
Alaska Airlines, Flying Above an Industry’s Troubles - aaronbrethorst
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/business/alaska-airlines-flying-above-an-industrys-troubles.html?pagewanted=all
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joshwa
Is anyone else totally fascinated by the UI design of slide 8 in the
slideshow?

[http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/03/03/business/03alask...](http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/03/03/business/03alaska-
slide-show.html?ref=business&pagewanted=all#8)

I'm counting up the datapoints in the 150+ flights in that display, which
appears to be based on a particular aircraft:

    
    
      * origin/destination
      * flight number
      * dep/arr times
      * airport status (color of airport code)
      * flight status (color of bar - complete/inprogress/delayed/cancelled/?)
      * still trying to figure out what the little red/green whiskers are...

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jjcm
I'm guessing the red/green lines are showing if the planes are running
late/early. Red lines indicate a delay with the start of the line being the
expected take off/landing, and the opposite for green lines.

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joshwa
Ah, you're right: looking at the patterns of the positioning of the lines, at
the beginning of a flight, red lines extend left towards the scheduled
departure for a late departure, green to the right for an early one. The
reverse applies for arrivals. Thanks!

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jhonovich
It's also easier to stay away from troubles when you have a natural geographic
barrier that limits the number of competitors in your region.

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potatolicious
AS flies to a lot more than Alaska - it's really somewhat of a misnomer.
They're hubbed out of SEA and PDX and fly nationally, though their scheduling
is not as extensive as the majors[1].

I used to fly Alaska a lot when I lived in Seattle - one of the better
airlines in the country to be sure. On-time performance was always excellent
and the service is always no-bullshit (compare with United, an airline I have
_literally_ never had a 100%-smooth flight with).

[1] <http://www.alaskaair.com/content/route-map.aspx>

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NoPiece
I used to like Alaska Airlines. If you are old enough, you'll remember they
actually used to be proud of the food they served. These days you could swap
the experience with any of the major airlines. They are more focused on
squeezing every cent out of you than making it a pleasant experience. Extra
charge for food, extra charge for checking bags, extra charge for in flight
movie.

My last flight on Alaska I was seated near the rear of the plane, and they
actually ran out of food before they got to my row. They are clearly so
focused on saving a few dollars optimizing for not carrying too much food they
are willing to risk a few passengers sitting hungry for 5 hours. And the sinks
didn't work in the bathrooms which is gross. And I sent them feedback about it
a couple weeks ago and haven't heard a thing back. So a big meh to Alaska
Airlines..

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NoPiece
Just to follow up - Alaska did contact me today and apologized. That's good,
but I still think they are focused to their own detriment on penny pinching.

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mhartl
I've definitely spent too much time in Fairbanks (flying Alaska Airlines,
natch), because when I read

 _The temperature that evening was a brain-numbing minus 16 degrees
Fahrenheit_

I thought, "Oh, 16 below isn't so bad. 40 below—now _that's_ cold!" Fairbanks
residents consider anything above -20 to be not so bad—and in fact elementary
schools can hold recess outdoors down to that temperature—but even they will
concede that -30 or -40 is too damn cold.

That said, it's not like I embrace the cold. I mean, I live in Pasadena,
California. We have a parade with fresh flowers every year in the dead of
winter just to show off how warm it is. But it has been an interesting
experience learning that there is an unambiguous difference between how -20
and -40 feel; despite appearances, they aren't both simply "arbitrarily cold".

