Ridiculous turn round times? Or just efficient?
I flew back from Germany with FR recently; the inbound flight taxied at a totally normal pace onto chocks, the first passenger was out 104 seconds later and the first of the 107 outbound pax boarded 4 minutes after that. Bags off, bags on, pax brief given and we pushed back 20 minutes and 44 seconds after the ac had chocked in. But at no time was there any feeling of being rushed or hurried along.
I suspect that someone has looked carefully at all aspects of the operation, has identified where time was being wasted and has merely developed a slick operation. Compare that to those airlines where, after parking, there is an interminable wait for a jet way to be lowered. Then someone in a yellow coat with a squawking walkie-talkie turns up, wades slowly through the general declarations before permitting the SLF to disembark. Then there's a faff with the outbound flight because some business class punter has turned up late at the gate.....
No - I'm impressed with FR's style. "This is us. That's what you pay. You will need the booking number and acceptable photo ID. The gate closes at this time. Be there beforehand or you won't fly." Simple enough and clear enough. In flight the ac is kept tidy by the efforts of the cabin crew, so those no need for any cleaners to muck out the ac (have you seen the state that LH business class people leave the ac in, for example?). I don't particularly mind not having a specific seat number on a short trip - and again, it saves turn round time if the passengers just get in, find a seat and sit down.
Would I go back to paying around £50 extra for a Lufthansakaesebroetchen and a 'free' drink served at top-of-drop once the 'Someone else paid for my ticket' Class have been fawned over? Err, I don't think so...........