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
