If first class on Delta costs...

[Clark1961]

...about the same as economy on United does that mean I get a free beating on Delta if I'm denied boarding? These new airline fares and rules are confusing...

 

[Ghery]

If 1st Class on Delta costs the same as E+ on UA, I might switch to Delta. There's got to be more legroom in 1st than in cattle car on Delta. Lord knows there isn't any in cattle car...

 

[jordane93]

 

[wsuffa]

If 1st Class on Delta costs the same as E+ on UA, I might switch to Delta. There's got to be more legroom in 1st than in cattle car on Delta. Lord knows there isn't any in cattle car...

Wait until you experience the AA and UA 737-MAX.... :O

 

[SCCutler]

I just bought three business class tickets to Europe on BA.

BOUGHT.

No points, no upgrades.

And they tell me I have to pay $108.00 per seat - extra - to select seats before 24 hours in advance of departure.

Not at all interested in hearing that American carriers are, in any recognizable way, less worthy.

 

[Shawn]

First Class domestic in the three legacy carriers is a joke.

Virgin America had a good F product...and just flew Jet Blue Mint coast to coast...that was pretty slick.

I'll still stick with Southwest First Class Seating!

 

[Zeldman]

Why is there a picture of Burt Reynolds on that belt..???

 

[Katamarino]

I just bought three business class tickets to Europe on BA.

BOUGHT.

No points, no upgrades.

And they tell me I have to pay $108.00 per seat - extra - to select seats before 24 hours in advance of departure.

Not at all interested in hearing that American carriers are, in any recognizable way, less worthy.

As half a Brit, I apologise. BA is going downhill hard. Paying extra to select seats in business class is super tacky.

 

[deonb]

 

[wsuffa]

I just bought three business class tickets to Europe on BA.

BOUGHT.

No points, no upgrades.

And they tell me I have to pay $108.00 per seat - extra - to select seats before 24 hours in advance of departure.

Not at all interested in hearing that American carriers are, in any recognizable way, less worthy.

Oh. BA. Horrid airline in terms of policies. Even Iberia (which is co-owned) is better.

You can select the seats for free if you're top-tier in the BA frequent flyer scheme. Or top tier on an airline in the Oneworld alliance (like AA). But otherwise, they have their hand in your wallet. (and if you do pay/have to pay, AA gets part of the money - see below).

And getting award seats on BA will cost you as much - or more - than just buying the ticket outright. I understand (and still dislike) the UK "Luxury Tax". But BA puts additional fuel charges and carrier charges on top. I recently priced a trip to Europe on BA and AA. For award seats, the BA ticket would have been on the order of 120,000 miles and $745.00 - on AA, the ticket would have been 120,000 miles and about $45 in cash. Paying cash, one could do about $1300 all-in. Those are all the same seats. I've seen cases where the BA award seat cash component was $700 or more but they were selling seats for $600 all-in.

Part of the issue with BA is the JV agreement with AA across the pond. Basically the airlines split the cash revenue so it shouldn't matter which airline you're on, they both get paid. In practice, that means that AA has a huge incentive to NOT make award seats available on their flights in order to push those seeking to use miles/points onto BA where they can pay the outrageous fees. The airlines then split the cash.

I avoid BA whenever I can. Surly service, high prices, high UK taxes, and having to fly in/through LHR. Lose, lose, lose. Better to fly another carrier or to/through another airport & either take a connection to the UK (Easyjet = the Southwest of Europe) or fly to Paris, Brussels, Hamsterdam, etc and take the Eurostar to London.

 

[SkyDog58]

Flew Delta yesterday, DTW-CLT. Some interesting things.

The lead flight attendant identified herself as the “flight leader”. I don’t know how long they’ve been using that term as I don’t recall hearing cabin crew use it before but I thought it was odd if not a bit pretentious.

During beverage service I ordered a ginger ale and asked for the whole can. What I got was maybe 3/4 of a cup at most and no can. I was told they still had more pax to serve. I guess they have cut back on how much they carry.

After landing in CLT and taxiing to the gate, we stopped far short of the gate at one of the remotes. The second we stopped, at least 20 people got up and started yanking things out of the bins. This went on for at least 30 seconds before one of the pilots came on the PA and told everyone to sit down as we were not at the gate yet due to another aircraft blocking our path. I thought “ no ****” as it was pretty obvious. The glorious flight leader said and did nothing until the pilot made his announcement then she jumped up and frantically started helping people close the bins back up. After we started taxiing again, one of the bins that had been opened popped open again.

Good thing is that to my knowledge, no passenger was beaten and no pet was killed. So all in all, while not a pleasurable experience, I guess I can’t complain.

 

[EvilEagle]

Flew Delta yesterday, DTW-CLT. Some interesting things.

What was your flight number? Looks like 4-5 direct “Delta” flights per day but only one or two actually operated by Delta.

 

[Tantalum]

Unfortunately as long as most travelers (ie, not us) buy tickets by going to Orbitz (or hotwire, kayak, Priceline, etc) and pick literally the cheapest ticket possible this will happen

Side note, imho DL is consistently the least mediocre. AA and UA staff seem to openly hate the pax (discovered this when I first started business traveling back in 2009). JBU and SW I never "got"

JBU has TV's!! Ok? All my DL flights do too plus wifi

SW.. tried them once when a trip I meant to fly myself got scrapped for wx. Not impressed. Delayed on both flights, and that open seating nonsense (even with early bird) was terrible.. all in all they were fine, I guess I just didn't get all the hype or why they're always #1 or #2 in rankings

Alaskan. I always liked them. Too bad they no longer code share with DL

 

[SkyDog58]

What was your flight number? Looks like 4-5 direct “Delta” flights per day but only one or two actually operated by Delta.

Yes, I know that not all Delta flights are operated by Delta mainline. However, this one most certainly was. But to assuage your curiosity, it was flight 564.

You see, besides there being a total lack of any mention of the flight being operated by let’s say Skywest or Endeavor for example, the three digit flight number typically indicates a main line flight as the RJs typically are four digit, and then there’s the fact that the plane was a B717, well it all seemed pretty obvious that it was Mother Delta. But I guess you may know differently. I’ve been wrong before.

In regards to you wanting to know the flight number, is there a reason? Are you a Delta employee? Are you in a position to do something about what happened? Or are you just a Delta employee flailing in desperation to defend your employer by deflecting blame to the RJ carriers?

 

[EvilEagle]

In regards to you wanting to know the flight number, is there a reason? Are you a Delta employee? Are you in a position to do something about what happened? Or are you just a Delta employee flailing in desperation to defend your employer by deflecting blame to the RJ carriers?

Wow.

Are you always that hostile when people ask a simple question?

I do fly for Delta. I’m sorry to hear you had a bad experience but I won’t make excuses for the airline. People screw up everyday, sounds like your crew was not having a good day. I hope if you travel with us again it’s better. Most of the traveling public doesn’t know the difference between a regional and a mainline so I just asked for confirmation.

I’m not in a position to do anything; I’m just a low hanging pilot. I know that customer feedback is taken and the company does put effort into improvement. I don’t pretend to think it happens fast or enough effort shown to the customers; I wish all airlines would do more of that. AFAIK, providing feedback to a customer service rep is the best thing you can do to improve the travel experience for everyone.

“Flailing in desperation”? C’mon man....

 

[N747JB]

As an Atlanta resident, Delta is normally our airline since AirTran went away. The only time I don’t book first class is when I am flying myself. Normally, if I’m going the airline route, it’s a trip over 800 miles and usually west coast. I’ve flown AA a few times and they were good, I’m a low maintenance passenger, seldom drink on the flight, sit and follow the flight on FF.

 

[SkyDog58]

Wow.

Are you always that hostile when people ask a simple question?

I do fly for Delta. I’m sorry to hear you had a bad experience but I won’t make excuses for the airline. People screw up everyday, sounds like your crew was not having a good day. I hope if you travel with us again it’s better. Most of the traveling public doesn’t know the difference between a regional and a mainline so I just asked for confirmation.

I’m not in a position to do anything; I’m just a low hanging pilot. I know that customer feedback is taken and the company does put effort into improvement. I don’t pretend to think it happens fast or enough effort shown to the customers; I wish all airlines would do more of that. AFAIK, providing feedback to a customer service rep is the best thing you can do to improve the travel experience for everyone.

“Flailing in desperation”? C’mon man....

Well, your post seemed to imply that I was incapable of making a determination that it was a mainline versus regional flight and that you wanted to set me straight. If I am mistaken then my hostility was misplaced.

But please don’t group me in with “most of the traveling public”. That is insulting.

By the way, overall I think Delta is a pretty good airline and this experience really did little to change that belief.

 

[EvilEagle]

Man I don’t know what your background is. Last time I checked it doesn’t say your credentials, experience and education level right next to Skydog.

I lump pretty much everyone into the “most of the traveling public” including myself, my family and friends. I didn’t know the 4 digit code thing until I had been at Delta for years. Why? I just never bothered to learn that trivial piece of info. I guess I’m not used to talking with people (especially pilots) that are insulted that easily. My bad I suppose?

I had no plan of ‘setting you straight’,was just asking and potentially offering more info if you were like me and didn’t know the codeshare thing.

 

[G-Man]

Slightly off topic, but...
EvilEagle, I knew you fly F-15s. I didn't know you flew for Delta.
Man, if you fly F-15s for Delta, you have the best job ever! You can quote me "Who cares about legroom? We're flying in an F-15!!!"

(For the record, I met Evil Eagle at Oshkosh 2016 and found him highly personable and friendly. I look forward to meeting SkyDog58.)

 

[SkyDog58]

Man I don’t know what your background is. Last time I checked it doesn’t say your credentials, experience and education level right next to Skydog.

I lump pretty much everyone into the “most of the traveling public” including myself, my family and friends. I didn’t know the 4 digit code thing until I had been at Delta for years. Why? I just never bothered to learn that trivial piece of info. I guess I’m not used to talking with people (especially pilots) that are insulted that easily. My bad I suppose?

I had no plan of ‘setting you straight’,was just asking and potentially offering more info if you were like me and didn’t know the codeshare thing.

Sorry dude. Bad day and I had a couple of burrs up my butt over some other things and for some reason your posts just hit me wrong. Looking back over our posts, I realize I was a bit overboard. Ok, maybe more than a bit.

Just as a FYI, I have been an A&P Mechanic for over 35 years and have worked for a couple of 121 airlines including a stint in MOC for a Delta regional. I also worked for a couple of avionics providers working on Delta aircraft in a line environment. So I picked up some trivial bits here and there.

 

[SkyDog58]

Slightly off topic, but...
EvilEagle, I knew you fly F-15s. I didn't know you flew for Delta.
Man, if you fly F-15s for Delta, you have the best job ever! You can quote me "Who cares about legroom? We're flying in an F-15!!!"

(For the record, I met Evil Eagle at Oshkosh 2016 and found him highly personable and friendly. I look forward to meeting SkyDog58.)

Lol. You’ll probably find me less personable. I don’t fly jets. Regardless, I look forward to meeting you as well.

 

[EvilEagle]

Slightly off topic, but...
EvilEagle, I knew you fly F-15s. I didn't know you flew for Delta.
Man, if you fly F-15s for Delta, you have the best job ever!

Haha. Actually I’m on mil leave from Delta. Haven’t flown a Delta plane since Oct of 2015. So just F-15’s for Uncle Sam right now.

I’ll be back to Delta in less than 3 years.

 

[EvilEagle]

Sorry dude. Bad day and I had a couple of burrs up my butt over some other things and for some reason your posts just hit me wrong. Looking back over our posts, I realize I was a bit overboard. Ok, maybe more than a bit.
...

Good on you. Everyone is entitled to having a bad day every once in a while. We are all human. Takes a big person to step back and reevaluate; you seem like my kind of guy. It’s increasingly more rare to see men acting like men these days- especially on the old inter-web.

No harm done my man.

 

[Rykymus]

I've been flying AA from DFW to either SMF or SFO a few times a year since we moved to TX. (Gotta go check on mom.) I haven't really had any complaints, other than the "all over the board" pricing schemes.

I never by through a third party like Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. I learned a long time ago that they are rarely cheaper.

Personally, if I can avoid commercial, I do. But...

 

[mscard88]

Damn 'Dog, that was a bit harsh but good on ya for manning up. As much as you're on here I figured you knew Evil's background. All he was trying to do was make sure it was a mainline vs connection flight. But y'all kissed and made up, good on both of y'all.

 

[SkyDog58]

Damn 'Dog, that was a bit harsh but good on ya for manning up. As much as you're on here I figured you knew Evil's background. All he was trying to do was make sure it was a mainline vs connection flight. But y'all kissed and made up, good on both of y'all.

Bite me!

 

[gkainz]

back to Clark's post - weak sauce for a rant, my friend ... weak sauce! You feeling ok?

I just got home from a Seattle trip on UAL after not flying them for quite some time. Used to have status with them as they were a prior employer's airline of choice. If at all possible, I won't fly them again. Economy basic or whatever the hell they call their best fare sucks. Since this was a short trip, I chose a small carry on (backpack) and the DEN-SEA leg was "normal" - if you don't count the 1 hour ground stop at DEN due to wind shear and thunderstorms as we were parked on the taxiway with the engines shut down for that time - but not UAL's fault, the junior chipmunk behind me giving my kidneys a workout through the seat back, and back of the plane narrow seats with no legroom... the only positive was even though it was a "full flight" I managed to luck out and had an empty middle seat between me and the other guy. Again - most of those issues were not United's fault.

Trying to check in online for the return flight, the check in was suspended because "You have indicated that you have no bags to check. You must complete check-in at the airline counter. If you elect to check bags, you can complete your check in. Bag fees are non-refundable." So, I had to check in at the counter kiosk, which also stops with a big yellow screen also complaining that "you claim to have no bags to check. See an attendant to clear this screen and continue check-in." I had to wait for someone to come over and see I had only a back pack, clear the screen and let me check in. Of course, at this point, I'm now in check in group 5, which means "there's one seat left and 5 people fighting for it. Good luck". So, I truly got "the last seat on the plane". Up against the lav and rear kitchen. Me and another guy just as big as me, with another guy just as big as us coming down the aisle to take the remaining seat. Again, somehow, we lucked out and big guy #3 stops short of our row and has a different seat assigned. So, managed to have an empty middle seat on the plane that's "completely full". Bonus #2 - no kicking kiddos behind me. Offset to that bonus - screaming kids 1 row ahead of me. Oh well. I guess all of that being said, my only big complaint is UAL's pricing model and policing the "you're GOING to pay us for bags".

 

[mscard88]

Bite me!

 

[Clark1961]

back to Clark's post - weak sauce for a rant, my friend ... weak sauce! You feeling ok?

I just got home from a Seattle trip on UAL after not flying them for quite some time. Used to have status with them as they were a prior employer's airline of choice. If at all possible, I won't fly them again. Economy basic or whatever the hell they call their best fare sucks. Since this was a short trip, I chose a small carry on (backpack) and the DEN-SEA leg was "normal" - if you don't count the 1 hour ground stop at DEN due to wind shear and thunderstorms as we were parked on the taxiway with the engines shut down for that time - but not UAL's fault, the junior chipmunk behind me giving my kidneys a workout through the seat back, and back of the plane narrow seats with no legroom... the only positive was even though it was a "full flight" I managed to luck out and had an empty middle seat between me and the other guy. Again - most of those issues were not United's fault.

Trying to check in online for the return flight, the check in was suspended because "You have indicated that you have no bags to check. You must complete check-in at the airline counter. If you elect to check bags, you can complete your check in. Bag fees are non-refundable." So, I had to check in at the counter kiosk, which also stops with a big yellow screen also complaining that "you claim to have no bags to check. See an attendant to clear this screen and continue check-in." I had to wait for someone to come over and see I had only a back pack, clear the screen and let me check in. Of course, at this point, I'm now in check in group 5, which means "there's one seat left and 5 people fighting for it. Good luck". So, I truly got "the last seat on the plane". Up against the lav and rear kitchen. Me and another guy just as big as me, with another guy just as big as us coming down the aisle to take the remaining seat. Again, somehow, we lucked out and big guy #3 stops short of our row and has a different seat assigned. So, managed to have an empty middle seat on the plane that's "completely full". Bonus #2 - no kicking kiddos behind me. Offset to that bonus - screaming kids 1 row ahead of me. Oh well. I guess all of that being said, my only big complaint is UAL's pricing model and policing the "you're GOING to pay us for bags".

Thanks for your concern. My post wasn’t a rant. Other people rant. I observe and sometimes report or question. Ranting may be cathartic for some but it demonstrates a certain lack of control in the face of environmental pressures. Now ranting can be an effective leadership tool when it is invoked very rarely and under conditions obvious to all such that the intended audience becomes motivated by the rant. Used too frequently and it’s just “the old man is ranting again.” Yes indeed be wise with the rant.

 

[Ghery]

back to Clark's post - weak sauce for a rant, my friend ... weak sauce! You feeling ok?

I just got home from a Seattle trip on UAL after not flying them for quite some time. Used to have status with them as they were a prior employer's airline of choice. If at all possible, I won't fly them again. Economy basic or whatever the hell they call their best fare sucks. Since this was a short trip, I chose a small carry on (backpack) and the DEN-SEA leg was "normal" - if you don't count the 1 hour ground stop at DEN due to wind shear and thunderstorms as we were parked on the taxiway with the engines shut down for that time - but not UAL's fault, the junior chipmunk behind me giving my kidneys a workout through the seat back, and back of the plane narrow seats with no legroom... the only positive was even though it was a "full flight" I managed to luck out and had an empty middle seat between me and the other guy. Again - most of those issues were not United's fault.

Trying to check in online for the return flight, the check in was suspended because "You have indicated that you have no bags to check. You must complete check-in at the airline counter. If you elect to check bags, you can complete your check in. Bag fees are non-refundable." So, I had to check in at the counter kiosk, which also stops with a big yellow screen also complaining that "you claim to have no bags to check. See an attendant to clear this screen and continue check-in." I had to wait for someone to come over and see I had only a back pack, clear the screen and let me check in. Of course, at this point, I'm now in check in group 5, which means "there's one seat left and 5 people fighting for it. Good luck". So, I truly got "the last seat on the plane". Up against the lav and rear kitchen. Me and another guy just as big as me, with another guy just as big as us coming down the aisle to take the remaining seat. Again, somehow, we lucked out and big guy #3 stops short of our row and has a different seat assigned. So, managed to have an empty middle seat on the plane that's "completely full". Bonus #2 - no kicking kiddos behind me. Offset to that bonus - screaming kids 1 row ahead of me. Oh well. I guess all of that being said, my only big complaint is UAL's pricing model and policing the "you're GOING to pay us for bags".

Ouch. Fortunately (I guess) I'm a minimum of Premier Gold for life as I am a million mile rider (I refuse to say "flier") on UAL. Just over 1.3 million miles, actually. So I have E+ seating at time of purchase. You ran into the reason I will NEVER buy a basic economy ticket on UA. Basic economy also means that you cannot select your seats in advance. One of the discount sites was trying to sell my daughter basic economy seats for a trip to Disneyland. With twins just short of 4 years old. She was on the phone with me complaining that she couldn't select the seats and I immediately knew why. She didn't complete the purchase.

I typically buy my tickets on UA's web site. Expedia.com isn't any cheaper, so why bother?

 

[denverpilot]

What was your flight number? Looks like 4-5 direct “Delta” flights per day but only one or two actually operated by Delta.

Damn 'Dog, that was a bit harsh but good on ya for manning up. As much as you're on here I figured you knew Evil's background. All he was trying to do was make sure it was a mainline vs connection flight. But y'all kissed and made up, good on both of y'all.

I hate the code share excuse. Put your name on it, you own it.

Mainlines only want credit for when the subsidiaries do good things and want to pretend it’s not their problem when they do bad things.

It’s a crappy way to do business.

“Oh, I’m just the General Contractor. The plumber screwed that up. YOU talk to him. I’m out.”

 

[jesse]

I hate the code share excuse. Put your name on it, you own it.

Mainlines only want credit for when the subsidiaries do good things and want to pretend it’s not their problem when they do bad things.

It’s a crappy way to do business.

“Oh, I’m just the General Contractor. The plumber screwed that up. YOU talk to him. I’m out.”

If a regional ****es me off, I am equally ****ed off at the major that put me there.

FWIW - I’ve done my fair share of delta flying. I always have a layover and usually I have one flight on the regional and one on delta proper.

There is no observable quality difference between the passenger facing employees of either organization. Delta major flight attendants and gate agents are just as bad at customer service as the regional. Often times worse.

When it comes to customer service skills - you’re going to get a ****ing million times more friendly service from a “delta” regional gate agent inOmaha, NE than you will ever experience with a Delta proper gate agent in NYC. Agent customer service and to a lesser degree crew customer friendliness is mostly coupled to where they’re based IME.

If there were an option to buy a ticket that could guarantee me a flight crew that wasn’t based out of the northeast, I’d pay for it. A New Jersey based crew always makes for an unfriendly ride.

 

[Clark1961]

A New Jersey based crew always makes for an unfriendly ride.

Youse gotta problem wid dat?

 

[Everskyward]

I hate the code share excuse. Put your name on it, you own it.

Interesting, I was about to respond to Ghery's post when I saw yours.

You ran into the reason I will NEVER buy a basic economy ticket on UA. Basic economy also means that you cannot select your seats in advance.

I was going to say that I recently selected my seat in advance on a UA flight in basic economy, then I remembered that it was actually on an affiliated regional (I don't remember which one). Funny that they would let you select a seat in advance when mainline doesn't.

 

[denverpilot]

lFunny that they would let you select a seat in advance when mainline doesn't.

“Annoying non-Premier Customers” is slated for Version 2.0 of the website later this year. The software engineers talked about it in SCRUM this morning. Hahahaha.

They couldn’t get it in on time, and there’s only ten seats on the airplane anyway.

 

[denverpilot]

Aww crap. I mean room for 10 seats where they crammed in 20.

My bad. We’ll have an emergency code release for the website in two days after it passes “QA”. LOL.

 

[EvilEagle]

I am based in NYC but I live in New Orleans. One of my friends at Delta lives in Hawaii and is based in NYC also. Being "based" somewhere doesn't mean you live there.

As far as the regionals counting or not for mainline; I think it's a pain in the butt too. Would be easier to just have one company. The regionals hire (some) folks that the mainline wouldn't - some normal reasons (restricted ATP, hours, etc) and some just due to choices (no 4 year degree, etc). I would be interested to see if all the little companies got absorbed by the mainlines - how would the unions integrate the list? I've met a few regional captains that didn't do a degree because "you don't need one to be a good pilot". I agree with that statement wholeheartedly but you do need a degree to get hired by a major. Their airline, their rules. So if Delta bought all the lines that do "Delta Express", what happens to that captain with no degree? Obviously they'd figure it out, but I bet that would be a can of worms!

I imagine ticket costs would go up as well if that happened. The regional guys that could previously fly both Delta Express and American Eagle on the same trip won't be able to do that any longer so they'll need more crews at the regional-serviced airports to get all the folks to the hubs. That means either less flights from those places so they can out and back crews or more overnights for more crews so everyone's cost goes up.

Tons of issues with integration - those were just two off the top of my noggin.

 

[jesse]

I am based in NYC but I live in New Orleans. One of my friends at Delta lives in Hawaii and is based in NYC also. Being "based" somewhere doesn't mean you live there.

It’s still valid in that case. I don’t care where the pilots house is. The attitude rubs off on them. Plus even the nicest guy is bound to become a prick if he has to travel to NYC for work.

 

[denverpilot]

I So if Delta bought all the lines that do "Delta Express", what happens to that captain with no degree? Obviously they'd figure it out, but I bet that would be a can of worms!

It’s only a can of worms for those steeped in the culture. Rah rah let’s get some student loans and do some rush crap at a frat house.

Or... we could go out, get some work done, and make some companies some money.

My industry dropped that degree requirement decades ago. I make more than a senior regional Captain but a little less than a senior Mainline Captain and do not have a single degree. I also didn’t need a decade to get to that level.

In Telecom sheepskin was replaced with mentors and apprenticeships. We teach our newbies to do it our way. In IT it’s simply “prove what you know in the interview process”. Merit based instead of paperwork from sitting in a room piling up loans.

You might imagine I give hellacious interviews. I don’t care what your sheepskin says. Let’s see if you retained any of it or know anything our business actually needs... it’s not personal, we just need specific talent and I know if someone sat through class and retained something they can learn, but so can the guy or gal who couldn’t afford to go sit in class and built a complete lab in their basement from scraps and taught themselves.

Obviously “taught themselves” doesn’t work in aviation, but if they’re rated and can fly the sim, they’d be done at my place. Then they’d head to indoc and learn “our way” just like the airlines all do anyway, so they either survive or wash out.

 

[EvilEagle]

It’s still valid in that case. I don’t care where the pilots house is. The attitude rubs off on them. Plus even the nicest guy is bound to become a prick if he has to travel to NYC for work.

Agree to disagree. I loved my time flying the line at Delta and can honestly say I was happy to be at work and nice to the folks that I flew around the world. The NYC commute for me was really easy; 2.5 hour flight that I usually got a meal and a nap out of. Then had time to hang out in the pilot lounge for another nap before show time. The commute to ATL though closer is much harder to wrangle (more people trying to get there).

Maybe I'm the exception? Certainly some folks from the area are a pain in the @$$ to deal with, some aren't. In my experience it's more about where you are from than where you live/are based that determines how nice you are to people.