CO-04 (Special Election)
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(R) Greg Lopez
(R) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Joe Biden*
(R) Donald Trump
80%
20%↓
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
90%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
90%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(D) Adam Frisch
(R) Jeff Hurd
(R) Ron Hanks
40%
30%
20%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert
(R) Deborah Flora
(R) J. Sonnenberg
30%↑
15%↑
10%↓
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Dave Williams
(R) Jeff Crank
50%↓
50%↑
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
90%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) Brittany Pettersen
85%↑
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
(R) Janak Joshi
60%↑
35%↓
30%↑
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
August 11, 2009 07:36 PM UTC
38 Comments
SW makes money. You may hate to fly SW but for us poor folk it is cheap and gets the job done. Why is frontier broke and SW making money. Good vs. Bad business model.
I flew them to see my dad who was in critical condition. My destination was Chicago. I left Denver and ended up in Vegas on an 8 hour delay. On the way back, we again got delayed in Vegas because the plane was experiencing “difficulties.” Their customer service was ungodly unhelpful in getting me on another flight to Denver to get home. I have never experienced such a horrendous flight in my life.
They are cheap corporate fucks that cram their planes like they are cattle cars.
I will never, ever, fly them again. Ever.
Anyone who flies often enough has a story like that about some airline.
except that damned near every flight goes through Atlanta, which is a very people-unfriendly airport.
The one I’ll never fly again is USAir.
Was flying from JFK to Denver on an evening flight (6 pm or so?). They delayed the flight an hour at a time until 2 am, when they finally canceled the flight. No effort was made to give compensation, so everyone was forced to stand around (not only are there not enough seats in Delta’s JFK terminal, there isn’t even space on the floor to lie down). Passengers were told we could rebook flights over the phone, then told on the phone to wait in line. The line had one person working, and every rebooking took literally twenty minutes. I’ve never seen anything like it.
No excuse was ever given as to why this happened. I’ve never seen a bureaucracy as bad as corporate bureaucracy, and never saw an airline as contemptuous as Delta. At least when United did the same thing to us on Christmas Eve, they put us in a hotel.
and this one is for the rudeness of a certain flight attendant/petty battleaxe category:
I was boarding a flight from Tokyo to LA and put my laptop in one of those overhead compartments that are about a quarter of the size of regular ones. I left it open in case someone wanted to put their jacket there or something else small. There still was a little room.
The flight attendant comes around, looks at me and asks me if that is my laptop. She is American, maybe 50 years old. Yes, I reply. And the response ?
“You knew no one else could fit anything in there, and yet you didn’t close it anyway ” “I just had surgery from a repetitive stress injury from doing this for 20 years ” And she gives me the motion of closing an overhead bin.
Maybe she should’ve just stayed home that day. I hope Frontier dosen’t go to Southwest – I really like them because I never get this type of static on their flights.
But I used to fly USAir a lot when I was out East, and it was one of the better airlines. Just don’t take it through La Guardia. USAir hubs are some of the best hubs in the country.
United is the worst for me, though they did finally get me through Chicago without an overnight delay two months ago. Getting in to Chicago at 2am, being told that the nearest open hotel is over an hour away by shuttle, and that I needed to be back at the airport at 5:30 for a 6:30 flight wasn’t my idea of good treatment.
2 summers ago, they had to divert for some odd reason after 6 hours in the air … yep halfway to the east cost they started circling PA then landed in OH after 3 hours.
This year they canceled my flight back to Denver …. they emailed me 6 hours before the flight was to leave. That move cost me big and no effort from them other then rebooking me on the same flight the next day … the kicker was the next day I had to be on the east coast.
Yep I took action, drove to a non sister city, got screwed on the transfer cost and car drop fee … not to mention lost time in having to leave to the airport early.
Airlines aren’t what they were, but you can get to Vegas for $100 with many flight options.
CP hit it right on the head. Those DEN to DCA flights are so much better on Frontier. Politicos revolt!
what will become of the “Official Plane of Colorado”?
Governor Bill Ritter Jr. Proclaims Frontier Aircraft the Official Plane of Colorado
http://media.frontierairlines….
and they’re the cheapest. For someone like me who only flies once or twice a year, they’re far and away my preferred airline.
If you can’t figure out how to schedule your flights cheaply without making three connections, you should probably be required to fly with a chaperone. It’s really not that hard.
Southwest’s customer satisfaction is consistently higher than Frontier’s. We were in the airport on Sunday and saw three overbooked Frontier flights, which is a little embarrassing, and Frontier staff who struggled for HOURS to get customers on different flights. I mean, kudos to them for working so hard, but shouldn’t the airline have a procedure in place for this sort of thing?
Frontier has nice comfortable flights, and the staff are pretty friendly, but their business model isn’t working for them. Southwest has unionized employees, the company makes a profit, and I for one would be happier if they took over than if Republic (an airline I’ve never heard of) did.
I joke, I joke….
some dark basement in Denver with a dusty TRS80 in the corner and battlestar gallactica bedsheets now has pieces of brain sticking to the wall.
No wonder they are happy — they’re free of forced unionism and forced union dues.
OK
Those of us in Denver have become accustomed to getting just about anywhere domestic with either a nonstop or only one connection, largely due to the competition Frontier has brought to the Denver marker.
If you all remember during Frontier’s first bankruptcy when they went under, you could only get somewhere non-stop if it happened to benefit United to get you there non-stop. Otherwise you were always connecting through SFO or O’Hare (or Dallas on AA..ew!).
I’m a former Frontier employee and I think it will really suck for the traveling public of Denver if they disappear from the radar.
An d yes, I would REALLY miss Griswald!
He’s been treated great for almost twenty years. At least I’ve not had to worry about him losing his job because SW turns an actual profit. It’s an incredibly well run company.
One may not like how they fly, fine, don’t fly them. But be prepared to pay more. Often, a lot more.
BTW, Libertad, highest percentage of union employees of any airline. And profitable.
Nothing wrong with unions or union members parsing … many among the family and friends.
So, fortunately, because the union is national RTW is moot.
With SW I have done a breakfast meeting in Dallas, lunch in San Antonio, dinner in Houston and got back to Love Field at 9ish . Changed my flight twice at the gate to get earlier flights.
No way you could do this on another airline.
Southwest can change over a plane in 15 minutes. For short flights, they have no competition.
JetBlue, Frontier (cept the cancelled flight issue), SW, United and USAir sometimes too.
The kicker here is the regressive tax on assets that discourages invesments in maintenance facilities here in CO.
No doubt Ritter-Hick will try to carve out a\ special exemption and make all Coloradans pay for their failure to address their overspending.
Grow some balls and seek TABOR relief in 2010…I’m tired of the games and corrupt facts employed by the gaggle of community coalitions trotted out to cry that the nazi GOP party of no is the root cause.
At least the Dems have Bennet (Mr. 50%), he actually wants TABOR for the federal budget … imagine that a Dem reigning in spending.
Had a very unexpected death in the family and tried to reschedule a flight that I booked 3 months prior…Their customer service team twisted my words, accused me of lying, and would not let me reschedule the flight. Most airlines will have a bad story or two, but I share mine any time I can because I’ve never been de-humanized like that ever. The direct TV is nice, but if they were capable of treating me that way in the midst of grieving, they are obviously not fit to run any sort of company where they are responsible for peoples’ lives.
But if they aren’t making money, then they aren’t making money. Too bad because the animals on the tail was a really cute idea and while they’re not perfect, I think they did a good job.
Frankly, I used to like the hometown airline thing. They put pressure on United to keep its fares down and their business model worked for them… for a while.
A few years ago, however, I noticed a diminished level of courtesy and employee ‘giving a damn’ at Frontier. I tired of rising surliness among Frontier check-in and gate employees. I took two flights one summer to Indy where the pilot had to wait 10 minutes (each time) while the Frontier ground crews moved a TRUCK out of the gate parking area! This doesn’t happen in a well-managed airline, regardless of its business model.
My ears perked up when Southwest moved to DEN and competed with Frontier on several of my usual routes. Better treatment of passengers, better handling of luggage, better prices, great safety record. The fact that they have a better business model is beside the point to me as a pax. I’ve flown American, United, Frontier, AirTran, JetBlue, Delta and USAir several times in the past two years and Southwest beats them in every category.
I hope Southwest succeed in taking over Frontier. Their business model has to do with stimulating the market and it means more Southwest connections to more places and cheaper fares on all their routes.
Is it still true that the capitalized value of Southwest exceeds all the rest of the American carriers?
Years ago my father worked for the first Frontier Airlines. This second incarnation got some amount of loyalty by association from this. However I had such bad experiences flying the new Frontier Airlines that I no longer travel by airliner to go anywhere without dire emergency to force me out of my comfort zone.
I simply do not like the air travel experience as it is now, flying is not fun anymore. So it makes no difference to me which of them takes it over. From a Colorado hometown point of view I also don’t care because both bidders are from elsewhere.
Southwest seems rather like Apple. People either love or hate them, but there does not seem to be much in between. They also have their own way of doing things that is different than most other airlines.
But on a whole, a pox on the whole airline industry and especially upon the security theater at the airports. On the whole I’d rather drive.
Just a small amount of research will show you that Southwest Airlines is an amazing company. I did an extensive report on them while Iw as in college. SW does not believe in laying off employees. It has developed a model of low cost flying that every airline now tries to copy. SW Airlines has been the most consistently profitable airline over the past 30 years.
When United was going bankrupt and everyone said the airline industry was falling apart, shortly after 9/11, Southwest was still turning a profit every year.
And parsingreality, you are right. Southwest welcomes the fact that their employees have an organized union. The SW union is independent from the large unions that cover other major airlines. And interesting enough, SW employees have much better benefits and are more productive than those other unions.
Don’t knock on SW. We should feel privileged to have a company like that come into Colorado and provide jobs at at time when it is needed most.
“security theater” is right. And the crudeness of the operations seem to be expanding: At LAX in July, a couple of junior TSA’ers were hovering around a gate where Southwest was starting its lineup for a Denver flight. Talking to each other in low voices, eyeing the crowd. A lot of pax were getting a little bit agitated by this when the two TSA people started to approach… well… moi. Then they required the guy behind me in line to show them his boarding pass and I.D.!!! Raising a conversion among about a half dozen of us about how this duo decide whether and who to ‘authenicate.’
It was like a low-watt version of Mission Impossible. I’d just come back into the country from visiting nations full of preposterous and poorly trained bureaucrats, and I wondered wtf has happened to the good ol’ USA?
One of favorite, boredom alleviation pastimes in the screening lines is to count the numbers of TSA screeners and the numbers of uniformed TSA hangers-on. LAX’s Southwest Terminal has the prize so far… 2 active, hard working screeners in one line, with six people hanging around that line, leaning on posts chatting, eating, and gawking at the hundreds of shoeless, beltless passengers.
Talk about your government spending… And for what? Passengers have to partially disrobe, display all their meds, salves, teeth whitening gels, anti-itch cream and hand lotion while aircraft belly cargo is STILL not checked.
I fly several times a year around the country. I’ve become pretty adept at traversing the myriad websites of travel. And here’s what I’ve found: I’ve NEVER, not once, not ever, found Southwest to be more than $1.00 cheaper than United or Frontier. Never.
There’s a reason SW doesn’t appear on the travel searches when you search all of the other airlines on a place like Kayak: they don’t want to be judged the same. When you look at a total fare on a place like Kayak or Travelocity, etc., you are looking at the grand total — taxes, fees, etc. included. When you go to SW’s website, the fare LOOKS cheaper, but when you go to check out, you find that the added taxes and fees actually bring the fare to EXACTLY the same fare as quoted by Frontier and United.
It ain’t cheaper, folks. They just do a good job of snowing you and making you THINK it is cheaper.
Could it be that the other carriers matched Southwest’s low fares in those markets?
And it is a pain that if you want to even consider Southwest, you have to go to their web site (as opposed to every other provider who is on Cheaptickets or something).
However, most providers charge bag fees and such, which do add up.
As for why United and Frontier are as cheap as Southwest… It’s because Southwest is forcing them to be.
And for last-minute flights I’ve frequently found Southwest to be substantially cheaper, as they don’t apply the same jack-the-fare-up rules that every other airline (including Frontier) does.
I know Pols doesn’t like the singing flight attendants, but this guy is just awesome.
did you see everyone at the beginning with this oh, what the hell is this look ? Nearly everyone was clapping along in the end. Good stuff.
It’s cheaper. A lot cheaper.
My wife and I were flying to Chicago last year for our honeymoon. United and other big carriers were at least twice as expensive when we were trying to book our flight a month or two before the wedding.
And SW doesn’t have any special taxes or fees. ALL AIRLINES charge those taxes and fees. So when you get to the checkout and the fare, to you, looks the same as the one quoted by Frontier or United, you’re not adding in those taxes and fees on theirs. So yeah, still cheaper.
Sure, I hate flights being late, I hate rude airline employees, I hate cramped planes (and I’m 6’5″), and all the rest. BUT, I still find it amazing that I can wake up in Boulder and go to bed in northern Vermont.
I’m only 50 and I remember when flying was rare and expensive. Now it’s absolutely commonplace and relatively cheap. I hope it says that way, but wonder what will happen when fuel prices double or triple and stay there. It’s bound to happen eventually, whether it’s in a year or 10 or 20.
Now where the hell is Republic based out of…what else do they operate???