OK, despite the thread title, this is not meant as a generalized bash of NW. I basically like NW for their reliability and decent people. But I am getting awfully tired of the broken equipment (broken audio, reading lights, etc.) that seems to happen on every flight I take out of NRT. Some of you may remember my thread a while back about how I experienced equipment problems on 6 of my last 7 NW flights:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum35/HTML/003769.html

Well, I have made two more trips since then, with the following problems:

NRT-MSP (WBC): seat back broken (will not stay upright if I lean back into it; always slides into the fully reclined position)

MSP-NRT (WBC): audio broken

NRT-SIN (coach): reading light switch at my seat turns on the reading light of the seat in FRONT of me. Reading lights in the next section of the plane flash on-and-off endlessly whenever pax try to turn them off

SIN-NRT (coach): reading lights AND audio in my section of the plane don't work, affecting about 50 people.

So that means that 10 out of my last 11 Asia flights on NW have had equipment problems.

Generally, I like NW, but this is totally unacceptable. They are not even providing the most basic amenities (lights, working seat backs, audio) on their long-haul transoceanic flights. This makes their economy class particularly appalling -- unquestionably the worst economy class product in Asia-Pacific. The other major Asia-Pac airlines (JL, NH, CX, SQ, UA (777s), AA, CO) have in-seat videos in coach (which actually work most of the time), for God's sake, but NW doesn't even have a working old-fashioned audio system most of the time!!

It seems clear to me that NW has made a strategic decision to serve the lowest end of the market (budget-minded travelers who don't care about amenities) and offer the most bare-bones, low-frills service in the trans-Pacific market. And they do not budget enough to ensure that the few amenities they do offer actually work on a regular basis.

I have always appreciated NW's schedule reliability and the generous Worldperks program, but sitting for hours on these flights with no entertainment and no lights is realling getting to me. Does anyone know if JAL will match my elite status on NW??

(And for those of you who criticize me for not writing to NW with these complaints, I am actually going to do so this time! I will let you know how (if) NW responds! I just wanted to vent here first.)

[edited for UBB code and grammar]



[This message has been edited by KGruendel (edited 01-25-2003).]