re: On which airline does the OT prefer to travel for domestic routes?

Depends on where I'm going. There are only a couple of carriers I won't fly with.

Out of buffalo:

1/2: JetBlue or Delta
3: Southwest
4: United
5: American
6: Frontier

SWA

Like Southwest because I can choose who I sit next to

Usually look for an aisle seat next to a nice skinny looking old couple

Last time the lady (in her 60s) started showing me pics of her 30 year old daughter trying to get me to go out with her

Old ladies love me.

My rankings as a business traveler that covers about 95,000 miles every year:

1. Delta
2. United
3. Southwest
4. American

Virgin if they go where I want to go. Haven't flown Alaska but I hope they are as good as virgin. I try to avoid AA which is tough since I live in Dallas. If I listed the 10 crappiest planes I have flown on AA may sweep the list.

NetJets is the only acceptable airline.

Delta has far outpaced the other big carriers in recent years, IMO.

At one point I would have said Delta and SW were about the same for me other than rewards/status, but lately SW seems to have more issues on my flights. I like SW's philosophy but the quality has waned for me.

I like jetblue ok, but I've gotten a lot of dumpy planes. I appreciate the legroom and simplicity, but some of the equipment is pretty rough IMO.

I haven't flown AA consistently in several years, but occasionally do take an American flight and am usually not impressed. They're far less pleasant than any of the other carriers I deal with, and typically have more bureaucratic shite going on. Like making my wife reorganize a slightly bulging bag to fit in a baggage sizer when it was obvious it was a standard carry on size bag. It's the type of shite you get on easyjet, not a full fare domestic carrier.

Of course some of this is colored by flying out of ATL, where Jetblue is a third class citizen and Delta runs shite, etc.

I really don’t see much difference between most of them. Spirit has a different business model, but the fleet is pretty new and if you do your homework and know the rules going in, you can save a few bucks. Did it once and won’t likeky do it again, but they don’t suck as bad as most say. Allegiant might fall from the sky. No thanks. But the rest are mostly apples to apples. SW seems to have a more relaxed culture, bags are free and WiFi isn’t too expensive. Delta has started offering free messaging and has much more free streaming entertainment. But they are still Gogo WiFi so actual internet is stupidly expensive. Used to love JetBlue because they had well appointed planes and Direct TV. Thise planes have aged and everyone has entertainment now. Just another airline. My worst experiences are usually due to one shitty employee at ticketing, the gate or on the plane, so it’s always a crapshoot. I look for the most affordable flight with the shortest duration.

Alaska/Virgin because they don't go to shitty flyover states and stinky southern cities