Originally Posted by creber
On this point, I don't agree. Air France's First Class is not on par with Singapore's new one, but it's definitely top notch. Aspects of it I rate higher than British AIrways, and I would argue that Air France's F class shares the European pole position with BA and Swiss. Each one has its strengths. Whilst this may be a (debatable) subjective opinion, there are also some facts that qualify your statement: food for instance. Air France uses a completely different caterer for F class than for C and Y. Service: no European airline manages to have a more "classy" service than Air France. The refinement and sophistication of the FAs is unsurpassed by any European airline (and arguably neither by any Asian carrier, let alone American or African). I quite frankly prefer to have my measly Air France amenity kit handed to me by a well groomed, polite and charming Air France FA than by Tracy from Essex ("Here's your toothbrush, luv").:
While I agree that the FA's in First are usually fantastic I take exception with your point about the service. I have taken many AF F flights and what really makes me cringe is the serving from the cart in the aisle. That to me is a totally unacceptable practice for any long haul first class flight. The experience of being in first should be like being in a fine restaurant. There is no reason why everything has to come out of a cart as I see the plastic covers taken off the food. Everything should be plated in the galley and delivered on a hand carried tray. I recently took first class flights on KE & EK and both were miles ahead of AF. On KE the FA's brought the cutlery according to what was ordered and placed them on the tray table in the proper places. No unrolling your napkin with 7 or 8 pcs clanging together. On the a340 EK flight in the suites the service was fantastic. Unbelieveable menu and service was "on demand". These little touches are what makes any airlines first class service really seem special.
And to compare AF service to the Asian carriers is not really a good idea. Many Asian carriers like KE, SQ, CX have a much better F class product.