I have flown the CO Europe routes coach a few times and have had much worse service than domestic flights. I thought it was a fluke and let it go, however I just returned from IAH - NRT and I am starting to think it is not a fluke.

The flight I just took from IAH to narita was really sad. Has anyone else had this experiance?

The meal service is a half hazzard affair with one aisle starting before the other. The FAs had no routine to divide the middle seat on the 777 so if you are in the middle you can be missed. The woman doing the announcements sounded like she had never done them before (however she had to be 55 plus) and she stopped every four words to figure out what she would say. The pilots did not cut in to welcome us on the airline and instead never talked to us once.. later water service mid flight was a run up the aisle affair and hope no one noticed them.. Other than the incompetance, the FAs were nice to me. However this one guy seemed to take pleasure in abusing poor english speakers.. When the vietnamese guy in front of me was trying to translate the meal options to his non-english speaking mother, the FA actually rolled his eyes and loudly said to the other FA "They are trying to make up their mind..." I was shocked..

I had an almost exact repeat experiance on my return flight. I mean if it was my first time on CO I would never fly on the airline again.

When I caught my connecting flight in the US everything returned to the great CO service I am used to. The pilot came on and gave us weather updates and welcomed us on the plane. The FAs smiled and dealt with the food service professionally.

What is the disconnect? Is the senority vs route bidding the cause of this? Every FA on my asian flight was 45+.. Now I have had excellent FAs that were 50 so I dont think discrimination on my part is the issue.

Anyone know the cause of the sad international service? If CO is looking overseas for its growth it had better get its act together. When I travel overseas again I will have to think twice if the CO 100% EQMs is worth it. Perhaps a codeshare will be a better option.