Originally Posted by wcj1
I am always just grateful when a foreign site offers an English language option... But when they do not, I am sad, not angry, as I think of all the USA-based sites that never seem to offer a foreign language option for anyone. So yes, it is too bad CDG does not have the English version done, but the majority of their customers do speak French. I do not think it is arrogant or incompetent to serve the majority of your customers.
I surely agree that most US-based web sites and almost all US airports are indifferent to the needs of non-English speakers. However, I don't see that as having much relevance to the CDG case at hand, nor do I think it's relevant whether or not you speak French.
Airports are not like hotels or airlines or restaurants or other travel service providers: you cannot (for practical purposes) choose one from among several, depending on which one best suits your purposes. Airports are facilities on which the public depends. And, far more than virtually all other facilities, the user community for major international airports such as CDG includes lots of people speaking different languages. And like it or not, the international default language for multi-lingual environments is English. When people from Tokyo or Lisbon or Kiev or Sao Paolo go traveling to each others' countries, they do not necessarily expect to speak each of the languages. They do, however, expect that they'll be able to get by if they can speak English. I know of no airport anywhere near the size of CDG that does not include information in English on its web site. (Yes, I know that ADP says the English isn't ready yet. A lot of good that does for someone who's flying out tomorrow and trying to figure out how to get from the airport to downtown.)