Air France:- People's views

[mealies]

I recently flew with Air France to South Africa, it was ok but i was not impressed by Air France. I would like other people's views

My trip was Heathrow to Paris CDG to Jo'burg. On the way out it was a boeing 737-500 to CDG then a 747-400. The 737 was comfortable and the in flight snack not to bad, however the long trip was not so fun (flight AF990 29/10/06). my seat was 43K and had lots of legroon but everything was really tatty on this flight. The service was good but the food was awful. there were 8 family members on this flight and 4 on the flight the previous night and 6 of us were taken ill by the food.

On the way back (flight AF995 05/11/06) we were on a 777-300ER. Again the service was really good, however seat covers were ripped and the plane did look a bit tatty. The IFE was good with TV screens in the headrests however it was hit-or-miss whether movies worked on the screens, i could get movies which my girlfriend couldn't. However the best bit of the flight is that we sat in row 31 K & L and had the galley behind us which meant we could put the seats back and sleep, i didn't eat anyrhing on thr flight as a precaution. Probably over reacting but wanted to be safe. again to LHR the ticket stated aircraft type was 321 was very comfortable. good condition and food was good.

Sorry for the long post but wanted to explain why i had these strong opinions. I don't want to start any fights over carriers but want to know what other people think. I can't understand why the short & medium haul aircraft look so clean and tidy and the long haul don't

Andrew

[flyblue]

mealies,

it is really weird that you found the B777-300 to be tatty and worn since they are AF's new entries, with an average of 1 to 1 1/2 years of age. I regularly travel on them and they look brand new. You must have been very unlucky. Also, I checked on the company intranet about flight AF 990 of the 29th of October, and it appears as having been operated with a 777-300, and not with a 747. And have you reported about food poisoning? Because, again, there is no mentioning whatsoever about food poisoning on the company's reports. If you did suffer food poisoning you should have reported that.

[Bealzebub]

I travelled with AF last week from Havana to London via CDG and have to say the flight was on time, the crew were very professional, courteous, and smart. The aircraft wasn't new (747-400) but it was clean. Food was good and the flight arrived on time into CDG. The connection was 55 minutes to LHR and it departed 15 minutes late.
It was a good service. The only fly in the ointment was that mine and my colleagues cases failed to transfer and were finally delivered to our homes 36 hours late. C'est la vie !

[Gouabafla]

I spend a lot of my life sitting on AF flights to and from Francophone Africa and have no hesitation doing so. The food and wine aren't brilliant in Tempo (economy) but it's no worse than any other airline and better than some. I like the IFE, especially as it gives me a chance to watch some French or African movies that would never get shown in the UK. The seats are ok. Fine for day flights, not so good overnight - but again, that's par for the course in economy.

However, I do have one huge problem with AF and that is the transfers at CDG. I normally fly in from Southampton which means that we end up at a remote stand and have a long slow bus trip to the terminal. You then have a lot of hassle either getting through the dreadful security line in 2F or waiting for a bus to one of the other '2s'.

After the madness that is par for the course in most African airports, there is nothing better than stepping into the cool of an AF flight and being greeted with a polite 'bonsoir monsieur'.

Merci Flyblue et tes co-équipiers!

[mealies]

Thanks for the replies

I wrote my original post soon after finishing my 30 hour (door to Door) trip and was feeling tired & Grumpy. I think i need to re-assess my comments. The trip out was on a 747-400. I am sure it had 4 engines and it had two decks. And the seating in Tempo was 3-4-3. I thought it was AF990 but it was the 11:45pm flight. I must also apologise, i did not mean to say AF gave my family food poisioning. I meant to say that the food did not agree with us, i was wondering whether i am being picky or do other people have a problem with it.

On the way back the 777 was a lot nicer and although my seat was ripped the plane looked a lot cleaner than the 747. I also agree that the Cabin Crew were excellent, the actual flying was supurb and the IFE very good. My comment about the movies not working was supposed to be a light hearted comment. Although very few of the movies would not play everything else worked excellently i was just amused out of the 12 movies 2 didn't play and those were the two my girlfriend wanted to watch :).

I had two very bad experiences at CDG with the security line at 2f. On the way out shoes, belt off everything scrutinised and then to the desk for a thorough search, where the guy thought it funny to make racist cracks about the english. I Didn't find it funny due to the fact i was supposed to be boarding a plane at that moment:). And again on the way back everything off bag searched then re-searched at the desk, with a surly member of staff who refused to speak english to me (she could speak english as she was talking to her collegue in english). Both times my girlfriend walked through without any hassles.

So i must apologise for my first rant i think the experience at CDG coloured my opinion of AF somewhat.

[SXB]

Mealies
I travelled AF today, SXB-CDG-EVN and I have to say I was impressed with their product. I chose AF simply because they are one of the only airlines which operate a service to Yerevan (Armenia) which arrives at civilised hour - departs CDG 13.20 arriving EVN 21.00 local time, everyone else arrives in the middle of the night.

SXB-CDG was a A318 which was a little tired but a major airline like AF will always have a range of aircraft of different ages. Like you, I was also waiting in the security queue in 2F and all I saw was multi lingual staff working under difficult circumstances trying to enforce the new regs, all of them spoke english as well as a number of other languages. Try speaking French, Italian or German at Heathrow and see how far you get.

The CDG-EVN leg was a pleasure, the crew were great, actively encouraging passengers to drink water throughout the flight and explaining the need for water on such flights.

The crew for this particular flight are staying here in Marriott, the same hotel where I am staying, and I saw them all in the bar enjoying a glass of the local red wine together. They looked like a team, and I'm looking forward to the flight back next week.

I've been critical of AF in the past but my recent experiences of this airline have only been positive, very positive.

[tezzer]

I have to say, it's along time since I've used AF, until tonight. I have just come from MAN- CDG, for a connection to SCL. The service on the short flight was impeccable for a 50 minute flight, and the crew were charm personified. I was in love before we pushed back. I arrived at MAN early, having to beat a deadline on my hire car, so asked at the desk if I could get on the 17.35 instead of the 19.35. No problem at all, unless you'd like to go on the 15.35 ?? To right, rather be in the lounge in CDG that MAN. It also gives my bag more ime to connect.

Oh well, I hope the next 14 hour sector is as good as the first, although I intend being asleep for as much of it as possible.

[Final 3 Greens]

I've used mainline and the franchises (Cityjet, Britt Air and Regional) a lot on shorthaul over the past 3 years

The service is generally fine and I think they have a good shorthaul product, which gives value for money.

[firemac]

I've not used AF for a year or two but prior to that used them almost exclusively as I lived in Paris. Generally their CC were great but CDG must rank as the crappiest airport on earth especially for transfers from UK. I lost count of the number of times that UK-based colleagues mised connections from UK to long-haul AF departures. AF seem to be wildly optimistic re their ability to honour their own connection times, some of which are less than 60 mins, which at CDG is sometimes not enough to transit the gates plus security.

Other than that they were always pretty good - apart from the 2 occasions when they tried to poison me! Their cuisine definitely does not live up to the French stereotype!

[tezzer]

Well, I have to say, I was very dissapointed in the AF long haul service last night. The food was all a bit too fussy, guinea fowl or veal etc. typically French I suppose, but non the less dissapointing. The cabin (777) was ok, but nothing special, and the in flight entertaimanent isn't amongst the Worlds best, I guess I've been spoiled by Emirates and Singapore Airline's offerings. Only a couple of recent movies, Pirates of the Carribean being the blockbuster.
Worst of all though was someone in the cabin having gone to sleep with his headphones still playing music. It annoyed the c:mad: p out of me, and when I asked the cabin crew to find it, they failed. So I had to put up with the hiss hiss of a tune that I couldn't quite make out, all night long.

Oh well, time for some kip, CDG-SCL is a mare of a journey.

[EDIspotter]

Just about to post my trip report on EDI-CDG-YYZ-CDG-EDI with Air France on 3/11 and 5&6/11........

[Mercenary Pilot]

I've had a number of flights on AF and I've now vowed NEVER AGAIN! :mad:

Every flight:

* Rude staff
* Never on time (best effort was still 30 mins late)
* In-flight F/A's and service was rude, lazy & basically non existent (Especially longhaul)
* Economy cabin should be renamed Peasant or Poverty class. It’s dirty, cheap and nasty.
* No point in CDG gate staff, again rude, lazy and basically non existent
* Not the greatest safety record
* As the National carrier, they give the French a very poor representation. Maybe this is where the negative stereotypes actually came from.

Good points?

* Err
* I met a female F/O on the A320 fleet once...She was very nice. ;)
* The wine is drinkable even in Peasant...I mean "Tempo"
* That’s about it...Avoid!

[CHIVILCOY]

I've had a number of flights on AF and I've now vowed NEVER AGAIN! :mad:
Every flight:
* Rude staff
* Never on time (best effort was still 30 mins late)
* In-flight F/A's and service was rude, lazy & basically non existent (Especially longhaul)
* Economy cabin should be renamed Peasant or Poverty class. It’s dirty, cheap and nasty.
* No point in CDG gate staff, again rude, lazy and basically non existent
* Not the greatest safety record
* As the National carrier, they give the French a very poor representation.

Maybe this is where the negative stereotypes actually came from.

I have flown at least ten longhaul trips with them all but one in Economy and can honestly say that the inflight experience was above average on most of them.

The cabin crew can sometimes show a bit of arrogance - I just put this down to being a French thing and ignore it.

CDG can be hard to make connections just like LHR and I have missed three connections in a row but AF ground agents mostly looked after us well.

Maybe I am easy pleased but just like any service industry there is good and bad in everything, looks as if you had more than your fair share of the bad.

[SXB]

I just did the return trip (outward trip mentioned earlier in the post) EVN-CDG-SXB. These sectors were no where near as good as the ones I did last week. I'm normally travelling up front but my organisation were not funding this trip and I had an economy class ticket. The EVN-CDG sector was a 5 hour 20 minute trip and this was no fun in an economy class.

The CC served breakfast when the plane was at cruise which took about an hour and then they literally disappeared, 2h 30 mins into the trip I rang the call button as I wanted some coffee and nobody came, I did it a second and third time and still nobody came. In the end I went into the rear galley and couldn't find anyone, though they'd left a few cans of coke and beer which I assume were for people to help themselves. As I turned round and left the galley I noticed two cabin attendents asleep on the rear two rows. I also noticed this on the outward flight but didn't think anything of it as the plane was only about 20% full (in fact the crew took it in turns to have a sleep on this leg) so a full complement of staff was not really necessary but on this sector the plane looked to be about 70% full. About an hour before landing the crew re-appeared and, with a smile on their faces, walked down the aisle and turned off all the illuminated call buttons. One CC then incorrectly advised a good number of Armenian and American people who were transiting to the states they needed to fill out landing cards. One of the Armenians asked me to help him with his landing card so I told him he didn't need to complete one, he called the purser who confirmed that none of them needed to complete landing cards because they were just transiting.

On the positive side despite my flight being late, only giving me 35 mins to get from 2f to 2d I made it without problems and so did my bag.

I mention the thing about sleeping cabin crew because RYR were lambasted for the same thing, personally I don't have a problem with this if the flight is empty but I would have thought that on a flight of that duration all crew should be in an alert state in case of an emergency. I wonder if the Captain was aware that some of them were sleeping...

I can handle the odd bad experience so we'll see what happens with AF in the future and I'll continue to use them for the time being.

[tezzer]

Well, what a pile of poop that was. I was put this time in the main (Affaires) cabin, instead of the forward one. The meal serive was again "fussy" with a definate leaning to wards seafood (never my favourite on planes) with 3 out of 4 choices being fish/ shellfish based.

I decided to watch a couple of the in flight movies, to fend off slep for a while. Except the video on demand system "Doesn't work" according to the CC. Great, just the films as and when they start on the timetable. This is not why I travel bsiness class.

The cabin was unbearably hot, I asked for the heat to be turned down, but it didn't seem to happen/ make ant difference. I cynically wondered if it was to stop the SLF unpacking the blankets, certainly nobody was using them.

We arrived into CDG, and went on literally a 20 minute bus tour, in and out of stands, building sites etc.

THe lounge was completely full in terminal 2F, not even standing room.

I wnet to the gate, and they were still loading the flight before, a full 30 minutes after it's posted departure time, and sure enough, we boarded an hour late for the Manchester flight. Once at Manchester, I had missed my train home, and had to get my daughter's boyfriend to drive the 110 miles to the airport to pick me up.

Very poor, AF, you won't be seeing me again in a hurry !

[SXB]

So, some quite varied opinion on AF. One could say this about most airlines though. I complained (using the form in the back of the in flight magazine) about my recent experience and AF have already contacted me to say they are looking at the incident. For the moment I'm going to stick with them and form an opinion over a longer period of time.

For the comments about the arrogance of the staff I can't say I've ever come across that but dealing with French service sector staff is different than in the anglo saxon world (I'm an anglo saxon) You have to treat them as equals, if you don't then you won't get anywhere. French is a very flowery language and most French natives still respect the rules of formality and politeness even when making a heated complaint, if you start demanding things without the necessary formalities at the start and end of the sentance you won't get anywhere.

I was in a pizza restaurant with my kids recently, when their mother isn't around I force them to speak English and they spoke to the waiter in English so I did too, he then made a disparaging comment, in French, to his colleague about 'uncultured' English customers. He made the mistake of assuming that I was tourist and didn't speak French, I suggested to him, very politely and in French, that such a remark was beneath him and that I would welcome an immediate apology. The guy was mortified and apologised profusely. Certainly he will never do it again. In the end he even received a tip:)

[Gouabafla]

I'm back on AF tomorrow night, flying back from BKK. I have to say that I was disappointed with my flight out here. The ageing 747-400 had no individual inflight entertainment and the movies they showed on the single screen were not ones I'd watch. I'll be glad to get back to my normal stomping ground flying to Africa. The flights are shorter and the aircraft nicer. CDG is still a pain in the cul, though!

[UFGBOY]

very strange that no food offered in Tempo MAN/CDG yet it is offered LHR/CDG... wine is good though!

same thing MAD/CDG not even a sandwich!