What makes an airline good?

[harvyk]

Frequently there are posts stating that one airline is better than another.

But what are the things which will make you recommend one airline to all your friends and conversely what things will make you warn everyone against travelling with an airline?

For me I want the following things

- Friendly FA's
- Decent food in the air
- With exception to the shortest of flights - decent IFE
- Good lounge with free drinks and food


Conversely I don't want to see

- FA's who have obvious dislike for their job
- Cramped seating
- Stuck in the air for many hours with no decent food. (Being able to purchase a single cookie on a 5 hour flight does not count as lunch)

Also for me, LCC's are right out of the question. I want my lunch and entertainment to be included in the fare, because if it's not I'll still be purchasing these items in the air anyway, thus the $29 el-cheapo fares do not cut it, as by the time I add the extra's I'd be getting up around the cheap fares of a full service carrier (if not a little more).

So what are the things which are important to you?

 

[notzac]

Let's see. For me, the following points are important (in no particular order):

• Good schedule of destinations
• Good connections to partner carriers
• Excellent safety record
• Easy to navigate website with clear and obvious online booking/purchasing (including award tickets)
• Good online booking management and online check-in
• Helpful contact centre staff and ground staff
• Clear and properly enforced options for elite check-in, baggage, preferred seating and boarding
• Decent airport lounge with reasonable food/bev options, free wifi and helpful lounge dragons
• Friendly, professional FAs
• Reasonable food and drink options - even if paid - would prefer something a little nicer than a "7/11 in the air"
• Customer-focused policies (and staff available that are empowered to do things) for when something goes wrong

There's probably more, but that covers the main points. I'm yet to find an airline that manages all of the above (QF comes close, but I'm not a fan of their website. DJ .. is getting there, but has a way to go yet.)

 

[dajop]

Also for me, LCC's are right out of the question. I want my lunch and entertainment to be included in the fare, because if it's not I'll still be purchasing these items in the air anyway, thus the $29 el-cheapo fares do not cut it, as by the time I add the extra's I'd be getting up around the cheap fares of a full service carrier (if not a little more).

I am often amused by resistance to LCC's based on in lack of "free" in flight catering (there are plenty of other reasons to avoid LCC's:!. For me, for flights that are in the air for 30 minutes (or even 60 minutes) food and drinks are irrelevant. My logic is that if I get in a car and drive for 30 minutes (or on a train, bus etc) I do not have the urge to eat and actually cope just fine, same in a plane. Go any longer than 90 minutes and becomes a factor, moreso around meal times.

Having said that I don't consider LCC's for long haul or "critical" travel for other reasons, but for spontaneous short haul leisure travel they are fantastic, over the years have had quite a few short jaunts using LCCs that I just wouldn't have done otherwise.

I guess in all this what I am trying to say what makes an airline good is "fit for purpose", as not only YMMV but MMMV (is that a recognised acronym?) depending on what the specifics of my travel are (duration, purpose, timing etc). But all of that comes second to safety.

 

[Jobu]

Most of my travel is long haul, so I tend to focus on the following:

1. Safety and reputation
2. Comfortable seat
3. Schedule / direct flights / convenient connections

and finally, if I have all of the above satisfied and still have more than 1 choice:

4. FF points

Cheers,

JOBU

 

[JohnK]

No so easy to answer so requires a little thought. In no particular order

• Good schedule of flights
• Reliability of aircraft and size of fleet leading to acceptable on-time performance
• Reputation for good customer service
• Good network of partners (no necessarily part of an alliance)
• Good frequent flyer program and status within easy(-ish) reach (not PPS Solitaire or CX Diamond) and obviously a good network of lounges including partner lounges
• Friendly and professional staff including FA's
• Good catering including complimentary alcohol on long haul (not just 1 drink with your meal and pay for the rest)

I am sure there is more but that is all I can think of for now.

 

[JetLagged]

I am sure that there will be many responses to this question - and thanks very much harvyk for having the initiative to launch it.


I agree totally with notzac's and johnk's lists. I'd like to highlight this aspect of customer service:

• When something does go wrong, a good airline is one who does a professional job of either fixing the issue, or trying to help those caught out.

My partner was stuck on a QF flight that wasn't going anywhere fast and QF did what one would expect: ALL passengers were kept informed of what was happening; when the plane didn't make it out (owing to government blind-spot, not the airlines), all passengers swiftly accommodated for the evening on bed and breakfast basis and transported either by taxi (F and J and QC) or bus (Y), and telephone allowance.

OK, this is what we be;lieve should happen, and expect to happen - a good airline makes sure that it does!

 

[markis10]

The ability to get you to your destination safely.
The ability to fix things when they go wrong.
The ability to tell the truth.

 

[Chicken]

I am surprised that safety is so far down the list of so many people, or not even on the list for some people.

Surely, arriving with all your body parts in their original locations must be a top priority? Or people here like to live life on the edge???

 

[jsd]

Ok, I'll throw in my two cents:

1) Catering - I don't mind paying for meals onboard, but I expect to be able to buy soimething that is somewhat filling

2) Schedules - I'm not a morning person and an airline that provides a range of times to pick from through the day is a must

3) Situation Handling - If something goes wrong, I need someone there who can give me an answer or help me resolve the issue, this includes everything from a cancellation or a delay through to missing baggage, I don't like being screwed around.

4) Aircraft Condition - The aircraft should be clean and tidy, I have a right to sit in my seat and not find crumbs scattered everywhere or rubbish in the seat pocket, same goes for damage to the aircraft, It should be fixed as soon as it is noticed.

5) Ground Service - I don't like OLCI or Kiosk check-in etc. I would much rather go up to the desk and collect my travel documents and drop my bags, Airline staff should not act like its so inconvinient for me to come up and check in at the counter.

6) Lounges - Should be clean and maintained and have a decent selection of food and drink, after all. That is what you pay for


And that pretty much sums it up, as for safety, when its domestic I figure that if CASA gave the airline an AOC then they must be safe enough for their standards. As for international I will cross that hurdle when I get to it


Josh

 

[Alanslegal]

Different flyers have different opinions and desires, however alot of the recommendations I make are to family and friends who possess one or more of the following criteria i) have no status ii) have no interest in frequent flyer benefits iii) no interest in lounges iv) fly economy v) looking for cheapest or best value fare vi) prefer direct routings; And out of all those family and friends, their main preference would be a) comfort b) safety and c) general service. Thus recommendations are based around that, and usally I point them towards QF, SQ, CX, TG, NZ.

However more frequent flyers, like many here, would have different desires such as frequent flyer benefits and good lounges.

 

[Keith009]

1) Friendly, down to earth and personable crew
2) Efficient, knowledgeable ticketing offices
3) Good safety record
4) Great selection of booze
5) Good elite FF recognition and benefits
6) Fantastic service on the ground - both the luxurious (fab lounges) and the necessities (efficient check in processes, well managed boarding processes, lose your bags as little as possible etc)
7) Good onboard ambience - aircraft cleanliness, clean toilets, up-to-date hard product
8) Great network and partner airlines with full FF program reciprocity
9) A decent rewards program
10) When something does go wrong - the ability to think outside the box to help resolve issues as expediently as possible
11) Consistency

I don't think there's ever a 'perfect' airline that excels in every criteria but along those lines I'd usually go with QF, NZ, SQ, BA, LH, MH in that order. Ticketing seems to be a hard one for most every airline to get - but IME AA and CX seem to excel, maybe SQ and QF to a lesser extent if you keep your requests simple and routine.

 

[pn01]

At the absolute minimum decent quality of:

checkin
organised boarding/offboarding
in-flight comfort - seat size/pitch, IFE, personal air vents, etc

 

[JeniSkunk]

In terms of OLCI and seat selection, making sure that the aircraft listed on the OLCI screens actually matches the aircraft to be used on the flight.
To have an efficient and effective system in place to notify pax when a change in aircraft has needed to be made and to resolve pax complaints arising from when the aircraft has needed to be changed at the last minute.
eg: DJ switching within 24hours of a flight from a 737-700 with IFE to a 737-800 with no IFE, without notification to pax of the change. No notification of the change in aircraft made, no recompense offered to the pax. That is a FAIL.

Jenifur Charne

 

[dajop]

Another thing that I like to see (it's not the only thing obviously), related to safety, is strict cabin management. This is particularly evident during take off preparations and and during final approach. Both QF and SQ are extremely diligent in ensuring hand luggage and items are placed away/under seat, seatbelts on, seats upright etc. I've seen other airlines where the cabin crew are too polite to do anything the odd recalcitrant passenger. Ditto during in fight seat belt on periods, doing seat belt checks. Indicates safety is taken seriously.

 

[ozimax]

1. Professional yet friendly trolley dolleys, sorry, flight attendants )) are becoming very hard to find. A good FA can make a lousy, cheap, long, delayed flight seem bearable.

2.Plenty of Swiss chocolate also helps.

 

[JohnK]

I am surprised that safety is so far down the list of so many people, or not even on the list for some people.

Surely, arriving with all your body parts in their original locations must be a top priority? Or people here like to live life on the edge???

I think safety is very important but for me that is a "not negotiable" criteria which is why I did not include it in my list.

 

[harvyk]

I am surprised that safety is so far down the list of so many people, or not even on the list for some people.

Surely, arriving with all your body parts in their original locations must be a top priority? Or people here like to live life on the edge???

Safety is important, that said I have yet to fly on any route where there safety could factor into the decision in any serious way.

I would also hazard a guess that if an airline is deficient in safety, it's probably deficient in other area's which have been identified here.