Delta Air and Connecting Carriers

Has anyone on this forum had experience with flying to DM or to other medium-size Midwestern airports via Delta, with or without connecting to one of its regional carriers: Atlantic Southeast, Comair, or Sky West? I%26#39;m asking because:

1) No other carrier comes close to beating Delta%26#39;s low fares from LAX or the Orange County airport.

2) Several acquaintances of mine have had problems with Delta, especially when the connecting flight is made in Atlanta (and yes, because Atlanta is one of Delta%26#39;s big hubs, even some flights from the West Coast connect there to Midwest destinations, including DM). The same acquaintance complained about the age and discomfort of the plane on a direct LAX to JFK flight.

Any relevant comments about Delta or other moderately priced carriers like Midwest Airlines or US Air would be appreciated.

Delta Air and Connecting Carriers

I fly in/out of Des Moines fairly frequently and don%26#39;t find an extreme advantage among any particular airline in terms of comfort, aircraft age, etc. with the exception that Midwest Express seems to have a little more leg room and the most pleasant and helpful staff. Most of the flights you%26#39;ll take to or from Des Moines are on regional jets and they may seem a bit claustrophibic if you%26#39;re used to larger jets.

I also have driven to Kansas City, Omaha and Moline on occasion to fly Southwest and ATA, but I would only do that for a significantly lower cost. I haven%26#39;t been any more impressed by those airlines than I have been by any of the major carriers.

Delta Air and Connecting Carriers

Thanks for the superquick reply, Prairiedog.

Have you or anyone else heard about connection problems to the Midwest or elsewhere through the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky or Atlanta-Hartsfield airports (these are Delta%26#39;s big connection hubs).

I%26#39;m aware that Delta is flying primarily the CRJ100 jets through one of its cooperating regional carriers and would use a larger plane if I made the connection in Houston--for a much higher price.

I have not personally had any problems with Delta, but I have only connected through Cincinnati and haven%26#39;t flown that airline for a few months. However, just last week a couple of my business colleagues experienced a several hour delay in Cincinnati. I%26#39;m not sure if that was an isolated instance or if that%26#39;s a frequent occurence. Perhaps another forum user who flies Delta frequently will weigh in?

And one more thought about the problems my colleagues experienced in Cincinnati: Some others at the meeting I attended had problems on other airlines in Chicago, so I believe their experience may have been due to a weather system that went through the Midwest.

I live in Des Moines, and fly about 8-10 times a year. I have had no problems with Delta that were beyond the average run of the mill problem, I have with all airlines. There service into and out of Des Moines, is via Cincy and ATL. I have never been on time out of Cincy, but always seem to make it to my destination on time, mostly because of inflated duration times.

For the most part, they get the job done. The planes are not the newest but they are in realitvely good condition.

Ed

I think I%26#39;ve probably been connected through all of the airline hubs out of DSM and don%26#39;t really see any difference between them. I%26#39;ve had good connections and bad connections out of them all. Actually of them all, I dislike Ohare the most because any type of delay there seems to magnify because it is so congested. Our last two trips to the Uk were with Delta and we had no problems.