Airlines

[bhchao]

Which airline has consistently given you the most pleasant experience after considering the following criteria:

1) Service hospitality in the air

2) Quality of food

3) Seat comfort, or riding comfort

4) Pretty flight attendants (or handsome if you are a female passenger)

5) Timely departure and arrivals

6) Entertainment amenities

7) Ticket booking flexibility or frequent flyer miles

[necroflux]

You left out China airlines (probably a good idea), and a category for "most crashes in the last 20 years"..

http://www.planecrashinfo.com/rates.htm

I almost bought a ticket with China airlines, but luckily found this page first. Usually I fly with EVA, a great combination of price and quality.

[Outofin]

I happened to read an article just yesterday saying more Chinese are switching to Korean Air especially for those who go to 2nd tier cities in the mainland. But I don’t see the trend among my friends yet.

Ticket price is still the top thing to consider. I don’t really care about food, entertainment and service because I don’t see big differences and don’t expect too much. But I’m willing to pay more for a comfort seat and more leg space.

[Ian_Lee]

There are detailed annual surveys on airlines and airports and 1-5 star rating ranked by this UK-based website:

http://www.airlinequality.com

To be fair, CAL and KAL, especially KAL, have improved a lot in term of safety in recent years. Both airlines have fired their fighter-jet-pilots turned civilian-jet-pilots and the new pilots' English communication skills have much improved.

And KAL still keeps my mileage even though I quit flying it since 1996.

According to the above website, Afghan Airline and Air Koryo (North Korea's airline) are the worst airlines in the world -- both only receive 1-star rating.

In the passenger's forum, one passenger commented that on Air Koryo, the pretty North Korean attendants don't even have their own seats in the cabin. During taking off and landing, they have to stand up and hold onto anything tight that they can grab!

[bhchao]

During taking off and landing, they have to stand up and hold onto anything tight that they can grab!

Oh my, I am already getting thoughts in my head.

[randall_flagg]

I agree with Outofin. I go for prices and that's that. Nothing else matters (except for safety...maybe). But I can do without any comfort for a few hours (or more) if that means that I can save large amounts of cash.

[bhchao]

Among domestic US airlines, my favorite would have to be JetBlue. Its customer service is more personal and slightly better than Southwest; and far more personalized than American, Delta, or United. Plus JetBlue is very affordable for coast-to-coast US flights, compared to those three.

I would have to choose Singapore Airlines for most pleasant foreign travelling experience. Food is good, seats are comfortable (ample leg room), and I never encountered delays. Never rode Cathay Pacific, but heard its standards are very good or excellent.

Has anyone rode Asiana? Just curious, why is a flight into Tokyo's Haneda much more expensive than flying into Narita Airport?

[Ian_Lee]

For long haul flight, I care anything more than the price itself.

In fact, price is not a factor at all due to the keen competition in the airline industry. Most of the airlines' price difference is at most within 10%. CAL and KAL usually charge less in slow season, but sometimes curiously they charge more than any other airlines do in peak season.

CX always charge more than any other airlines do. But considering its newer jets, food and entertainment, it is worth to pay the premium. And in fact, it is always the first one to be fully booked -- it proves most passengers don't mind paying a little bit extra.

For me, I care which airline can provide the shortest flight time with the fewest stopovers.

[Ian_Lee]

Bhchao:

I have flown CX recently and SIA a long time ago.

IMO the food served in CX is the most edible. Now it cooperates with 7 famous restaurants in Hong Kong for catering on the flight. The gourmet food is not only served in First Class and Business Class, but also Economy Class as well.

Entertainment wise, it also won't get you bored. Everyone got his own seatback TV screen with many Chinese and western movies to choose from. And there are many channels for Mandarin songs and Cantopops.

The problem is that many HK locals feel that the flight attendants give better services to the foreign passengers than the HK locals.

[randall_flagg]

I just thought about what I wrote before and I think it also holds true for long overseas flights: ticket prices are what matters, more than time spent on the road of food/entertainment provided.

Weirdly enough, though, this is not true for train trips through China. Here, I always get the soft-sleeper. Now, why is that? Perhaps its because comfort or no comfort, I like my own space. But this has nothing to do with airlines, really.

[Ian_Lee]

When I mean neligible price difference, I mean the economy class.

But if you fly Business Class or First Class, the difference is much bigger. For instance, Cathay Pacific charges almost one half as much in First Class than British Airway and Virgin on the HK<=> London flight.

[skylee]

The problem is that many HK locals feel that the flight attendants give better services to the foreign passengers than the HK locals.

I agree completely. This and the higher price have almost always stopped me from flying CX. Another factor is that CXholidays hardly offers flight+hotel packages for single travellers at all.

I have just got tickets issued for a trip to Chengdu. I had the choice of flying either CA (Air China) or KA (Dragonair) and I opted for KA without hesitation.The rule is when the prices are about the same, always fly KA from HK to China.

I've flown Virgin Blue once (Sydney -> Melbourne) and I think for that price that plane had the roomiest seats ...

[Ian_Lee]

Other than the above factors, sometimes I consider its loading.

I have been on Air India and Philippine Airlines. The flgihts were fully booked. And at the check-in counter, it looked like that almost every Indian/Filipino passenger had at least 100~120 lbs of luggage. Somehow the agents allowed them to check all those baggages without paying extra.

I always worried if the plane could take off due to overload.

[Mugi]

In fact, price is not a factor at all due to the keen competition in the airline industry. Most of the airlines' price difference is at most within 10%.

If only this were the case in Japan

The problem is that many HK locals feel that the flight attendants give better services to the foreign passengers than the HK locals.

Can't speak for CX per se, but flight attendants I know who fly for other airlines say that this kind of behavior is usually because foreign passengers treat them with more courtesy - I've certainly been shocked before when I've seen the way some passengers have treated airline staff (and this kind of behavior doesn't seem to be restricted to any one nationality or ethnic group). A viscious circle perhaps? I guess if a flight attendant were not very courteous to me, I am sure I would keep my courteousness to a bare minimum.

[wix]

I voted for Thai Airways. I ahve always found their service to be good. However, it is the only airline I have used regularly so I can't comment that much on other airlines service. Other airlines I have used in the past few years include Indian Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, SriLankan, China Airlines and China Southern. I have only taken a few relatively short flights on these airlines so I can't comment too much on their service.

I have never flown on Singapore Airlines and I took one flight on Cathay Pacific quite a few years ago. I always hear good reports about these airlines though so next time I fly I might try and book with them.

[Lu]

I haven't flown that many airlines, so can't really compare. I care mostly about the price. More leg room (a LOT more leg room) would be nice, but it's not important enough for me to go search for it and pay more. I can take the discomfort, and the bad food, the bad movies, and the people telling me I'm so brave for flying China Southern or China Airlines because they crash more than other airlines.

4) Pretty flight attendants (or handsome if you are a female passenger)

Male flight attendants? That's a real rarity. (And handsome ones are even rarer.)

[bhchao]

Cathay Pacific is going to take full ownership of Dragonair

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/business/worldbusiness/05cnd-cathay.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

After two years of talks dogged by complex regulatory and financial issues, Cathay Pacific Airways is on the verge of taking full ownership of Dragonair, people close to the talks said today.

The deal, expected to be concluded this week, will make Cathay Pacific the main foreign carrier serving China.

Cathay, which already owns 17.8 percent of Dragonair, plans a complex transaction to acquire the remainder, said people close to the talks, who insisted on anonymity to avoid disrupting the painstakingly negotiated arrangement. The deal will also increase Cathay's existing 10 percent stake in Air China, a mainland airline, and for the first time, Air China will become a shareholder of Cathay, acquiring at least a 10 percent stake, one of the people said.

After a Hong Kong newspaper, The Standard, reported that a deal was imminent, trading was suspended today in the shares of Cathay and of its largest shareholder, Swire Pacific of Britain. Trading was also suspended in Citic Pacific, which owns stakes in both Cathay Pacific and Dragonair, and in Air China and its majority-owned subsidiary, the China National Aviation Company, which now holds 43.3 percent of Dragonair.

Financial details of the intricate transaction were not available.

Cathay Pacific, based in this former British colony, and Air China, controlled by the Chinese government, have long been China's main aviation links to the world. Facing rising competition, they have now decided to team up.

Their mainland Chinese rivals are becoming increasingly aggressive in opening nonstop air routes from inland Chinese cities to destinations in Europe and the United States. They are bypassing Air China's hub in Beijing and Cathay Pacific's hub in Hong Kong.

By concidence, China Southern Airlines and Sichuan Airlines announced today that they would broaden their partnership with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. KLM is adding flights between Amsterdam and Chengdu, a city in Sichuan province in western China, that China Southern will also market as its own, an arrangement called code-sharing.

The pending Dragonair acquisition "is Cathay's attempt to try to be a continuing player" in the Chinese market, said Andrew Miller, the chief executive of the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, a consulting firm based in Sydney, Australia.

Ranked by the number of international passengers carried, Cathay Pacific is the world's seventh-largest airline. But just as New York City has lost part of its role as the Atlantic gateway to the United States with the advent of nonstop service between Europe and other American cities, Hong Kong's role as the gateway to interior China has also been eroding.

With its British ancestry — Hong Kong was a British territory until 1997 — Cathay has struggled to win permission from Chinese officials to fly to mainland cities. It currently serves just two, Beijing and Xiamen.

Chinese regulators have preferred to authorize flights by Dragonair, in which the Chinese government is, indirectly, the largest shareholder. Dragonair now operates flights between its base in Hong Kong and 21 mainland cities; it also flies to Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand. Its shares do not trade publicly.