WHICH AIRLINE SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?

The latest headlines are often what many travelers use as benchmarks to help decide which airline to choose. Recent accidents, crashes, mechanical problems, labor disputes, delays, financial difficulties and so on, are hot fodder for media. No one planning a trip wants to go anywhere near an airline that is having even a hint of these kinds of troubles. Any odds maker will tell you that a recent accident makes chance of that same airline having another accident anytime in near future a remote possibility at best. An odds maker will also tell you that a labor dispute among baggage handlers might make probability of your bags being lost greater than it would normally be. But we don't want to play odds; we want to work with facts.

There are four main things that we passengers are concerned about when flying: Our safety, our comfort, our possessions (baggage), and our time. That gives us four questions to answer before booking a flight on a particular airline. (The web link after each of questions is a site you can check for info.)

1) What is airline's safety record? http://www.1800airsafe.com 2) Do they have many consumer complaints? http://www.nasdac.faa.gov/internet 3) Are they known for baggage irregularities? http://www.dot.gov 4) What is their on time record? http://www.bts.gov

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