Originally Posted by
Davidwnc
Hmmm...maybe I am visiting a different Greece than everybody else, but I found the Greeks to be, warm, welcoming, open, friendly, helpful, non-judgemental, hospitable to a fault, and generous to the point of embarrassment. I’m not sure which of these qualities would make them “fundamentally unsuitable for the service industry” or “'different' from the Asian carriers”. Actually that’s not true, I think a few of the above qualities (say open and non-judgemental) apply far less as typical ‘attitudes’ of some of the Asian ‘homelands’...but that doesn't mean that I don't think the airlines of the Asian 'homelands' are not great airlines, that give great service.
RE: Olympic Airways. You needn’t worry about them being a bad airline anymore, since they don’t exist anymore. As of a few days ago, the airline has been sold/denationalised reorganised and rebranded. It’s Olympic Air now.
I would concur with you on both counts - I've been to Greece and the locals were exceptionally friendly and patient with foreigners. Unfortunately, Olympic Airways has historically had a lot of problems -namely financial and poor labor relations that may have contributed to their rather mediocre service reputation. Perhaps the new reconstituted airline may be a new start.