Both United and Continental have interesting pasts
This is almost a guest post once removed. Dan Webb over on his blog Things in the Sky had a guest post from his friend Court who made a wonderful graphic showing the histories of both United and Continental Airlines. We are still waiting to hear the final word on the merger, but I expect it to be approved and the airlines will both move forward. Before that happens, let’s first take a little look back at where both airlines earned their wings (sorry I couldn’t help it).
Check out Dan’s blog to read more and see a larger version of the image.
A United/Continental possible livery on a Boeing 747-400
A lot of talk about United Airlines and the Continental merger. There are quite a few people that aren’t too happy with the new combined livery of the new United Airlines. A while back I found a site that allows people share their photoshopped liveries and a few interesting ones have popped up for a combined Continental and United Airlines livery.
Be sure to check out their site for other possible combinations.
Image: Jetabout via Aviation-Designs.net
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United Airline's new livery and logo (does it look familiar?)
While I was out of town last week I was trying to keep up on the United Airlines and Continental Airlines merger. The news is pretty old right now, so I am not going re-hash all the talk about it [check Google News for the stories if you haven’t heard]. When hearing about the merger one of the things I thought about was the combined livery.
I have not been a fan of United’s most recent livery. The blue and white looked aged when it first came out. They have also been very slow to change over from their last livery (which I like better) to the newest one. While flying Continental recently, I realized how clean their livery looks. The blue and gold. Simple, classy and timeless.
I was really happy to see that with the merger, the United name will survive, but so will the Continental livery. The “Continental” name will be replaced with “United”, but the golden globe will stick around. I will miss the “U” from United Airlines, but overall, I think this is a very wise idea. Not only will part of Continental still survive the merger, but United will end up with a better livery.
My main fear is it will take forever for United and Continental to share the same livery, I just hope that is not the case.
Check out their merger website for the most up-to-date information.
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A United Airlines A320-200 lands while a Continental Boeing 737 is in the background.
Back home! It is a good feeling. One downside is I have a week’s worth of stories to catch up on, since I had limited internet access. I figured I would share some of the more interesting stories I found with you, in case you missed them too!
* Aeromexico is cutting flights after the new Arizona immigration reform, via BlueTales.
* United Airlines celebrates 80 years of having flight attendants, via Seattle PI.
* Airlines collected $7.8billion in fees last year. Yes, that is billion and yes, they will not be going away anytime soon, via Today in the Sky.
* The Boeing 787 Dreamliner lands at San Antonio for additional testing, via Randy’s Journal.
* United Airlines and Continental Airlines decide to merge, via Things in the Sky.
* Comparison how the new UAL/CO merger stacks up to its competition, via Airline Biz Blog.
* UAL/CO merger compared to TWA merger, via AviationWeek.
* Continental CEO apologizes for calling US Airways the ,”ugly girl,” via Today in the Sky.
* Monitor what your kids are watching, while flying, via Runway Girl.
* Video re-creation of the Turkish Airlines crash in Amsterdam last year, via Flight Global.
Anything else interesting happen that I might have missed?
Image: Rich Snyder
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Me in front of the first ERJ-145 I flew after landing at Mazatlan Airport. I love being able to get close to the plane on the tarmac.
I am currently about 37,000 feet on a Continental Express ERJ-145. I am heading from Mazatlan, Mexico (MZT) to Houston, TX (IAH), then on to my home in Seattle (SEA) [which will be on a Boeing 757]. Well, sort of…right now, as I write this blog, it is the morning of Saturday May 8th. My flight does not have wi-fi, but I am writing it in notepad and will post it up on Monday the 10th. Every time I am in the air, I always try to write up at least a few blogs, since I love the inspiration.
This is my second flight in a regional jet, my first being a week ago heading from IAH to MZT. It is quite amazing, with all my flying experience I have not flown on a ERJ-145. My home base is in Seattle and there just aren’t many flights with regional jets to and from SEA.
When booking my flight, I purposely choose Continental since I would be able to fly on an ERJ-145 (I know, I have heard the “airline nerd” jokes already). I have heard some positive, but mostly negative things about flying the aircraft and I was excited to check it out myself.
The 1-2 layout is nice, but small overhead-bins are only on one side.
There are a lot of people out there that do not like flying in smaller planes. They will go out of their way and pay more to avoid them. Yes, the ride can be more bumpy, there are normally less experienced pilots flying them, and it can be a tight fit. However, I think the positives out weigh the negatives.
For me, the smaller the aircraft let me feel more connected to the flying experience. I understand that some people like to forget they are in a man-made machine 37,000 feet above the ground, but not me.
I enjoy the 1-2 seat layout. There is a single seat on the left side of the plane and two seats on the right side of the plane. This means that every person either has a window or aisle seat. On both flights I sat on the single seat side. It is nice being able to see out the window and have easy access to the aisle.
The seats feel quite roomy and the ERJ-145 has 17.3″ width and 31″ pitch, which isn’t bad. The Boeing 737-800 I flew from SEA to IAH also had 31″ pitch and only 17.2″ width.
Don't make fun of my hecka-awesome shades or my man-beard. Headroom wasn't so great for being 6'1".
The ERJ-145 only holds 50 passengers, which gives it an intimate experience. I seems easier to talk to other passengers and get to know those around me. Since there are less passengers, the turn around time of the aircraft is very short (time from landing to being able to take off again). This allows airlines to provide more flight options to destinations and more flights to smaller airports.
There are a few downsides to the ERJ-145. I am currently sitting in row 17 of 19 rows. The only lavatory is located at the back of the aircraft. It seems not many people went to the restroom before taking off, since a lot of folks have made a visit back here. I could see where this would be distracting for someone wanting to sleep.
There is also very limited carry-on room. If you are trying to bring on bigger carry-ons, be prepared to have them checked. Out of the five of us travelling in my group, only two were able to bring their carry-ons aboard (and we were able to take all of them on board the Boeing 737 from SEA to IAH).
I have heard people talk about service on smaller regional aircraft can be sub-par. Even though I have experienced great service on some smaller airlines, like Horizon Air (the free beer or wine helps), I have personally seen a lower level of service when flying regional aircraft. Although I did get a free snack (this will be short lived), the flight attendants, both to and from MZT, definitely were not friendly and were quite rude to passengers. It could have just been a coincidence, but it was noticeable.
My flights to and from MZT were Continental Express, which is run by ExpressJet, however, the Continental name is on the airplane and on my ticket. I strongly feel that is a larger airline is willing to put their name on a regional airline, they are partly responsible for the quality of service one receives. Passengers should have a consistent level of service no matter what kind of aircraft they are flying.
The ERJ-145 is built by Embraer, an airplane manufacture based out of Brazil. The aircraft first flew in August 1995 and started service with airlines in 1996. To date over 1,100 ERJ’s have been manufactured. With so many ERJ-145’s out there and many more on order, I have a feeling this won’t be my last experience with this aircraft type.
Find a few more pics via my Flickr account.
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