chrissxb

Please post here your suggestions to make Air France a better airline. this is not another AF bashing thread, moderator will edit off topic posts. I will forward all critics/suggestions/complaints to AirFrance management.

Please post in a general manner, no details and please - we want to make things better so stay realistic
(we all know how Parisians are )

edited to add: I'll forward to AF, not to ADP, so CDG airport operations are accepted within limits.

JOUY31

First draft, taken from a previous list and extended

AF operations
- Display connecting flight or arrival information (remote stand or jetway, bord à bord, terminal, gate, status, baggage belt ...) after landing on long-haul flights or before, even if the information is subject to last minute changes (ACARS ?). Overall, focus on streamlining the travelling experience from the time of touchdown to the time of leaving CDG (next flight or other means of transportation), since the traveller's sensitivity to delays is heightened during this process and delays are well remembered afterwards the introduction of flat screens in 2F when exiting the jetways with the transfer information for passengers on the arriving flight is a nice touch
- Empower some of the staff in lounges to deal with ticketing issues and train them for it
- Extend the size of lounges in the "old" terminals, even though it is a short term investment. EK is moving into 2C with its own lounge at a time when the AF lounge is overcrowded ... The 2C lounge has been substantially renovated
- Add an airside arrivals lounge for the 2E/2F/S3 combination
- Improved buses management in CDG: buses are a necessary evil in CDG, but there should be dedicated buses for premium cabin passengers arriving on long-haul flights The addition of a direct transfer bus from 2D to 2E is a very good initiative (has now been replaced with a 2G-S3/2E bus)
- Give the possibility of upgrading a travel agent issued ticket on the web or on the phone by paying the fare difference with a credit card Done, except for "firme" fares
- Enable the selection of available seats on a seat map from the time of booking up to 48hrs before departure for Gold and Platinum members (possibly with a greater range of seats for Platinum members) as well as premium cabin passengers, on long-haul flights in all classes and on intra-European business class.Done, with some remaining quirks to be ironed out
- Enable the selection of available seats on a seat map with Online Check-in for long-haul flights, not just window or aisle. Done for all flights
- An Abonné card for medium-haul flights ??
- Common Elite check-in desks in CDG 2D and CDG 2B Done for 2B and 2D
- Improvement to AF business class catering on European flights above 1h30.Announced
- Use of e-mail for customer service
- Additional domestic lounges : ORY (Done), LYS (Done), TLS & MRS
- Extend the NEV decoration of the CDG2E lounge to the other AF lounges The new lounge concept introduced in NRT, although elegant, does not age well, just upgrade the existing lounges quickly rather than slowly
- Enforce priority boarding at all AF international destinations with two separate lines, one for premium and elite pax, open during the entire process, and the other one for coach pax; do not use the DL style of boarding by zone with the premium and elite pax first, and the others afterwards; priority boarding should be available during the entire boarding process.Accès n°1 + Skypriority
- Improved management of irregular operations
- Open check-in counters earlier than the 2hrs limit in many locations (US, BKK, HKG, ...) and in 2D (usually 1h20, especially as there is no joint elite/premium check-in counter for all destinations)As mentioned above, the elite/premium check-in desk in 2D is a very nice addition

Although there are many suggestions for improving AF operations, I would also suggest to keep alive and extend the spirit of French excellence (well represented among the flight attendants, especially those who were onboard Concorde, and the staff in general) to the ground staff and not merge the two vibrant airline brands into a bland pseudo European brand. Please, don't turn your mostly great flight attendants into automated smile delivery machines with the elegance usually found at fast food pizza joints, but give them the means to uphold and improve their very good and graceful inflight service.

ADP (and PAF) operations
- Improve passport control management in 2B (departures and arrivals) and 2C (mainly arrivals) at rush hours; it's not that it is as long as it is in the US, it isn't, it's just that it should be organized better
- Improve signeage in the halls : do not force passengers to take the landside shuttle when going to a hall which is not neighboring, ie from 2A to 2F, walking is often a better option (Done)
- Continue improving the facilities in 2 A, B, C and D, not only in 2E and 2F.
- Ensure that exits from jetways to the terminal upon arrival are open, even though the flight is early
- While waiting for the repairs to 2E to be completed and the opening of S3/S4 and the regional satellite, find interim solutions to reduce the time from landing to arrival in the terminal (coordination with ATC, improved jetway allocation ...)
- Speed up the deployment of the new baggage sorters
- Baggage retrieval at CDG : improve the speed; baggage delivery can take 40mn after the time the aircraft reaches the jetway or the remote stand; make sure that the baggage carrousel is clearly displayed when passengers arrive in the baggage retrieval area, not 10mn later
- Improved coordination with SNCF and RATP in order to ensure timely update of airline/terminal information

SNCF operations (Ok, this is remotely connected to AF, but it would be useful for AF to give this information to SNCF)
- accept ALL credit cards in the automats, not just the ones with an onboard chip issued in France
- make the non stop trains to/from CDG go at a regular speed instead of having them slow down between Aulnay and Stade de France, and enable them to overtake the trains stopping at all stations; travel time should be reduced by at least 5mn, possibly more
- officially accept the use of baggage trolleys in the elevators linking the railway station and the terminal level

Threy

Oh boy....

I do have an appointment for dinner at 7 , now it is 11...

Probably not enough time, only 8 hours after all, but I will do my best...

1.

First of all AF should hire a company looking into the possibility to build a completely new airport, I understand it has never been done in the past , but assuming we have a constant growth of another 5 % annually with the usual ups and downs following wars/ natural desasters, pandemias, CDG will face its limit ( some would argue that was 20 years ago ) very soon and it is simply not an airport which is designed to be a hub , but AF is positioning itself as a carrier depending to a certain degree on connecting traffic....

Chances that it will happen : very close to zero

1.1

Assuming we stay put with CDG, build a subway connecting all terminals.Would cost a few €, but would help decrease connecting times, you could also reposition the security checks below the surface to have more space in the concourses / terminals...

1.2

Hire Schiphol Group as a consultant, those folks simply know how to run an airport ( 40+ % profit margin ) and constantly winning every award...


2.

Increase the MCT at CDG. A no brainer. With all those transfers , bus rides, walks, security checks, the current MCT is simply not enough...

Chances that it will happen : zero...

3.

Work on the attitude of the staff, right now you will find staff that will do what is in their manuals. I assume the Unions will pressure AF like crazy , but an airline cannot allow to fly an A 319 with 4 cabin crew members in 2005, who sit in the galley most of the time. The Unions have to understand that AF must deliver top notch service to the folks paying $$$ and that asking a pax if he is doing all right is just as normal as a smile. I mentioned the 2nd beverage service on Intraeuropean flights in C, again a no brainer.

4.

The all plastic approach in C is smart businesswise, but the quality and quantity of F&B in the highest class of service within Europe is bothersome to put it very mildly. ( Go to www.airlinemeals.net and compare C class meals in Europe among the Top 3 , AF is clearly behind LH and BA and those are the players to be compared with )

5.

Pressure the French Government to start trainings programms that all ATC is done in English...the current situation above French skies is a desaster waiting to happen ( Air Lib at CDG runway accident some years ago was a first warning )

6.

Sign coop agreement with French / Dutch Railroad companies, a high speed link between AMS and CDG is also a no brainer, those slots are way too valueable to be used by planes shuttleing back and forth.

Put all connecting traffic on the trains...

To be continued...

Falco Peregrinus

• www.airfrance.fr

1. Enable the "Choose a booking class earning 100% miles" option
2. Enable online seat assignment
3. Show seat assignment, cabin and booking class under the "Your reservation" page (checkmytrip does show your seat assignment, if any, but not the booking code)
4. Tell me how many miles I will earn Done
5. Publish an updated list of routes operated with NTC aircrafts
6. Improve the level of consistency among the dozens of AF websites worldwide, particularly when it comes to information on irregular operations

• Lounges

1. Propose something to eat (not only at breakfast time). Simple suggestions: small pieces of bread with tapenade, cheese or foie gras
2. Free wifi for FB Plats Done
3. What JOUY31 said for a much awaited new arrival lounge in the 2F/2E zone
4. Wherever possible, merge AF and KLM lounges and move to larger premises with a new deco (JNB comes to mind).

• In flight (long haul)

1. Improve the overall quality of the COI product in coach

• In flight (medium haul)

1. Genuine filter coffee in l'Espace Affaires instead of Nes
1 bis. Improve the quality of bread (tough and coldish most of the time)
2. Replace the ridiculous Tempo Challenge and l'Espace Affaires snacks currently served outside lunch and dinner time slots by generous sandwiches
2bis. Genuine Schweppes Indian Tonic instead of its subtitute
3. Improve food service on Régional and CityJet flights and match the level of food service of AF-operated flights
4. Update safety announcements. It is useless to point imaginary "striplighting along the floor" that are supposed to direct us "to the emergency exits" when the floor is fully covered with a dark blue carpet.

• Check in

1. Allow and systematically offer a last minute upgrade with miles option (SkyTeam rate appreciated... )
2. Systematically tag my luggage with the ST yellow priority tag without me asking for it.
3. Strictly enforce carry-on luggage size rules (for others... )
4. Fix the repeated technical issues with the CDG CI machines that don't work 15% to 20% of the time (especially at peak hours)

• Security and boarding issues

1. Elite line at security in CDG2D (like in 2F ^ )
2. Systematize boarding by seat numbers on medium haul bigger aircrafts (A321 and A320) especially in LIN, MAD, HAM...

JOUY31

Some general comments about lounges

Specific locations

To be continued ...

fredsxb

Air France:

- Build a new website (do not try to fix the current one) with a real booking engine
- Train your staff... Try and explain them that they're paid because they have customers. Hence it is a good thing to please your loyal as well as not-so-loyal costumers. It doesn't hurt to smile and try and be helpful!
The French are used to bad customer service but foreigners are not... In addition, The French that travel are aware that customer service can be much better elsewhere.
- On board Internet access: very very important in my opinion. Start your on board internet approach from scratch... I don't want to be limited to sending emails or SMS and pay an outrageous price for it. LH is millions of years ahead in this area. Copy them!
- I would like to see a patio in SXB (but this is really self-centric...)
- Upgrade your elite pax when there is availability in the upper class (one can always dream...) or give an upgrade voucher upon Gold/Platinum Status renewal

Edited to add:
- Enforce priority check-in (SXB !!) and boarding EVERYWHERE

chrissxb

me, too. but chambre de commerce et d'industrie does not want to. AirFrance wanted to put this in place, CCI said no because of space available and not enough traffic. with the arrival of TGV at Strasbourg, situation will get worse ... so keep on dreamin

JOUY31

What do you have in mind ? Get rid of priority boarding on international flights just like the AF subsidiary in the UK, AFSL, tries to do in LHR ? I would disagree VERY strongly. It is already unfortunate, although understandable, that this is not available on domestic flights.

Falco Peregrinus

Yes. In my views Elite priority boarding (Plats, Golds and Silvers) doesn't make much sense on business european routes (LIN, HAM, MXP, LHR) where ST Elites account for 20% of the passengers. Provided that carry-on luggage rules are strictly enforced, I strongly believe in the efficiency of the boarding by seat rows philosophy.

Edited to add:
Like for lounge access in CDG, Tempo Challenge passengers would be put in the same category as ST Elites and would be justly entitled to priority boarding. We would therefore have priority boarding for 60% of the passengers.

Falco Peregrinus

Mmm, the little bird tells me we have an AF Amex Gold addict here...

(OT: Train tickets can be paid online with an Amex on www.voyages-sncf.com but CANNOT be withdrawn with an Amex from an SNCF automatic ticketing machine. )

JOUY31

Not really an issue, as there are over 54 AF lounges worldwide, and about 7 KL lounges. The new decoration should be based on the standards defined by the lounges in 2E or in GIG.

JOUY31

Well, I think Visa and Mastercard holders coming from outside France would just love being able to buy a ticket to Paris without waiting in line at the SNCF counters ...

chrissxb

and thats critics on AirFrance ?

JOUY31

No, but forcing SNCF to update its automats would improve the travel experience for people going through CDG, many of them AF flyers, just as requesting improvements to CDG is useful.

Shouldn't we move off FT and prepare for the Réveillon ?

johan rebel

A new, merged KLAF JNB lounge is due to open sometime next year.

Johan