The Worst Airlines
 

BA has to be number one for me - i refuse to fly with them for the past 3 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23631153

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

1 - Air France
2 - Air France
3 - Air France

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

For many years BA was thought to stand for 'Bloody Awful'. Not much change, then...

Air France was, is and always will be a shit airline, and Air Chance have also buggered up KLM, which used to be a middling airline, and now are down there with the dregs.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Absolute shite reporting ("reoccurred" FFS), and who the hell are the passengers to judge whether a plane should fly?

"I feel BA put 300 lives at risk by putting us on the same plane 24 hours after trying to fix a fault."

So how long should they wait? 36 hours? 48 hours? A month, a year, all eternity?

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Actually, what scares me most is flying on any aircraft which is dependent in any way on 3rd world / corrupt countries or a workforce from those countries. KLM have pretty appalling service and food and a bloody unfriendly website, but I always feel safe departing Schipol.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

All the American carriers are migraine inducing.

----

So how about a list of top 3 attributes that make a carrier good .

I'll kick it off (well duh)

1) Leg room!!
2) Decent food
3) Good choice of TV entertainement

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Normal cabin crew that aren't miserable as sin.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Well, if we're talking about the Americans, we can start with United........... :thumbsup:

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

In no particular order:
British Airways, always a disappointment.
Bangaladesh Biman, you wouldn't though would you?
Egypt Air.


To be fair I think there are more good than bad airlines these days. I've never flown Air France so cannot comment, last time on KLM was years back and they were good then.

Nice surprises. Top of the list probably Icelandic Air, and if you fly their UK to US route it's just two 4 hour hops with a stop off for tea and a bun at Reykjavik, which seems far too British to miss, great service

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much of Emirates workforce is from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc etc.

:getcoat:

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Er...... that is precisely the point he is making - this (DXB) IS the third world too, you know.......

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

had the misfortune to do Biman a few times and they are shite .

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Come on Dean, they are not all that bad. I thoroughly enjoy flying Hawaiian Airlines. Their inter-island flights don't offer much, more like shuttles but what they do offer is a good attitude full of aloha spirit. It's quite common to be on board with musicians travelling to gigs on other islands to entertain passengers during the fight. I remember last new years eve when I was flying from kauai to Maui. They asked what I wanted to drink, of course I said champagne but the attendant said they had run out. Before I could say anything they were off and running to find a bottle, they did.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

I'd probably not fly Tongan airlines at the moment

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...c16.21&index=0

Or anybody flying MA60's for that matter

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

So anyone flown SwissAir ?

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Superficially Emirates and Etihad are impressive and enjoyable.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Yes - several times. My most recent flight back from the UK was with them, via Zurich. They were OK; nothing special.

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Yep, 27 years ago, on my exit-only visa final flight from Riyadh. So scunnered when I got to London I was incapable of speech; somehow they managed to lose my baggage, but I was so paralytic I couldn't explain...Gloria picked me up in my Mustang, but that's all I can remember. :o

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Never flown them .

I'd assumed they would be top notch as the Swiss are known to be perfectionists .

---

So any consensus on who is the best carrier by a country mile?

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

I dunno what others think, but I rate Cathay Pacific very highly, having flown them in Business class and cattle class.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Virgin Business Class

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

You have GOT to be joking........... dreadful food, zero legroom (even for much shorter passengers than me) and narrow seats, plus a seriously unpleasant - no, downright hostile - attitude from the wagon dragons.......... most airlines I will at least fly with again if I have a bad flight with them, but I will never fly Virgin again.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

I like Swiss Air and have flown with them several times. Singapore Airlines takes the top prize for the best from me though :)

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Scat airlines between Baku Azerbaijan and Atyrau Kazakhstan - 50 Year old Ruski propeller jobs - they had one identical to the one we flew on parked as a decoration in the middle of a roundabout in Atyrau!:eek:

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Azeri Airlines (AHY) used to use ancient Russian Illushin IL76's (I think Tridentski's) Between Baku and Dubai. All were in shit condition, and required much pre-flight alcohol to be consumed to numb the rising panic before take off. They also used to use ex-Pan Am 727's to Gatwick - they still had the Pan Am logo on the seat belt buckles....Too noisy and poluting for Gatwick now ( I hope...)

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

I quite like Virgin. The Premium Economy offers bigger seats and better leg room. Also, in terms of trolley dollys, its industry known that that have the sluttiest ones.

Emirates & Etihad are generally much of a muchness for me. Been flying Etihad quite a bit recently as they seem to be a good bit cheaper than Emirates. The only thing that would set them apart for me (which has annoyed me hugely) is that on Etihad they play several adverts before each program you put on. They are always the same so if you are watching a series you have to mess around with the crappy remote. 1st world problems I know!

Emirates business is pretty boss.

Bulgarian airways.... oft! Flew with them about 10 years ago. Wooden tables, glass tumblers and spirts poured by hand out of the bottle.....

BA have always been average and they have by far the ugliest trolly dollys.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Surprised that no one has mentioned Ryan Air as the worst... Air France is shockingly bad - hated every second on that flight...

I do quite like Emirates I have to admit...

Flew Turkish Airlines recently, they keep winning awards etc but have to admit found them ok at best, not great for sure...

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

I flew Lao Airlines internally in Laos about 6 years ago. It was like being on the village bus. When all the seats were full, they actually got out those little plastic stools and started to fill up the aisle, until everyone was on. Never been so glad when we touched down safely!

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

I’ve done Lufthansa a few times lately and would rank them below BA and KLM, although for internal flights within Germany they were ok. Also, Frankfurt is a pretty horrible airport.

I don’t have a huge problem with BA (or KLM), for flights back to the UK I’d rather go with them and pocket the difference in price v’s Emirates, plus the onward connection times are much better.

Emirates Business Class is a very nice away to fly.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Singapore Airlines wipes the floor with everyone ive ever flown with over the years .Their economy is superb and business class is fantastic .


Emirates is a decent airline in my opinion , their quality has waned a little bit over the years but you still get a decent all round experience . They were fantastic in the 90's.

You were getting business class service in the cheap seats , unheard of at the time , probably never to be repeated .

Qatar Airways is the most overrated airline at this present time , it's a bit like Doha in general really. It promises a lot but only delivers a sub standard service at top prices .

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

That is the best discription of Doha, and Qatar in general that I've seen on here. It should be at the top of the 'Is it worth it?' thread as n early warning of the disappointment ahead.

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It's the only place on the planet where you'll see multi billionaires buying tissues and pyjama's in Carrefour !

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

LHR to DXB with BA was unutterably grim, but about half the price of Emirates. On the plus side, my luggage was only 24 hours late. Bizarrely enough their internal flight from MAN to LHR was very pleasant indeed.

Etihad - OK, though I'm wary of using their online booking system again after a foul up the last time I used it.

Emirates - the A380 is the best way to fly economy. Nothing else even comes close in my opinion.

KLM - average

Ryanair - the reasons no one mentions them is that you know it's basically a flying cattle truck so expectations are low to start with. They generally get you to where you want to go (or somewhere vaguely close) when you want to get there - on time. If the flights delayed or cancelled you're Donald Ducked though

Merpati Airlines in Indonesia were great, a 20 minute flight and they still managed to serve an in flight meal!

Basically air travel is a pretty lousy experience whichever airline you fly with. I drove from Retford to Cologne in a day a couple of weeks ago which took 12 and a half hours (including ferry crossing), and I didn't feel half as shattered as I did after a plane journey of a similar duration.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

I think they are keepin' it real.

Of course, the tissues are for the prostitutes and the pyjamas for the maid, but we will overlook that fact.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

I was thinkin of Singapore Airlines ; haven't flown with them since the 90s but I recal they were the nicest back then.

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Disagree. When the flight is cheaper than the train fare to the airport that balances out most of the inconveniences. If the flight's under, say, three hours I don't want to eat or drink on board (except water); everything's got to be done online, but I do everything online whenever I fly; for short-haul I don't really care where I sit; they have a good safety record. What's not to like?

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

With Ryan Air you're not paying a premium to recieve shit service. Qatar Airways think they're a premium airline with prices to match but fail to live up to expectations. At least Ryan Air are honest - pay little, get little. QA work on the principal of Pay a premium, get rock bottom service, staff, food, timelyness, etc,etc...

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

The way they treat their staff? All pilots are self-employed and they aren't paid that much. Most use Ryan Air as a 'starter job' and all hope to move to a bigger airline with decent pay. This from clients who are ex-Ryan Air staff and much happier for it.

Mind you, what do I know? I've never flown with a budget airline.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Why is that a problem?

Most people early in their career have to do a starter job, where they gain experience instead of pay. It's simply part of the deal, everyone knows that's how it works and it benefits all.

Re: The Worst Airlines
 

Talking of budget airlines, I think that FlyDubai is bloody brilliant.