Letters to the Travel Editor
Uniform agreement
Winston Aldworth’s comments [on Air New Zealand cabin crew uniforms] prompted me to respond.
I have travelled around the world quite a bit and I have never seen such a horrible women’s uniform as the one our cabin crew have to wear on Air NZ — from the unattractive design to the garrish colours. To have had a so-called top designer produce these uniforms, I'm appalled that the airline went with it!
You would have thought anyone making an important decision for the airline would have seen how many other airlines dress their staff. In smart feminine, tasteful uniforms.
Not only I think this way, but friends as well. Regards, Rex Osbaldiston
Unfavourable Qatar comparison
I have to comment on and compare (not in a favourable way) with Jeremy Rees’ description of his flight on Qatar Airways to Paris [“Flight Check”, Travel, October 9].
My husband and I flew with Qatar from AucklandDoha-Rome, but in Economy — and our story is very different.
Of course Business Class on any airline is comfortable. So, Jeremy, count your lucky stars because your 190cm frame would not have fitted in Economy with us. We didn’t fit either.
The legroom, we were told prior to the flight, “is great for Economy seats”. Wonderful, we thought. I am 165cm tall and my knees were up against the back of the seat in front. My husband, not much taller, experienced the same issue. We took off and the young woman in front of me immediately put her seat into the recline position. Trouble was she kept on reclining until her seat top was almost on my chest. I pushed the back of her seat up and still it flopped back.
The staff were perplexed and decided I had broken it. Not sure why. The young woman was moved and we were told to put a pillow between the seat and a bar across it to keep it up. Four pillows later we managed to get it upright.
The window seat and the aisle seats in front of us were reclined by their occupants.
The arm rests would not retract far enough to allow the middle and window seat occupiers to slide across to get out. Everyone had to get out. We had to grab the back of the seat in front to lever ourselves out. This, of course, was uncomfortable for them and those behind us had to do the same to our seats. As ex-cabin crew, the awful thought crossed my mind, there would be no way we would ever be able to exit our seats quickly if we survived a crash. Dinner was served almost the second the seatbelt signs were turned off after take-off, barely 4.30pm. The food in Economy was dreadful.
The blinds were drawn immediately after the meal was cleared away at 6pm. We still had 15 hours to go. The rest of the flight was very uncomfortable, the food offered was snacks of chocolate bars and then breakfast consisting of “rubber” eggs which were totally inedible.
Why did we go via Qatar?
We looked for an airline which would fly into Rome. The airfare was the lowest; matching, we now realise, Qatar’s service, food and lack of comfort.
I strongly suggest it is better to fly with the airlines that provide real leg room in Economy Class and change flights to get to your destination than try to cut corners and fly with Qatar Airways “cattle class”. It would have been appropriate if they had served us hay. It probably would have been a lot more appetising.
We truly are disgusted with this airline. We will stick to our national airline from now on and change as often as required to reach our destination rather than fly with Qatar again.
Regards,
Shirley-Ann McCrystal
Orakei, Auckland
The Deputy Travel Editor responds:
Sorry to hear you had a bad flight Shirley-Ann. The issue with the seat in front must have been very frustrating. Hopefully the cabin crew did all they could to sort it out for you. I too have flown with Qatar Airways (Economy Class to Rome, via Doha) and I have to say my experience was actually pretty good. I’m 173cm and had no problem with the legroom. And according to Seatguru.com, the pitch for Qatar’s Economy Seats is 33 inches, and for Air New Zealand on the same kind of plane — Boeing 777 — it’s 31-33 inches. So you might not be much better off with them after all. I don’t think anyone is going to really enjoy a 17-hour flight in Economy, but the things you describe — below average food, reclined seats, having to get up to let other people out to go to the toilets, short layovers at strange times of the night — are unfortunately just the trials of long-haul travel. Hopefully getting to the destination made it all worthwhile.