Air France

I travel frequently to Europe and in particular to Paris. And I should say AirFrance has been an airline I have flown frequently. Like any other airline the quality and service and age of aircraft goes up and down in cycles. The newer Airbus380 planes are really big and I have mixed feelings about it. Specially if you are flying from an airport that is not well equipped to handle it you have to take a bus in and out. LAX for example before it's expansion was such and boarding and arrivals were a pain. However with the new expansion of the International Bradley terminal it is much easier and convenient, though it is a long walk. Paris airport is of course well equipped to handle the planes, however unless there are problems I took five flights toward the end of last year on Air France both transatlantic as well as within Europe. The boarding in Paris was anything but well organized, the new A380 planes carry over 500 passengers all anxious to board and without proper instructions and planning (which usually lacks) you have to fight the crowd and forget it if you have priority passes due to loyalty programs, it is still a mess. On one occasion there was a problem with the plane not only the flight was delayed but finally on boarding the plane was at a remote location and we had to take buses going up and down paths and stairs and were kept in an unconditioned bus for over 20 minutes before being allowed to descend. Also noted the landing on many of my transatlantic flights have not been as smooth and professional as usual and I am not sure it is due to the new A380 planes or have the quality of captains experience with all the self cruising planes have deteriorated!

As to the service in the plane it gets worse and worse, they do serve you drinks and food but the quality of both have deteriorated unless you are flying business class forget about getting much attention. Leg room is bad unless a few seats. Premier economy is ok but again the service is deteriorating, the food is bad, some alcoholic drinks are no longer available and only served in business class. Forget about ringing the bell, no one will arrive, once I had to wait 20 minutes and finally I had to get up and go to the back. Beware some of the seating charts online are misleading, I booked a flight from Paris to London with a seat that showed no other seat in front with plenty of legroom, finding out on the plane that there was a attendant chair in the position not only not providing the legroom shown online but it was an over-sized chair with a high back, completely claustrophobic. Oh and if you have bags that don't fit in the compartments above or below or if you have something over-sized that you have to hand carry forget about it on Air France the attendants like to use the closets only for themselves and not offer any help to passengers who might require special attention.

During transatlantic flights usually between food service they have some snacks and drinks available in the kitchen on self service basis. Now if you are flying some of the older Boeing planes expect deterioration, specially in the bathrooms, seats might and tables not as good, and a lot of squeaking noises and entertainment system might not work at all, like one of my recent trips. 11 hour flight with nothing to watch or get engaged and non responsive attendants!!! I would say if you are flying to France, specially from west coast, for example Los Angeles it is a good alternative both for direct and shorter flights and time schedule. Afternoon and evening flights let you rest and I personally believe that it helps with avoiding jet lag. But for better experience I would recommend flying business class.

Air France has special menus that you can order online but only flying from Paris. I would say they need to get their act together and improve some of the customer attention and service and of course the food. They provide printed menus in all classes which explains the food and drinks they will be serving and also provide you with choices and they do go out of their way to have designers design special utensils and packaging but I think the will better serve the consumer by spending the money on quality food and service and training the ground staff for better handling departures and arrivals. But I should say they have excellent First Class Service, not all the planes do have first class and those that do usually only have a very few seats, but if you are willing to pay $10,000 to $15,000 for your trip to Paris!!!