I'm in Dallas for the eWomen Network Conference. I haven't talked much about it, mostly because I don't know what to expect, even more than I didn't know what to expect at BEA. I don't know if the difference is that BEA was a very personal experience, and the eWomen Network Conference is all about Write Well U.
It could also be because the conference is in Dallas, where I used to live, and BEA was in Los Angeles, where I had never spent any significant time. Dallas isn't as scary as Los Angeles (from a known vs. unknown point of view).
Anyway, part one of this trip concerns my experience flying on AirTran. I had never flown on this airline, and, honestly, I'd never even heard of them. I chose them because they had the lowest fares AND they traveled nonstop from Baltimore to Dallas.
The flight left on time and arrived twenty minutes early--pretty unheard of. In addition, they offered free XM radio at every seat, and they gave away headphones (you don't have to pay for them) if you didn't have any.
Most importantly, they use words well.
Here's what's on the back of their pretzel bag:
Eating Instructions
1. Think about our wonderful low fares at airtran.com as you open packet.
2. Place a pretzel in mouth. With each crunch, be reminded of our low fares.
3. As you swallow, remember again just how low the fares are.
4. Repeat until pretzel packet is empty.
5. Keep empty packet to remind yourself to book at airtran.com, where you'll always find our lowest fares.
What do you know? A sense of humor and a voice in writing on the back of a pretzel bag!
Dawn,
I fly Airtran all the time and even use their credit card for frequent flier miles, which my daughter and I used to fly to the AU Christmas get together in VA last year!
Here’s my experience:
It’s a quiet night flight home to Orlando; we land and are down to taxi speed. A male flight attendant comes on the intercom with a deep dramatic sighhhhh of relief and says, “We’re here.”—the darkened cabin bursts into laughter. Once the lights are on he adds that we are 14 minutes early and be sure to keep that in mind the next time we’re 14 minutes late—we’ll be even!
Another take off: and I don’t remember the Captain’s name but he came on the intercom and played the harmonica and sang a little ditty to the tune of Bad to the Bone! He instructed us in very original lyrics that until we were all in strapped in our seats he couldn’t get us in the air, so get with it. ;)
It’s a refreshing attitude for an airline. Thanks for sharing the pretzel instructions I’ve never eaten them and was missing out!
Posted by: Laura Allen | July 11, 2008 at 08:22 AM
What a great story, Laura! I hope I get the harmonica captain Sunday!
Posted by: Dawn Goldberg | July 11, 2008 at 08:55 AM