My last Scary team award ticket.... AZ + CO + AF

[LukeGT]

Ok, i’ll try to make a TR. Please my English is very basic. So be patient.

Episode 1: AZ Express – MIL-FRA (ER170) – Biz Class – 1A




This trip begins in the right way, notwithstanding the worst premises regarding the multiple PNRs, where each PNR only contains certain legs.
Milan Linate at 6.30 is a desert, no queue at AZ Check-in. The girl at the desk does her duty perfectly and after a couple of minutes I’m ready to proceed to the checkpoint: baggage correctly tagged and checked to final destination and BP to FRA in my hand.
Security checkpoints are all opens and easily manage the flow of people approaching them.
BA lounge is quiet, there are few people, most of them going to LHR on the morning flight, and they’re busy in the newspapers reading, or checking their mailboxes through their own laptops.

At 7.10 my flight is called. Just a minute to pack my personal items and i’m on my way to the gate (A13). Boarding has begun but, after few seconds, is now already ending. I go out through the automatic door and reach the bus. On the tarmac it's easy to spot a new AP A320








an AZ A321, another IB A321




and several other birds.
















On the way to the E170, a OS CRJ and a BAE146 operated by AP appear on my left- hand side (AP uses this for the LCY route)

[LukeGT]

I have to say that – as spotter – I really dislike towards Embraers (especially for models whose engines are located under the wing).





I simply found them not well designed and, from a certain perspective awkward. As a captain stated one time at FCO “you could say everything you want about them but they are absolutely atrocious”… on the other side I have to confess my only previous experience on this aboard this plane was a brilliant success.






The load factor for this flight is quite light: 3 seats out of 8 occupied in business class, and a half of the economy seats empty.


The aircraft is clean, and appears to be well-mantained. It’s easy to understand it’s a relatively young plane, and its age is definitely different from the obsolescent MD-80 which AZ owns.





Interiors are really appealing, the grey-leather seats (with a central blue suede part) catch favourably my eyes. Moreover they fit perfectly with AZ social colours.





My seat – a window seat in the first row – is totally satisfying: it’s really comfy, there’s enough space and the legroom is adequate. Overhead bins, though not really huge, are ok for this kind of flight.



About the E170, it has to be noted the overhead panel, whose design is really captivating (at least in my opinion). There, you can find everything u need: button for assistance, the seat lights and their switches and also the air vents.






The tray table, for the first row seats, are located in the arm rest and after you extend it, the table is
Large enough and quite stable.






For what concerning the crew, I’ll spend some words in the next pages, but I can anticipate you that – as for my previous experience on AZ Express (the regional AZ branch) – i’m really impressed (and not being an AZ fan, I think this is really a great compliment!)

As you can guess, boarding on the plane takes only few minutes: Captain, a grey-haired man with a good-humoured appearance and unformal behaviours, appears from the cockpit. When the ground agent at 7,26 suggests him to exert himself, he answers, without the fear to be heard from pax (or probably he did this on purpose), “the ETD is 7.35" so he cannot leave earlier “otherwise I could be fired off from AZ!”
The safety briefing is being done professionally and with great attention, then cpt proceed to move from the parking area. We start taxing very fast and in a couple of minutes we’re ready for a rolling take-off from 36R. Sorry, no pics due to bad weather conditions.

[LukeGT]

While I’m writing this, I’m still on board and I have to admit this crew really worth a 9, at least. Even omitting the perfect grooming of each crew member, they carry out the service with professionalism and precision, always witrh a big smile on their face but above all with the desire of providing an exceptional service to pax.
Based on my experience, I found that especially on commuter flights the service is sub-par, but this is definitely not the case.

The breakfast is soon server. FAs, noticing I’m busy with the laptop on my tray table, serve my meal on the table of the seat close to mine, without bothering me in any way: a discreet (I don’t know if this word is correct, sorry) but really efficacious.
The meal is made up of a mini-croissant stuffed with ham and cheese, a little cake, a fruit selection and a Actimel (ok, in Italy Actimel is really well-known for its laxative powers… so the procession to the toilets will be wonderful )








Politely, FAs pass row by row asking for the hot (or cold) drinks, then they hands a tea-tray where you can lean on your cup to get it filled with your hot drink. Having some problems with sugars, I kindly ask for sweetener. The purser, D.T., seems really embarrassed when he answers the sweetener is not provided by the catering supplier; at the end I understand that customers requesting sweetener (particularly on this kind of flight) are really few and consequently usually it is not loaded on board. So I’ll use normal sugar.
Surprisingly, two minutes after, the purser comes back and says he has a couple of sweetener packs: they are his own packs. He usually keeps a couple of them since sometimes some customers request it and in this way he is able to content them: I think there are no words to underline this episode.
The purser is a sympathetic man, he comes to me to explain the sweetener’s issue: it’s manifest to me he is one of those FAs you can develop a rapport with: he’s 33 yo, last ten spent working for AZ Express. Employed as simple FA, he was promoted to purser and now he’s an instructor. He know his job, he loves it and he’s proud of doing it. Ok, probablyamong SQ crew this is quite common: this is not among AZ employed. So thumbs-up.
I begin telling him it’s my second experience in my life with AZ Express and that I’m really feeling as a valued customer, notwithstanding the horrible experiences with the mainline. He agrees that AZExpress is another pair of hands, the entourage is limited, the mood is totally different and above they know all each other: therefore is someone is not doing his job correctly it’s easy to discover him and to keep him on line.
I can only say a big thanks to this crew, because they worth it.

In a few, we start our approach to FRA from east. The sight from the windows offers great landscapes over the city and its skyline.

















Longfinal on the right runway, then a short taxiing to the parking area. At touch-down, we were 35 minutes ahead of schedule – yes, t h I r t y f I v e!! Luckily, I took a movie of the landing and you can hear the FA’s voice confirming this otherwise many people woudn't believe to this. Guys, we’are talking about Alitalia, a carrier whose flights are always late!!!!

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Once the airplane is stopped, doors are opened and captain comes out from the cockpit and stands with the purser at the door to greet passengers: I kindly ask if I can take a couple of pictures in the cockpit. Without hesitation, he shows me the way. The first officer greets me and does his best to help me in taking fabs pictures.

[jjpb3]

Luke: .

No offense intended here, just that I'm generally curious about language barriers: do you think it would be easy for a non-Italian speaker to develop a rapport with AZ crew?

Looking forward to more.

[LukeGT]

Then I thank them several times and I leave the aircraft going towards the bus.














In front of me SQ 26 is now taxing to the runway, while a LH B747 is immobile in the middle of the tarmac, waiting for clearance probably from FRA ground.












Starring at the parked acfts, I can see a couple of United B747, the US Airways A330










...AA, AC and of course several LH birds.

[LukeGT]

thank you jjpb3, i'll try to publish the Ep.2 asap.

[StarG]

Nice pictures LukeGT.
Enjoying the report so far.

[LukeGT]

Luke: .

No offense intended here, just that I'm generally curious about language barriers: do you think it would be easy for a non-Italian speaker to develop a rapport with AZ crew?

Looking forward to more.

I think it's usual very difficult to develop a rapport with AZ crew because they are never smiling and they are all angry and enraged with the world.... and only God knows why.
It's not a matter of idiom, it's because most of times they are not likely to do this.
Probably, if you are foreigner, they could be more inclined to talk with you, but i wouldn't bet anything on this.

[LukeGT]

After an incredible diversion, due to a mistake made by the bus-driver who – such as a first-time driver – wronged the way, we reach the terminal 1. Escalator, then on the right towards the skytrain.
People familiar with T2-E knows that is not a real terminal. It looks like a cathedral in the desert, whose incredible spaces are over-sized if compared to the traffic and the customers using it. Simply, there are not so many flights to really fulfil this terminal .
Everytime I come here I feel moderately desolated in this cold building, ‘cause you feel alone, even if you’re not.
Continental check-in desks are easy to find: they are at the end of the building, so you have to cross the whole concourse to reach them. A rapid glance to the monitors is enough to discover CO wants to impress me immediately: my flights starts with 25 mins of delay…. But CO does not know I’m familiar with some world-beater such as AZ and IB!!


At the BusinessFirst desks there’s no queue, a middle-aged woman (not really intriguing) greets me. Her english is perfect, she asks for my destination and for my luggage tags. Then she types hundreds of things on the keboard and fill in data about my stay in the US.
I kindly enquire if I can get a window seat (I love to fly seated at a window seat), but all them are already taken and therefore aisle is my way.
Oh, I was forgetting…. In many seats laptop plugs won’t work properly: not a good start, but being my first flight on CO, I don’t want to draw conclusions in advance.
The first good news is that CO, instead of using its partner DL lounge, offers an invitation for CX lounge to its businessfirst passengers. CGK, I’m a traitor, I know… even when travelling on Scaryteam, I’m a traitor
After the security checkpoint, I reach the immigration counter where the officer, starring at the pic on my passport, says : “it was a long time ago”!! I assume he said this only because I don't appear as a PITA or a picky guy, otherwise he should be slapped: I perfectly know that 2 years ago, few days after my holidays (under the Australian sun), I was more appealing than now that I’m awake since 5 am!!! You’re a real friend!!!!

The CX lounge is a good lounge, in the classical CX – style.











The wifi connection is free and the drink selection is interesting. On the other side, the food station could be better but it’s 9 am so probably this is not the right time of the day.





At 11.10 an announcement tells me CO is ready for boarding. I pick up everything is mine and leave the lounge. After a second screening at the checkpoint, I reach the gate, where most of the passengers are waiting to proceed towards the finger.
From the ceiling-to-floor windows the Contental 777 seems to be ready.

[LukeGT]

The boarding is something I would define disappointing and I must confess my delusion because it has been like to realize that perhaps everything I heard about CO is not true.
Looking around the cabin, I have to say that choosing so dark colours is questionable in my opionion, because they make the ambience dusky. The cabin is clean but the optical result you get gives the idea you’re on board an aged plane, while it’s probably quite new.





At the door and along the aisles, most of the FAs seem to be not interested, i would say they don’t notice you (and they don’t care about you). In my mind I’m thinking “we’re starting in the worst possible way”.
The flight seems to be really full in C/J , probably because of upgrades.
My seat appears to be comfortable indeed.












In the back part of the seat in front of me, there’s a pocket with the usual things (safety card, IFE instructions, on board magazine and airsickness bag), and also a net where you can stow your shoes.






The legroom is satisfying and the seat is large indeed. The IFE monitor is located in the central armrest (aircraft is cfgred 2-2-2, so the monitor is in the right armrest for A – D and K columns, while in the left armrest for B – E – L columns).







On the second armrest you can find the console for seat controls, while inside it is located the tray table, whose size is enormous, probably one of the biggest I’ve seen in my life.
About seat controls, there are 3 buttons for pre-set positions (Flat-stand up – and relaxing position). The commands are quite basic and their use is intuitive and quite efficacious.






The crew is without any doubt an unbelievable sample of unlookable women. It seems they have been chosen with a specific attention to the gruesome. Missing out their age (characteristic where the youngest one is absolutely over four….erm… fifty!) they are ungraceful. Ok, let’s be honest: my mum is 65, so she cannot compare with Fernanda Lessa (hope you know who she is!), even because we would need 3 of her to reach my mum’s weight (sorry mum) but, the dickens!, my mum takes care of herself! She is not beautiful like a teenager but, safe of beauty, she tries to keep a decorous and acceptable composure! Here one seems to be Benny Hill’s clone, another is the never declared Porky pig’s sister, and the last one is 60, 150cm tall with such raven-black hair (dyed of course… and not in the best way!) that she keeps like an Amazon…. It’s a thing I can’t explain: it goes over your imagination.
And one more thing: the first impression is that they cannot see any of us, no smile but one of them, and the dialog with passengers seem to be reduced to minimum.
I start thinking it’s a joke, because it cannot be real! And don’t consider CO’s uniforms. They are blue navy, plain colour, and all this weighs down the feeling of austerity and of collegial rigour where the passengers should epitomize the students’ role. I think about the fact I want to fly UA (and US too), because if everything is like this, they are top-notch. Ok, I always knew I couldn’t have expected a service ŕ la Singapore Airlines, but my expectations were totally different.
But – often – appearances are misleading and it’s better to wait before judging: thanks to God, this is one of those cases.

[jjpb3]

The first good news is that CO, instead of using its partner DL lounge, offers an invitation for CX lounge to its businessfirst passengers. CGK, I’m a traitor, I know… even when travelling on Scaryteam, I’m a traitor

The CX lounge is a good lounge, in the classical CX – style.

Well, thank God you're a traitor. I've always been curious about the CX Lounge at FRA. It certainly looks better than the BA Lounge.

A rapid glance to the monitors is enough to discover CO wants to impress me immediately: my flights starts with 25 mins of delay…. But CO does not know I’m familiar with some world-beater such as AZ and IB!!

[LukeGT]

Let’s get back to the flight. I put my bags in the overhead bin together with the pillow and the blanket, then the Amazon – wearing a pair of glasses very Andy Warhol-style – distributes in a sort of mechanical manner the amenity kits, the headphones and at the second round the menu.






The amenity kit is quite complete and it contains - among the other things - a pen branded by CO (never seen this in the last flights on UA or US).






The menu is not sophisticated neither pompous but, on the contrary, it’s definitely practical.





A quick glance to the menu makes me realize it could reserve big surprises to me from CO (finally!!!)


The other FA – a blond haired woman, the only one who tried smiling to pax – asks me what I like to drink before take off and in a few seconds she returns serving me my diet coke in a plastic glass.





The Amazon, in the mean time, is already writing down the passengers’ choice for the meal. One thing becomes evident to me: CO FAs don’t waste time in useless or futile chitchat, only the necessary questions and answers. A thing to remember for me: on CO flights, I *must* ask “Soda Club”: if I say Sparkling or Carbonated water, they’ll look at me as a venusian man. For what concerns my meal the options are pasta, salmon, chicken or veal….. I’ll go for the last one.

During safety briefing FAs along the aisles appear completely stuffed. Safe of the blonde who occasionally cracks a smile, the others seems to be not capable to experience any emotion.
This is a thing i’ve not understood at the beginning: they are not automatons, it’s only their way to be have, that’s to say very practical and concrete. You ask, they answer. You say, they do their best to reach the goal. No chitchat, no entertaining. No superfluous things.
At the beginning I exchanged their austerity for indifference or lack of professionalism. My mistake, my big mistake. CO service is concrete, not extremely friendly but absolutely efficient.

After the take off from the same runway and the climb towards the cruise altitude, the purser introduces himself, tell us about the usual things with an olympic phlegm, then begins to serve out the form for US immigration and custums. All this when we are flying over Mannheim or something similar!
During take off a plastic fell down in a toilet: no problem, an hostess, equipped with a toolbox is already there to adjust it!







Now I understand the CO outlook, and looking everything from this perspective the scenario is not so bad and I can appreciate it.

[LukeGT]

The Amazon, now with the hair curled up, is now carrying out the tablecloths and immediately after, assisted by the blonde, starts serving the aperitifs. The service is provided for 2 pax everytime, without using any sort of serving cart, using a different style (more ŕ la carte) compared to most of the carriers. Together with the drink, served in a proper goblet, they gives u warm nuts to crunch while waiting for the main meal.




The lunch is probably one of the quickest i’ve ever had on board a plane. FAs, soon after distributing the hot towels (btw, the quality is quite poor and they are worn-away), brings you the cutlery, the dish for the bread, the butter and everything else, taking care of only one passenger at a time. From this point of view the service seems to me really a businessfirst service, definitely in the middle between the usual biz service and the usual first service.

Exclusively for the appetizers – a selection of oriental entrees – they use a cart. The FA kindly asks to every passenger if they want to try everything or have preferences for a different selection. The other FA enquires for which kind of bread you prefer and this is served to you from an apposite basket located on the cart.









The service is really fast and efficient, mainly due to the great professionalism of the crew who is really attentive and keeps to go up and down along the cabin with extreme diligence ready to assist passengers who are in the need of something else.

In any circumstance I can confirm I perceived the FAs have a great responsiveness to their duty. They really gives u the impression they know what you’re looking for and even though they are not ceremonious they are attentive to the service.
Anyway, the salad is very good






while I have to say I’m not satisfied with the veal. It’s absolutely sub-par: as per BA, the beef fillet seems to be problematic to be served on board: it’s definitely over-cooked or I should say carbonized…





Another thumbs up for CO is about the meal order: they serve entreč, salad, main course, cheese, fruits and dessert like God commands! (please SQ and CX, would you like to follow their example? I’m unhappy to eat the dessert before the cheese!)

[LukeGT]

The Amazon and the blonde, now working together using a cart, offer a selection of cheese realized in front of you and the size is quite generous. The selection is quite wide and tasty indeed. The Porto they serve you it’s ok (SQ uses a better one!)









The proof that crew is not indifferent but only austere is behind the corner: feeling myself a little bit tired, I immediately decide to try sleeping, so I lift up, I stow the tray table and move the seat in the sleep position. From the overhead bin I retrieve my pillow and begin my pre-sleep reading. The blond, going up and down along the cabin, stops close to me and informs me “we’re going to serve dessert, if you desire it”, then she smiles and goes away…. As usual: only the necessary, no frills. Again: once service is terminated, while I’m lying down, the Amazon looks at me (I usually sleep without the blanket since I’m always hot) and politely asks to me if I have my own blanket or If I need one… I answer I don’t need it and mine is in the overhead compartment because I’m not cold. She nods, looks again to me then resumes what she was doing.
Once again: professionalism and attention are not lacking, but on the other side you don’t get the usual human warm you expect, especially while in premium cabin.

The flight goes on skirting southern part of greenland while most of passengers fall asleep and the crew members get some rest in the row 10 behind the curtains.
Close to the galley you can find a cart with some fruits, biscuits and chocolates for the most hungry passengers, but this practice is well known by several carriers.
The amazon, 3 hours prior to land, passes row by row offering to awaken passengers some home-made cookies (erm… home-made…flight-made )


As most of the carriers, CO on board flights to east coast offers a complimentary refreshment before landing. In this case the service is done using pre-arranged cart which have only to be served by the FAs.
In my case, the refreshment is made up of a bit of salmon with salad (it should be better to say “2 leaves of salad!”) a sort of piadina and a fruit salad.





I’ve just forgotten a note: about the natural water, it’s served using some carafe that are really horrible!!

Soon after flying over Bangor, MA, cpt starts a sequence of coils east-west to descent to EWR, where we touch down at 2.04p. Looking around, I spot 2 74F Kalitta, 2 AZ777 (one to FCO and the other to MXP) and obviously a huge number of CO aircrafts.

Disembarkation proceeds smoothly through Door 2L, where the crew gives you the briefest greeting

Immigration is a paradise: no queue and a very friendly officer… “your name?” “How long will you stay?” “Where Will you stay?” “Welcome” stamp stamp stamp.
=)


To sum up (0 to 5):
Cabin ambience : 2
Legroom : 3,5
Seat Comfort : 3,5
Amenity Kit: 4.5
IFE : 2
Headphone: 1
Toilets: 3,5
Catering : 4,5
Service speed : 4,5
Service Efficience : 3,5
Professionalism : 3,5
Friendliness: 1,5

How does CO compare?
Much better than : AA, DL
A little better than : US
Similar to : UA,LH
Worse than : SQ, BA, CX, QR.

[HUGE AL]

The crew is without any doubt an unbelievable sample of unlookable women. It seems they have been chosen with a specific attention to the gruesome. Missing out their age (characteristic where the youngest one is absolutely over four….erm… fifty!) they are ungraceful...Here one seems to be Benny Hill’s clone, another is the never declared Porky pig’s sister, and the last one is 60, 150cm tall with such raven-black hair (dyed of course… and not in the best way!) that she keeps like an Amazon…. It’s a thing I can’t explain: it goes over your imagination.

And I thought I was critical! Luke, this was TOO FUNNY! I couldn't stop laughing!

Thanks for the BusinessFirst TR. I'm flying CO in a few weeks for the first time in over 10 years (it's a scheduling thing) and was skeptical about the BusinessFirst product. Is the seat REALLY that comfortable? I really hate those slanted things...