Continental to competitors: Your 'gas-sucking pigs' don't fly

Josh Roberts believes the best trips involve long hikes and muddy boots. His life goals haven't changed much since he was a kid: He still wants to be Indiana Jones when he grows up.

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Josh joined SmarterTravel in 2001, and is an active member in both the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

In addition to SmarterTravel, he has written for USA Today, The Boston Globe, Yahoo! Travel, The Huffington Post, Airfarewatchdog, TripAdvisor, Jetsetter, ABC News, Oyster, and Business Insider. His travel photography can be seen in Britain and Ireland's Best Wild Places, published by Penguin UK.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: "A lacrosse ball. It's small, lightweight, and works wonders on loosening up tight muscles."

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: "Being the first to discover an ancient lost city. Failing that, visiting as many of the already-discovered ancient ruins as possible."

Travel Motto: "Not all those who wander are lost." -J.R.R. Tolkien

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: "Aisle."

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TheStreet.com’s Ted Reed writes that Continental’s fiery president, Jeff Smisek, was feeling particularly ornery last week in a wide-ranging address to the Bear Stearns Global Transportation Conference in the Big Apple.

Smisek called his competitors’ aircrafts “gas-sucking pigs” compared to Continental’s own more efficient fleet, and he didn’t stop there. “Our network competitors have frankly screwed their employees by defaulting on their pension plans and taking away wage and benefits in a very hostile manner,” he says, in a not-so-thinly-veiled reference to the labor misfortunes of nearly every major airline. (Continental, by comparison, kept its pension plans but still gutted its employee wages and benefits by about $500 million.)

I’ve had my issues with Smisek’s outspoken commentary before, but on this last point I’ll give him credit: “We did not follow our competitors in a race to the bottom to achieve a crappy product…We did not take off pillows, we did not take off blankets, we did not take off meals at mealtime and we will not charge 15 bucks for an aisle seat.”

Assuming exit row seats are also off the table, amen to that!

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