I’ve got to take a plane trip coming up pretty soon and that got me thinking about just how much I hate air travel. Yeah, I know that there’s been a lot of stories in the news recently about certain airlines turning flights into impromptu WWE Raw events, but my animus for flying goes much deeper than just potentially violent customer service. There are certain types of aircraft that I just don’t like flying on.
I can tell you the ones I do like. Those are the newer wide bodies by Boeing, the Triple-Seven and Seven-Eight-Seven. I doubt you get any more room in one of those, but it certainly seems like you’re not so claustrophobic as there’s enough headroom to bop a beachball around when you get bored.
We’re tackling a little different today, which I hope you won’t mind. If you’re willing to play along let us know—is there a particular model or make of commercial aircraft that you simply hate? Conversely, is there a plane that always gets you high?
Image: Avia Deja Vu
Hooniverse Asks: What Are The Best and Worst Commercial Jets to Fly on?
About
84 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What Are The Best and Worst Commercial Jets to Fly on?”
-
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ff6f5034384acde71bd5ce21b5f4c89d34fe747da4b50bae61d47dde47eacec3.jpg
I’m going to go all aviation geek here and say the 367-80 Dash 80 during her flight trials. The right people will know why.-
The right people will know why.
https://thatrandomilongga.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/disappointed-meme-face-22.jpg -
All i know is there’s a right way to sell planes, and apparently that’s not the Boeing way.
-
But it sure did sell a lot of Boeing planes.
-
-
Growing up in Seattle a substantial number of my relatives worked for Boeing. The story of the Seafair barrel roll was part of family lore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLDr54dlw6s
-
-
I’m familiar with the story, and I’ve seen the old film where you can just barely make out the barrel roll, but is this picture real, or PShopped?
-
It’s real. It was a 1g aileron roll. So there was no real stress on the airframe.
-
Truth be told, Boeing’s cowboy test pilots barrel rolled nearly every jet the company built, at least up to the 747. They just didn’t do it in front of thousands of drunk hydroplane race fans. It wasn’t part of Boeing’s official protocol, that’s just how test pilots roll.
-
-
-
-
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/06da96a432823a59470c884892613da22d0c4a9f29399cd4c47c9e2a1a143468.jpg Honestly I’d like to have flown on the Charger/Concordsky as well. Just to know what it was like to fly in a supersonic aircraft held together by bailing wire and tin foil. The idea of coiling water running through the cabin just amazes me. The thought of those massively loud engines being so close to the passengers is so Russian.
Oh and a little bit of self promotion for the old site that badly needs me to write new content. Heck I have a ton of it on G+ I should just transfer over.
http://atomictoasters.com/2012/06/imitation-or-innovation-the-tupolev-tu-144-charger/-
I visit Atomic Toasters ,made a few comments on the last post “Stone Age Thinking” still have not read all the articles.So much good stuff. Dearhtair offered me a key so I could post, cannot do.
Revive it with one post a week and one throwback post?-
Yeah i could just do throwback posts of my own. The best thing i could do would be to reintroduce them with this magical thing called editing.
-
Recycling is very popular
-
That’s the thing. I have new content as well.
-
-
-
-
I remember reading how much fuel those things burned, it was astonishing. The thing must be all engines and fuel tanks.
-
I forget which Tupelov it was but they have a three engine airliner the pilots called it the “Kerosene burner” for the exact same reason.
-
-
-
I flew a lot more 15-20 years ago than I do now. I flew for the first time in about 8 years ago earlier this year. My current answer would be ALL of them. It seems now that EVERY flight is at least 99% full! Back when I was flying more, I had the displeasure of flying on a couple of oddballs for their time. The first was a Shorts Skyvan on a Delta connection from Providence, RI to Boston (first leg of a free frequent flyer ticket back to Atlanta). The other was on Northworst, an original DC-9, not a DC-9-20, not a MD-80, not a 717, but an OG DC-9 in 2000 from Ft. Wayne, IN to Detroit (first leg of return trip back to Atlanta after going to USGP). I got on and wondered where the rest of the plane was! That is one short little bugger. The flight was delayed a couple of hours because they couldn’t get the door to close right. I’m convinced that they gave up and just kept it below 10,000 feet.
Current worst had to be the tiny Regional Jets.-
i also had the “pleasure” of flying on the grey hound bus of the sky, denver stapleton to san antonio TX. what a party that was. my group was drunker getting off than before we got on. sat in the back rearmost seats between the engines. loud as hell. stiff crosswind landing. lots of fun.
-
Never flew out of Stapleton, but I have flown out of Denver International. I remember thinking on takeoff “Are we driving there?” Mile high city means a LONG takeoff run.
-
-
there was an operational up side to the early dc-9. mechanical backup for almost everything needed to get back on the ground safely. and that is a very very good thing…
-
The flex on the DC-9’s tiny wings is massive and rapid. It was probably the same plane. I guess it’s easier for the Short & Scrawny among us to say ain’t nothing wrong with regional jets. I was lucky, I have no idea how, to ride on a BAE 146 once. Those little things can get up and run.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/2008-10-21_Avro_RJ85_THF.JPG/640px-2008-10-21_Avro_RJ85_THF.JPG-
Those of us with a physique like Homer Simpson despise anything less than jumbo jet Business class, especially if anyone is sitting next to you (which seems to be 99.999% of the time now).
-
Lot’s of flights on 146’s (now called ‘RJ 1-something-something’?) in and out of London City; the time-limited, noise-limited, STOL airport feeding a number of nearby European hubs out of the east London Docklands. Perfectly good aircraft (in BAe guise, good enough for the Queen), unless you were seated in rows where the overhead locker opened to reveal the wing spar and enough space for a handkerchief. Now being phased out as Swiss and others buy Bombardier turboprops.
-
Ansett used to fly these in NZ back when I was working for them, (and they still existed as an airline). Much quieter in operation than anything else and truly impressive STOL performance. On a freight flight once the pilot demonstrated the short landing to us and to me it felt like we’d crashed. This, despite lacking the use of reverse thrust on the engines, but having a rear air-brake and carbon disc-brakes and big flaps. The biggest selling British airliner and also the last, as Britain continues it’s decline as a manufacturing power. I wish they were still flying here, the ATR and Bombardier turboprops are much much louder both outside and in the aircraft.
Air brake on BAE 146/Avro RJ
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a58/aerofotoworld2/146-300-d_zpsewfxxhqa.jpg
-
-
-
Commercial? All of them, due to the airlines.
Some have three or four distinctions of “class”, and all classes are screwed one or the other way. Only difference is that the “First/Senator/Imperator” folks don’t care too much about money, so they just shell out.-
I have managed to fly above steerage class only twice in my life. The first time was a last minute business flight with only first class available, short flight from Atlanta to Cleveland on a 737 (I think), bigger seat and one flight attendant for 6 people was nice. The second time was wonderful, we got bumped up to Business Class on our honeymoon for the flight from the US to London on a 747 or 777 (We took one there and one back, forget which was which) it was WONDERFUL, reclining seats with foot rests, private TV on a stalk (this was pre-smart phone/tablet time), hot towels, real silverware, free drinks. On the flight back, the best they could do was exit row and lots of free champagne.
-
of classes of passengers, several airlines pride themselves with their Liberal policy of treating every one the same. low fare air carriers stuff pax in with cattle prods. treat them badly. like a tokyo subway. and you pay money for that?
i had heard of one air carrier who’s names i will not divulge was considering a 747SP(steam powered) with a lower that economy class called “stoker class”. thankfully the economics of a coal fueled 747 proved poor.
my worst ride was in a USAF MC-130E which ended in an assault landing on an extremely rough field with boulders punching out the fwd left main tire. yes, 18,000 shp does allow takeoff with a tire slightly low on air….rocket assist helps a lot in reducing ground roll.
as for airline rides, the most terrifying ride of my life was on arrow air in a super 62 dc8. never, absolutely never ever again arrow air. i sleep better by not talking about that. -
Flying any airline in the USA is much worse than anywhere else in the world-even Russia.
I was once upgraded to first class on an American Airlines DC10 across the Pacific and after landing at LAX, transferred to a domestic 727and economy class. That, and US customs, are why I have never flown into or through the USA since.
-
-
-
I can’t say I really have a preference from the ones I can remember, although perhaps the smaller non-widebody ones because they are quicker to load and unload.
-
Best: My current favorite is the Boeing 777, particularly on Delta. They did a great job with the interior making it comfortable even in Peasant Class.
Worst: I have two classes for this. First, the worst actual aircraft to fly on is the old MD-80/MD-90/Boeing 717. With the engines by the passenger compartment they tend to be loud as heck. Also, as a very narrow body aircraft they feel very cramped. I hate flying on these and have actually rescheduled meetings so I wouldn’t have to fly on one.
The second class of “Worst” is an entire aircraft manufacturer. Airbus doesn’t care about you and wants to kill you.-
If you hate the MD-80, you should try the DC-9. Older and worse. At least these only have one middle seat per row. Also the loud noise discourages conversation. I usually don’t enjoy talking to strangers.
-
Not long ago I got to fly in an OG DC-9 in SE Asia. Not sure which was worse: the noise, the cramps from the lack of space, or the fear of imminent structural failure.
-
I do remember that the one I flew had patches on top of the patches on top of the patches.
-
-
Me and my dad flew TWA for a college visit (gosh, that dates me doesn’t it!), and IIRC both flights there and both flights back were on DC-9’s. Nothing like being hot, cramped and miserable waiting out a ground hold for weather in a queue on the taxiway because the engines aren’t turning fast enough to give the air conditioning enough bypass flow. (I suppose they wouldn’t even push back from the terminal in that situation now.)
-
-
When I first flew on a 777, I thought it felt like a Lincoln Town Car. Super smooth. I barely felt takeoff. But man, the Airbus hate! All of their fly by wire planes have been outstanding. Superior to Boeing in most classes.
-
Their fly-by-wire systems have actually been the cause of several incidents. Hence the “Airbus wants to kill you” comment. We studied this in university. Both Airbus and Boeing went fly-by-wire at essentially the same time in the 1980s. Boeing decided they would still actuate the throttle levers and yoke when the aircraft was in autopilot to give definite visual indication of what the aircraft was doing. Airbus put in a joystick control and buried performance information in the screens of the glass cockpit. This led to crew not knowing much of what the plane was doing unless they were on the correct screen. Human nature tends to take over and if I don’t see it then it must not be happening.
-
exactly so, comrad. exactly so.
-
-
-
-
It was the Lockheed L-1011, the likes of which we’ll never see again (sorry, Mr Emslie). Firstly, it was fast. Much faster than the glacial Airbus products, and still considerably faster than everything but the 747 today. Secondly, the cabin was gigantic. I’m tall and I didn’t have to crouch awkwardly anywhere in the cabin. Thirdly, the washrooms were so capacious you could easily…erm…well…stand upright in them as well. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Cathay_Pacific_Lockheed_L-1011-385-1_TriStar_1_at_Kai_Tak_Airport.jpg
-
The widebody Boeings have a few handicap restrooms. Those are big enough to do ANYTHING in.
-
made the chi to mia run on delta l-1011 several times. the most comfortable quiet spacious relaxing airline rides over the years. i truly miss them. with todays engines and fbw controls they would be a money maker on longer hauls. sad to know it won’t ever be.
i have learned to despise airbus products. nothing good comes from toulon. they have never built anything that passed initial customer acceptance checks. the metal work on them is just awful. the electronics is suspected of contributing to many accidents. cockpits are cramped and crowded. customer seating just makes me angry. burn them all i say a true waste of potential Lone Star Beer cans.-
+1 for the Lone Star reference.
-
+2 for the Lone Star reference, and it’s bad beer.
-
National beer of Texas.
-
-
Came here to post this. Am going away satisfied.
RB211 is the best sounding commercial aircraft turbine of all (with exception of RR Olympus) -
Was the L1011 undone by DC-10 crashes that resulted from blown tail turbines destroying all hydraulic flight controls to the tail at once?
-
No, it was simply fuel economy, maintenance costs, need for three cockpit crew. Turns out a tri-jet is a poor compromise between two and four engines, and the embedded third engine is too hard to work on. The RB211 was hard to get parts for towards end of life as well.
-
-
I flew Delta’s TriStars often…last one was early Aug 2001….just as the last ones were being retired..ATL to FLL.. I TOO MISS THEM….THOUGH I must admit that #2 engine was noisy if you were seated in the rear cabin area.
-
-
Why do Delta have the Russian flag on the tail?
-
They don’t. The Russian flag has a white bar, not light blue, and the colors on the Delta tail design are not in the correct order either.
-
-
-
-
For a period a few years ago I was traveling monthly via the corporate jets, typically a G5. The experience spoiled pretty much all commercial air travel from then on. The rich really are different.
-
I would take a Cessna 172 over anything commercial. I have had a chance to take a couple of 172 size planes for short tours, but never a corporate jet. I have heard that it is possible to find really cheap fares on some of the charter business jets that are just looking for a extra $$$ on flights where they are re-positioning the planes. I need to look into this next time I fly for personal reasons.
-
If you can find it, you will probably be spoiled for life. Even the boarding/ticketing process is a breeze, as they generally don’t board out of the main terminal, or even the same airport. It was a revelation to leave my house ten minutes before a flight, park right outside the hangar and walk 100 feet to the plane. Once aboard, seating was spacious and leathery, refreshments available for the asking and meals catered by Dean and Deluca. Also, every flight was a direct flight. It was heaven.
-
-
A good friend of mine has flown fellow motorcycle buddies (me included) to various motorcycle museums in a corporate jet. Just drive up to the private plane terminal, walk though the terminal to the plane. and you are in the air. I can’t even think about about flying commercial anymore. No getting to the airport 2 hours early, no TSA pawing, no chance of being beaten up by rent-a-cops. It’s good to be the king. I got to start buying lottery tickets.
-
I got stuck in the mud in a Beechcraft King Air once, I’m not sure it’s the same…
-
-
In the 90’s I flew pretty often for interviews, out of the regional airport by the house. I think it was a turboprop SAAB.
I wondered what the flight crew ever did to deserve such punishment.-
Probably junior pilots that didn’t go the Air Force route. Probably not too bad for the pilots, the flight attendant on the other hand…
-
-
I have a fondness for the 777. I’ve flown solo (without wife/kids) to the Netherlands 4 times, 3 on a 777 (one of those on Singapore Air, my favorite airline I’ve flown). The 747 I flew had an old interior, and didn’t even have screens in the seats (on KLM). But I’m sure it’s better now.
It’s been all Airbus with the wife/kids. They were 330s, mostly, if not all. Really, they were nothing special (Lufthansa, Swiss, Aer Lingus).
I’ve flown little puddle jumpers like Embraer and the Boeing 717, and for what they were, they did the job, nothing more. I actually fell asleep on the short flight from Toledo to Pittsburgh, which is sad, because when I finally got to my Philly to Amsterdam flight, I couldn’t sleep (yes, 2 layovers, but I saved $500… so maybe worth it.)-
The one time I flew on a 747 (KLM also) I don’t remember much except the flight attendants didn’t mind if you loitered back by the galley and pilfered snacks. I do remember after after such a long flight, when we finally landed, every bit of the interior fixtures and trim rattled like a sumbitch.
-
-
Oh, man. I miss the 2-3-2 767. You’ve got to be pretty unlucky to end up with a middle seat on that flight. United just went 3-4-3 on the 777. Come. ON.
-
I’ve been commuting to Frankfurt from Detroit for work. Delta has been flying the 2-3-2 767s on that route forever. Last month they seem to have switched to A330s after one of the 767s had an issue. The nice thing about the 2-3-2 seating is people would not upgrade to Comfort+ if all that was available was the middle seat. That left me and the guy on the other aisle with some space between us.
-
-
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/05bdba3591faae71984020a35d26aa2b6e9ce093fc292168b566e66456f8c283.jpg
Great question! Well, for me, my favorite airliner still in service is the Airbus A340-600. The last one rolled off the assembly line in 2011. But I will finally fly on one from JFK to Copenhagen this summer. I have experienced this plane through other people and through YouTube videos. My parents flew one to Paris. My wife flew one non-stop from Newark to Bangkok over the arctic (the longest non-stop flight in the world at that time – 19.5 hours. Singapore has brought the 19.5 hour flight back, service Newark to Singapore). The A340 was supposed to de-throne the Boeing 747. It failed. But it had so many good things for passengers (which cost airlines more money). A quieter cabin. The ability to get 2 seats together in Economy. Exterior camera views on the entertainment system (including a tail cam and belly cam pointing straight down). And for f business class passengers, a 2+2+2 near-flat seat configuration (that’s first class in other planes). The super long tube was the quietest long range jumbo in the air form 1994-2021. It was also one of the safest. I believe only one was ever lost, and it I think it was due to massive forest fires in Indonesia. Just 10 years before it’s debut, hull loss was far more common. I hope to fly on the A320neo, A350XWB, and 787 soon. The new generation.
On the flip side, it has been 6 years since American Airlines ordered a fleet of Airbus A320neo and the newest Boeing 737 to replace their McDonnell Douglass MD80/90 fleet, which was rolled out in the late 80s and early 90s. Those planes are still flying between LaGuardia and O’Hare (and maybe also Dallas and Miami). They are the loudest, least pleasant jets in US skies. At least the routes are short. And yes, the MD80 is not that bad, considering how far we’ve come. Anyone rememebr the DC-9 or L-1011?. Also, I believe there are still some African carriers that fly Boeing 727s from the 1970s.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/89e49c46aacef4995fba426efc68a98e3896b76aab263b7413d7a5a39a9c7c42.jpg -
The Embraer 145’s operated by ExpressJet are falling apart. I rode on one a few months back that had a third of the paint peeled off the nose and two rows of seats taped off because they had become a pile of aluminum and foam. Had another one suddenly drop less than 30 seconds after take off for long enough to get that great “so this is how I die” thought. Anyone’s first class is nice, for the econo experience, I actually had a good flight to London on a BA 777.
-
Years ago I flew on a 747 that had a piano bar on the upper deck!
-
I came back to the US from a tour in W. Germany on a contractor’s 747. Once I realized what the plane was, I was first in line. I went directly to the upper deck to claim a first class seat. The bar was there but no bartender or liquor service, sadly. I still remember the meal–filet of beef in aspic.
-
-
My least favorite is easily the Bombardier CJR200. I’ve NEVER been comfortable on one. Everything about those planes is just awkward. They make a CJR700 or 900 feel like a new 777.
-
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3169/2646950464_c1eb5b7074.jpg
Bombardier’s Dash 8 Q400 turboprops provide a remarkably more comfortable — okay, maybe not comfortable, but perhaps “reasonable” — experience for passengers than the super slim fuselage would suggest. They aren’t roomy, but at least the Horizon Air ones I flew in over the weekend had enough seat pitch to make up for that. And the seats don’t recline! YAY, no bruised knees!
Also, a turboprop is always nice because you know you’ll be landing within an hour or so.-
Non-reclining seats really do need to become the norm. Until then, as a 6foot3 guy, I’m glad I have my KneeDefenders.
As for the short duration turboprop flights, that’s not necessarily always the case: in the ’90s USAir Express ran Dornier 328s between CHS & PIT. A cool 2 hours, but it wasn’t too bad as I recall.
Another long one was United Express between DEN & Minot with a short stop in Bismarck via EMB-120s. I was ready to get out by the end of that flight, trust me.
-
-
-
Best experience was a Northwest 757 from Minneapolis to Detroit when me and my mom went to Pennsylvania to see my sister graduate from college. There were only about 40 people on the whole plane. (I got to drink the *whole* can of Coke!) Returning Minneapolis -> Fargo we were on a BAe 146 / Avro RJ which was kind of neat, it was fun to not have the wing in the way looking down out the window.
-
I would have to say the nicest was the 777 between Bangkok and Vienna I got last year. I’ve had some bad experiences with flights on 747s (which are the usual long haul planes from Sydney). I’ve been on A380s twice, the first was spoiled by being the the middle seat of a 5 wide row, but the second (in an almost empty flight from Auckland to Sydney) was amazing.
-
A half-empty plane has to be the right answer here!
-
The flight from Auckland wasn’t even half full, I would guess that there was about 50 people on an A380. Full rows for everyone! It was just wasted on such a short flight.
-
-
-
Best experience was a BA Concorde, JFK to Heathrow. I spent what could have been a house deposit on this trip in 1999 and I still think it was worth it. For the speed and the service in that little metal tube and watching the machmeter go past 2 and fly higher than anyone else. And feel the windows go warm as the airframe heated up.
It does seem hard to believe that they were retired and that there is still no replacement supersonic airliner.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/36/f8/74/36f8746fdbfdb82c5928c19036b2b435.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/29/ff/f3/29fff3d547eb18e42412c63887c43dc4.jpg
https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/3D7F/production/_85634751_85634750.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2320/2305186099_547ee8a0ab_z.jpg?zz=1-
I am supremely jealous of you right now. What an awesome experience.
-
A Concorde was at the Oshkosh fly-in during the nineties, and they were selling flights for something like $750USD. At the time I was broke and getting to Oshkosh was difficult. I figured they’d do one circuit and land, and I’d feel cheated, so I didn’t buy a ticket. Turns out they went north over Hudson Bay and exceeded Mach 1, flying for quite a good while. It’s probably my one real regret in life.
-
your not missing much of the experience, except the roughness of high speed turbulence penetration. the cabin is mechanically isolated from the outer skin so the noise level is not tremendous. the cabin is not spacious but comfortable.
sitting in the back seat of an f-4c at 36K ft and Mach 2.1 is in fact one of the most thrilling experiences i have ever had. speed limited by engine inlet air temperature. fuel flow in tons per minute. many feel the RB211 is a fine sound to hear but I love the J79-17. IGVs give a howl that will curl your bones and the first stage of afterburner will yield a cleaner looking exhaust. not a comfortable aircraft but damn it hauled ass.
-
-
-
My forever protocol when flying is to wear my trusty North Face parka regardless of the weather. When I take my seat I scan for the emergency exits and then buckle up, revealing enough of the buckle to satisfy the flight crew that I’m fastened in properly. I then pull the parka hood up over my eyes, indicating to everyone that I don’t want to be bothered, and go to sleep. Given that info, I can’t think of a really bad flight except for the ones that spent hours stuck on the tarmac before takeoff.
-
Best: 787, hands down. Though I haven’t flown in an A350 yet.
Worst: Hmm. I can put up with most aircraft for regional journeys, though the ATR-72 would have been mad if the flight was longer than 30 minutes. Great views of the Greek islands, though. I have never been on an Embraer, so maybe the CRJ?
Or, alternatively, 757 across the Atlantic… -
I took a short hop on the Airline History Museum’s Lockheed Super Constellation about 20 years ago. Huge seats, no overhead bins. the huge radial engines sounded glorious, but I can imagine the volume would be very detrimental on a longer flight.
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/06/25/92/d2/airline-history-museum.jpg -
http://www.michaelprophet.com/News_articles/News_articles2011/images/images_TiaraAir/14.JPG
Back in 1983, I flew a Shorts 330 between DC and Richmond several times. A slow, rough-riding rattletrap, but remarkable room thanks to the square fuselage.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Short_330-200%2C_American_Eagle_AN0896034.jpg
Leave a Reply