Thanks guys. I still have very mixed feelings about this (I would prefer cockpit to be "sterile" during takeoff and landing), but at least now I know it's not as rare as I thought it was and I'm glad I didn't kick up a fuss.
Originally Posted by
KLouis
@ skyhighlander: Two questions!
1) What is the historical fact that gives you an unconfortable and not relaxing feeling when flying AF but not when flying KL, BA or LH?
2) It took more than 30 minutes to board the A319? I quote: Half an hour earlier I was the only one in business so I'm quite glad when a nice French lady turns up taking 1A.
1. I've been feeling this way since their 447 disaster, which was a major F up. Every time someone says "they know what their doing" the voice recording of that flight immediately comes back to my mind.
We can't blame AF for all the accidents they had, like Concorde, we can say that safety procedures worked fine in Toronto, nevertheless they always seemed way too laid back for my taste. Probably that started before the first delayed flight with them back in 2004. When a crew member was asked when we would be leaving he said - "Oh, pilots are just finishing that bottle of wine so we will be on our way shortly!". So yeah, I can't joke about the bombs but you can joke about drunks flying the plane?
On the other hand their partners at KLM have always seemed ultra professional (and yes, I know about the Tenerife
), and yet friendly. I think this is the only airline I feel totally comfortable traveling on when you think about safety. British and Lufthansa are not far behind.
As I said, I know it's irrational. And don't get me wrong, I will still chose them when schedule works and KLM has no reasonable alternative. And I'll be absolutely fine eating good food and drinking their wine, so I wouldn't even call an anxiety, but there's just something about them that doesn't sit totally right with me. And things like above don't help as my mind immediately wonders to what kind of shenanigans must be taking place.
2. Online seat map.