Would you fly Air France?
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The OP's question was " Would you fly Air France"? I gave my reasons for using them.
Thanks chaps. As my trip down to SA is an additional one I am fitting in before another scheduled trip to SA, then price is more of a consideration on this occasion. Their prices to JNB from LHR are really reasonable. Priority for me is safety, and a decent window seat which I can look out of occasionally! Food, legroom (I'm a short arse) and IFE etc are not a priority for me. KLM is an alternative.
Last edited by Helol; 30th May 2017 at 19:00.
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In my post, I did consider all aspects I could including safety apart from being privy to a jump-seat ride. I think AF has learned much (as they needed to) since 447.
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No way would I climb aboard any of their aircraft,{ about 30,000 hours total time I would guess} still flying for leisure and for lots of money. One only has to watch their behavior and listen to their R/T babble to understand why.
I have a form of personal risk assessment I apply. It looks at alternatives. For instance, in somewhere like Indonesia, while the safety of air travel may be less than perfect, the alternatives are probably even less safe (with the exception of their few train routes) so I would fly. But, let's face it, getting from the airport into town is going to involve some road travel.
I look at Air France and I see an airline whose safety culture appears (and note I am not being absolute) to have some failings. I would therefore consider alternatives. However if, like driving into town in Indonesia, there isn't a sensible alternative (and that is by no means about price) I would fly Air France.
I look at Air France and I see an airline whose safety culture appears (and note I am not being absolute) to have some failings. I would therefore consider alternatives. However if, like driving into town in Indonesia, there isn't a sensible alternative (and that is by no means about price) I would fly Air France.
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I have only ever flown with AF once. It was in the early nineties from LHR to CDG. I seem to remember it was an A310 – is this likely on that route?
Anyway, it was a very stormy summer afternoon. Thunder, lightning, torrential rain and CB all round, yet my flight went on time despite most other airlines showing delays from T2.
It came as no great surprise several years later, when travelling cross channel from Dover to Calais on a very stormy day, that Sea France were still operating when both P&O and Stena (which were still separate companies at the time) had cancelled all their crossings.
The ship went first to the western end of the harbour to work up speed and take a good run-up at the eastern harbour entrance. It was the one and only time I had seen other passengers shut up and listen to the safety briefing on a cross channel ferry.
Anyway, it was a very stormy summer afternoon. Thunder, lightning, torrential rain and CB all round, yet my flight went on time despite most other airlines showing delays from T2.
It came as no great surprise several years later, when travelling cross channel from Dover to Calais on a very stormy day, that Sea France were still operating when both P&O and Stena (which were still separate companies at the time) had cancelled all their crossings.
The ship went first to the western end of the harbour to work up speed and take a good run-up at the eastern harbour entrance. It was the one and only time I had seen other passengers shut up and listen to the safety briefing on a cross channel ferry.
The company I work for had to send me from Australia to Norway a few years ago (1 year after A330 incident), they booked me from Singapore to CDG then onto COP with AF, I REFUSED, the company wasn't happy but I stood firm. A few days later they came back with cheaper flights...........Cathy Pacific. Had a GREAT flight with CX, up-graded to Business from Cairns to HK then had good seats in Econ to Paris.
I have only made one round trip with them - August 2015 while on holiday in France, my former boss decided he wanted a team getogther in Hartford. Had I been coming from home, it would have been SQ via Frankfurt (and I did consider driving there to get the onward flight to NY but the missus vetoed that!), so it was choice of AF or some US airline.
In the end I decided AF to Boston.
I felt that the crew, though reasonably good on service, had a rather relaxed attitude to seatbelts, bags on the floor, wandering around the cabin during lumpy conditions, whereas SQ crews are much more strict in those sort of areas so it did make me wonder about the whole safety culture. I go to France a lot and they do seem more laissez faire about personal safety, seeming to believe in the individual making his/her own decisions.
In the end I decided AF to Boston.
I felt that the crew, though reasonably good on service, had a rather relaxed attitude to seatbelts, bags on the floor, wandering around the cabin during lumpy conditions, whereas SQ crews are much more strict in those sort of areas so it did make me wonder about the whole safety culture. I go to France a lot and they do seem more laissez faire about personal safety, seeming to believe in the individual making his/her own decisions.
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Only flown one trip with AF, many years ago 1996 in fact - Manchester - Paris - Nairobi and back. All flights were good. Was allocated seat upstairs in the bubble (all economy up there at the time) in B747 on flight from Paris to Nairobi but found it very claustrophobic so changed my seat for the return and was downstairs - much better.
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I can only imagine that some people allow themselves to be excessively influenced by statistics that have such low sample rates as to be utterly meaningless. You might think pilots would know better.
Or is it just mindless Frog-bashing? I wonder...
Or is it just mindless Frog-bashing? I wonder...
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noflynomore
Do not think it is "frog bashing" as you say, just too many incidents over the years compared with other carriers in Europe who are their direct competitors for some people I guess (myself included).
Do not think it is "frog bashing" as you say, just too many incidents over the years compared with other carriers in Europe who are their direct competitors for some people I guess (myself included).
If you start a thread called "Would you fly Air France?" then it shouldn't really come as a surprise that it produces a string of anecdotes, mostly relating bad experiences. 
Incident: France A343 at Bogota on Mar 11th 2017, abnormally long takeoff run
So, (beyond other things, like pilots demanding their own toilet in the -350
), no thanks!
So, (beyond other things, like pilots demanding their own toilet in the -350
), no thanks!
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Call me naive, but I fly Air France regularly to the US East and West Coasts. The only "incident" I can report was some serious delays on multiple legs of one return trip to the West Coast. I was in no hurry, however, and after penalty payments received I was in the black by about 1000 euro. Other than that trip, things have gone relatively smoothly and comfortably. Recent trip trip to IAD was flawless both ways.
Certainly not from me, I have a house there and it's the retirement plan. Or was, before the Brexit vote...
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I'm from the bottom half of the world and we have AF as a staff travel partner, used them LHR-CDG a couple of months ago. No major issues at the LHR end. Flew them in 2010 TLS-CDG and same, no major issue. Service in flight was better on the more recent flight.
As for flight safety there are plenty of carriers to be concerned about that do fly to the EU, AF isn't one of them
As for flight safety there are plenty of carriers to be concerned about that do fly to the EU, AF isn't one of them
