I fly regularly, usually on domestic routes on the east coast of Australia, and occasionally international routes to the UK, Europe, USA, and Asia. Early last year, I boarded a flight aboard JAL from Brisbane to Sydney through the international terminal, as it made my connection to the USA easier.
The aircraft arrived late from somewhere in Japan.
I among many other passengers were surprised to experience the plane take off, (after only a 2-3 minute taxi) without any safety briefing at all. Furthermore, all the inflight announcements were made in (I assume) Japanese. The majority of passengers were english speaking, and connecting onwards to other destinations. The plane was full, stunk of vomit, and there was no inflight service at all. The flight attendants remained seated for the entire flight, despite smooth conditions. The landing was among the most awful I had ever experienced. I could complain all day about that flight, but I guess what I really want to know is if this is a regular occuernce... I know they are legally reqiured to make announcements in english, but there werent any. I have experienced a similar occurence recently in france, where upon landing, there were problems with the aircraft and the crews emergency instructions were all given in french.
Anyone else ever experienced the same?
P.S. Commend Ansett after a recent flight with them. They went out of the way to get everyones attention during safety announcements by involving a couple of passengers. It was funny at the time, yet very effective!