It's the cabin crew who make this airline what it is...
For regular visitors you may remember a few weeks back that I'd booked my birthday upgrade on a flight back to the UK. Well here goes...
On the way out I got the planned 7443 which had been refitted with the new business class seating. I sat upstairs... A great experience and I love the IFE too! For a 'non-sleeper', I got some quality sleep on the way to LHR. The fact that the up-to-the minute news feature didn't work is of course completely forgiveable given that the service is so new (it'll be interesting to see if it comes into service in the future). I was intrigued though that whilst in the hangar they didn't repaint the aircraft in the new livery, given the amount that was probably spent on rebranding. But hey, I'm not complaining - overall the refit is a big bonus... but they'd probably benefit from doing the same to economy.
On the way back to BKK (a Saturday evening), the equipment changed from the planned 7443 to 7441/2 (old seating). This time I got the front exit seat of business class downstairs. The plane also refuelled in Copenhagen as a result of the ridiculous fuel fire fiasco in the UK last year. Now... in spite of the appalling UK ground security at the gate (1 very rude person for all passengers on the plane); the old style seat; my inability to see any screen during the safety announcement; the re-routing via CPH with some terrible sandwiches en-route, I was still really happy with my flight. Why? because the cabin crew were superb from the outset. Tiny little details like the first class staff sitting in the jump seat in front of me finding out my name from the passenger list before sitting down, to the wonderful conversations we had as the plane refuelled in CPH. I'm sure that the success of this airline is entirely due to the staff who work tirelessly to look after the passengers (in spite of the difficulty they have in arranging leave (there appear to be no enforced statutory limits to the amount of time they work before taking a holiday)). With staff like these it becomes much easier to forgive the behind with the times product that keeps much of the Thai fleet firmly rooted a decade behind other 'premium' airlines. Well done Thai!