton HHonors computer system, this hotel required more points than practically any other in the Hilton system for a free night award – so many that an award stay at the Waldorf=Astoria was much cheaper. And trust me, this was a very run of the mill Hampton on the side of an interstate. The only thing memorable about it was the front desk clerk working early afternoons in mid-January 2001.
When your flight is delayed, and you’re bored, and the airline conveniently removed the chairs from a disused gate area, and you’ve got a ball… why not kill time with a quick game of concourse soccer?
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When your flight is delayed, and you’re bored, and the airline conveniently removed the chairs from a disused gate area, and you’ve got a ball… why not kill time with a quick game of concourse soccer?