Best airlines
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Best airlines
Hi everybody,
I`ve only flown on European and U.S. airlines, so I couldn't have an opinion about Asian carriers, that I know are among the best.
So what would you, the most travelled ones, think are the best airlines in the world? Let's say the best five.
I`ve only flown on European and U.S. airlines, so I couldn't have an opinion about Asian carriers, that I know are among the best.
So what would you, the most travelled ones, think are the best airlines in the world? Let's say the best five.
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The problem is that it's all very subjective. Much depends on what type of product the judging traveler personally wants. I have flown (C Class) on a carrier which receives more than its fair share of criticism and always been happy with them, and I have flown a carrier which has received much acclaim and wondered why they are so revered. Not that they were bad, just that I found them to be no better than the other.
Paxing All Over The World
Your own cultural heritage and, thus, expectations plays an enormous part in this. On a trip last year my partner thought that the cabin crew looked askance at her when requesting a drink. Whether the CC did or did not cannot be known.
Further, on the trip out (in a world renowned carrier) in Premium Economy, she was in 777s and on the way back in 380s. She hated the first and loved the second. Same cabin layout and service? Or not?
Further, on the trip out (in a world renowned carrier) in Premium Economy, she was in 777s and on the way back in 380s. She hated the first and loved the second. Same cabin layout and service? Or not?
Last edited by PAXboy; 19th Feb 2017 at 12:53.
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Garuda now get my hard earned £££'s,ok i use their business class product and i always look forward to flying with them,i cannot say that for any other airline. sorry BA please add me to your churn list.
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Better service on almost every Asian airlines - outside the Sub-Continent - than ANY European or N American airline
In most countries being CC is a serious, well paid and respected job - in the USA or Europe it's.... not........ just Google rate sof pay v. National averages...............
Most CC in the West would make as much money flipping burgers - damn close to Minimal Wage
In most countries being CC is a serious, well paid and respected job - in the USA or Europe it's.... not........ just Google rate sof pay v. National averages...............
Most CC in the West would make as much money flipping burgers - damn close to Minimal Wage
Being cabin crew in Europe and the US is a serious job. Anedotally, crew from Asian countries are courteous and friendly with excellent customer service skills but can be very subservient and timid. In my opinion, that isn't great from a 'safety professional'.
Forgetting the current BA mixed fleet situation, the mixed fleet contract is exceptionally poor, I am not entirely sure why Joe Public regard cabin crew as being a poorly paid job. In most instances, that isn't the case.
I don't want to make out that crew make mega bucks (they don't) but even at the LCC I work for, the most junior full time crew member in the UK earns between 24K and 27K a year. Certain charter crew on long haul can earn more than that too when you take into account their allowances.
The fact is that the basic salary of cabin crew is often quite low but then flight pay (the pay associated with operating flights) is added plus commission (this can be lucrative at certain carriers) and by the end you can actually earn some good money. Put it this way, I have colleagues who could not earn the same amount at most other unskilled roles, and certainly not flipping burgers.
As a cabin manager on circa £32,000 I certainly could not and with a UK national average salary, being around 27K, it begs the question, why do people believe that cabin crew is such a poorly paid job?
Forgetting the current BA mixed fleet situation, the mixed fleet contract is exceptionally poor, I am not entirely sure why Joe Public regard cabin crew as being a poorly paid job. In most instances, that isn't the case.
I don't want to make out that crew make mega bucks (they don't) but even at the LCC I work for, the most junior full time crew member in the UK earns between 24K and 27K a year. Certain charter crew on long haul can earn more than that too when you take into account their allowances.
The fact is that the basic salary of cabin crew is often quite low but then flight pay (the pay associated with operating flights) is added plus commission (this can be lucrative at certain carriers) and by the end you can actually earn some good money. Put it this way, I have colleagues who could not earn the same amount at most other unskilled roles, and certainly not flipping burgers.
As a cabin manager on circa £32,000 I certainly could not and with a UK national average salary, being around 27K, it begs the question, why do people believe that cabin crew is such a poorly paid job?
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ExXB - not so sure
You might get a really good flight on a US airline trans-Atlantic but that's not soemthing you'd bet on these days
Fot long -haul the gulf airlines set a pretty high standard these days and so do the SE Asian ones.
Personally I'd say Singapore
You might get a really good flight on a US airline trans-Atlantic but that's not soemthing you'd bet on these days
Fot long -haul the gulf airlines set a pretty high standard these days and so do the SE Asian ones.
Personally I'd say Singapore
N4790P
Being cabin crew in Europe and the US is a serious job. Anedotally, crew from Asian countries are courteous and friendly with excellent customer service skills but can be very subservient and timid. In my opinion, that isn't great from a 'safety professional'.
Personally, I would rather have a high level of service with an acceptable level of safety as opposed to the "We are only here for your safety BS (i.e. there is no service) that is spouted on US and many European carriers.
I expect incoming for this view but it is my view!.
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ZFT. A deeply offensive post aimed our hard working professional crews who work extremely hard to keep you safe. I suggest that if you show some respect you'll be shown respect.
Who is it who keep passengers safe, looking after them when they're ill, keeping them alive until the plane lands and medics can take over, who provides CPR, who utilises the defribulator and literally bring people back to life, who ensures the cabin is safe for departure and arrival, keeping the peace amongst rowdy pax, liaising with the flight deck on all issues safety related, fight fires in the cabin? And most importantly they try and stop morons evacuating with massive items of hand luggage.
We pilots merely get the machine from A to B. The real skills are behind the flight deck door dealing with cretins whilst still maintaining a smile.The cabin crew are equally as important as the flight crew. Without them them flight ain't going anywhere.
Who is it who keep passengers safe, looking after them when they're ill, keeping them alive until the plane lands and medics can take over, who provides CPR, who utilises the defribulator and literally bring people back to life, who ensures the cabin is safe for departure and arrival, keeping the peace amongst rowdy pax, liaising with the flight deck on all issues safety related, fight fires in the cabin? And most importantly they try and stop morons evacuating with massive items of hand luggage.
We pilots merely get the machine from A to B. The real skills are behind the flight deck door dealing with cretins whilst still maintaining a smile.The cabin crew are equally as important as the flight crew. Without them them flight ain't going anywhere.
Last edited by HeartyMeatballs; 19th Feb 2017 at 18:06. Reason: Claim that my post directed to someone who showed a complete lack of regard for cabin crew was 'harsh'.
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Married to a former F/A I appreciate their value other than being catering staff. However, even my wife has at times questioned the physical abilities of large overweight F/As (USA) and slim slender F/As (Asia).
Son of Slot
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I have asked HeartyMeatballs to reconsider his hasty words. No one would deny that some staff appear to be ill suited to their task. But the forum does not permit wide ranging insults to Cabin Crew, leave alone direct attacks on other members.
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On disembarking a long haul recently, I saw the First Officer of my flight and wondered how he fitted behind the yoke...
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Fixed my post to make it less harsh. I find it deeply disappointing that someone can come in an insult an entire profession (a very important one) and it's me who ends up in the wrong for defending cabin crew. It is a shame that everyone seems happy for a poster to claim the crew are not important and are there to sell you pringles and nothing more than that. ZFT's post was deeply offensive yet s/he receives no feedback whatsoever particularly when s/he indicated that they expected to receive 'incoming' so they knew what they were saying would create a stir.
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Thank you SoS for clarifying that.
And for Meatballs' Final Thought: if any of you are flight crew as you share the same opinion as ZFT then please have a word with yourself. If not for you then change for the safety of passengers you're tasked with keeping safe.
G'night.
And for Meatballs' Final Thought: if any of you are flight crew as you share the same opinion as ZFT then please have a word with yourself. If not for you then change for the safety of passengers you're tasked with keeping safe.
G'night.
Harsh or not, a big thank you to Heartymeatballs for sticking up for his colleagues at the other side of the flight deck door. What he said certainly resinated with me. Whether it was reflective of ZFT, I cannot say.
In actual fact, I do occasionally ponder whether cabin crew are actually primarily in a safety related role. I'm allowed to though because I am trained crew and i guess I know what I am talking about.
Each time I question whether i really am a safety professional I quickly realise that actually, I am. A lot of passengers believe that the safety role of cabin crew extends merely to the safety demonstration on a good day and an emergency on a bad day. But who do you think checks the inventory and serviceability of safety and emergency equipment? Who thoroughly searches an aircraft to maintain security? Who makes sure the cabin is 'secure' for take off and landing and prepared for an emergency/evacuation during these critical stages? Thats right, when we secure the cabin, we aren't making up rules and regs to make life hard for you. We are making sure that luggage is placed well under seats so that they don't fall into the aisle and exits, that laptops are stowed away so they don't become projectiles etc etc. Essentially making the cabin more survivable.
Who checks on the welfare of flight crew including training to deal with the incapacitation of one of them? Who ensures fire prevention through strict rubbish/gash collection, stowage and toilet checks?
Who is trained to spot three different types of icing on the wings and through their experience of working onboard an aircraft can actually identify any unusual noises, sensations and smells?
Who is trained to an high standard of first aid and tested on this regularly?
Those are all safety related duties and many of those duties are routine and not directly involved with an emergency or incident. When i rationalise this way and when I take my yearly exams and watch/read/listen to case studies on recurrent/refreshers where cabin crew have made a vital difference it hits home that we are indeed there primarily for safety and that makes me proud to do the job that I do.
There are crew blogs that get on their soap box and call us doctors/firefighters etc and I cringe at these. We are not, we are cabin crew and we have our own job specification and we do not need the specification of other careers. Equally, I cannot standby and not say anything when my job/profession is misinterpreted (putting it politely) by someone who doesn't know much about the role. Why? Because he isn't trained and ultimately, thats why you need cabin crew on board your flight in a safety capacity. If not, do you really think you would have crew at all in economy these days?
In actual fact, I do occasionally ponder whether cabin crew are actually primarily in a safety related role. I'm allowed to though because I am trained crew and i guess I know what I am talking about.
Each time I question whether i really am a safety professional I quickly realise that actually, I am. A lot of passengers believe that the safety role of cabin crew extends merely to the safety demonstration on a good day and an emergency on a bad day. But who do you think checks the inventory and serviceability of safety and emergency equipment? Who thoroughly searches an aircraft to maintain security? Who makes sure the cabin is 'secure' for take off and landing and prepared for an emergency/evacuation during these critical stages? Thats right, when we secure the cabin, we aren't making up rules and regs to make life hard for you. We are making sure that luggage is placed well under seats so that they don't fall into the aisle and exits, that laptops are stowed away so they don't become projectiles etc etc. Essentially making the cabin more survivable.
Who checks on the welfare of flight crew including training to deal with the incapacitation of one of them? Who ensures fire prevention through strict rubbish/gash collection, stowage and toilet checks?
Who is trained to spot three different types of icing on the wings and through their experience of working onboard an aircraft can actually identify any unusual noises, sensations and smells?
Who is trained to an high standard of first aid and tested on this regularly?
Those are all safety related duties and many of those duties are routine and not directly involved with an emergency or incident. When i rationalise this way and when I take my yearly exams and watch/read/listen to case studies on recurrent/refreshers where cabin crew have made a vital difference it hits home that we are indeed there primarily for safety and that makes me proud to do the job that I do.
There are crew blogs that get on their soap box and call us doctors/firefighters etc and I cringe at these. We are not, we are cabin crew and we have our own job specification and we do not need the specification of other careers. Equally, I cannot standby and not say anything when my job/profession is misinterpreted (putting it politely) by someone who doesn't know much about the role. Why? Because he isn't trained and ultimately, thats why you need cabin crew on board your flight in a safety capacity. If not, do you really think you would have crew at all in economy these days?
N4790P
HeartyMeatballs,
It was not meant to be offensive and I apologise if it came across as such. Also I’m sorry for getting you a ‘Yellow Card’ too.
My point (which seemed to get lost) was that this industry is now so safe that the safety aspect is being used as an excuse to lower service levels. Safety and service need not be mutually exclusive.
I don’t for one second undervalue the CC role with “Who is it who keep passengers safe, looking after them when they're ill, keeping them alive until the plane lands and medics can take over, who provides CPR, who utilises the defribulator and literally bring people back to life, who ensures the cabin is safe for departure and arrival, keeping the peace amongst rowdy pax, liaising with the flight deck on all issues safety related, fight fires in the cabin? And most importantly they try and stop morons evacuating with massive items of hand luggage”, but in over 50 years of very frequent traveling, none of the above have been personally experienced (that I’m aware off).
It is strange that the Asian carriers that typically provide excellent service may be derided on these forums for being subservient, less safety minded etc and yet no one seems to object to these comments or spring to their defense!
Anyway, as I don’t want a 'Red Card', I’ll back out of this topic now.
It was not meant to be offensive and I apologise if it came across as such. Also I’m sorry for getting you a ‘Yellow Card’ too.
My point (which seemed to get lost) was that this industry is now so safe that the safety aspect is being used as an excuse to lower service levels. Safety and service need not be mutually exclusive.
I don’t for one second undervalue the CC role with “Who is it who keep passengers safe, looking after them when they're ill, keeping them alive until the plane lands and medics can take over, who provides CPR, who utilises the defribulator and literally bring people back to life, who ensures the cabin is safe for departure and arrival, keeping the peace amongst rowdy pax, liaising with the flight deck on all issues safety related, fight fires in the cabin? And most importantly they try and stop morons evacuating with massive items of hand luggage”, but in over 50 years of very frequent traveling, none of the above have been personally experienced (that I’m aware off).
It is strange that the Asian carriers that typically provide excellent service may be derided on these forums for being subservient, less safety minded etc and yet no one seems to object to these comments or spring to their defense!
Anyway, as I don’t want a 'Red Card', I’ll back out of this topic now.