I recently flew US Airways home from Dover, England to the U.S. after a cruise. So with great interest, I read an editorial by Scott McCarthy in the Wall Street Journal on July 22 about how US Airways has turned its worst place on-time performance into the best. The transformation has been quite amazing, actually. It just goes to show what improvements in airline performance CAN be accomplished when someone at an airline in a high position actually decides something is worth tackling. Of course, I have no illusions that the changes weren’t designed to help the company’s bottom line, but certainly they went a long way to assure that customers get to where they’re going on time. I formerly worked as director of PR-marketing for US Airways in management the early 90s (dating myself I know!) and the world of the airline industry has changed 100 times over since that era. Today, as a reporter I tend to get reader complaints or discouraging statistics when it comes to airline news. These are simply a fact of life in the airline industry. So, today I took a breath and enjoyed the Journal’s business “take” – showcasing a feel-good,  go-get-um attitude at the airline — detailing about how a team of people with high-level management commitment went after a goal and accomplished it. The editorial is both interesting and well-written. Getting back to my recent US Airways flight home from my cruise, however, I must say that I was in US Airways’ Envoy class not in the back of the bus, for sure. So I can’t vouch for service in coach. But up front the service was quite good. The flight attendants were friendly, competent and, most importantly, really seemed to care what guests thought of the new dining menu. Other factors, though, needed similar attention. The uniforms were dated and, worse, frumpy for the level of professionalism the flight crew was projecting. The Envoy class seat was awful – basically what I recall in business class from the 90s….or at least it seemed the same to me. Mine was also skewed (bent) at the bottom so it needed maintenance. In otherwords, the seating was not comfortable and really not in the same league as what I experienced on Delta going to Europe on this same trip. But overall the good US Airways service was what I remember the most, a plus for the airline. Delta too had very good business class service; its flight attendants were very professional, well-trained and the “leader” in a red outfit gave a sense of the old airline aura of a purser onboard. She greeted guests by name. The Delta seats were much better. The Delta amenity kit was also better, while the US Airways one for business customers equated to what coach customers used to receive on transcontinental flights… Incredibly, I felt the cuisine (yes not food but cuisine) on both airlines was quite tasty and well-presented. Anyway, for a point in time, given the good service on both flights, it “seemed like old times” in the airline industry – at least for a moment. Perhaps that’s precisely how the airlines need to get back to basics, just taking it one moment by moment. EditorLady (www.southerncruising.com and www.southerntravelnews.com)