QRC3288

Fortunately I'm flying less J, more F. Sadly, I have moved much of my business away from CX. It's bittersweet. But I'm really enjoying the experience on other carriers. And this new CX J food service rollout sounds dreadful! They had good intentions to fix one the worst element of CX premium = J class catering, but those intentions get obliterated by cost cutting and bureaucracy and actually makes things worse. It sounds worse now. I'll take 1 or 2 max CX J long-haul flights this year. Maybe 0 even! I'm still flying plenty of CX/KA J and regional F when available, although I think a strong case is made to buy 2 seats on the KA A330 instead of the dreadful regional J, but that's another topic. Meanwhile I've avoided CX F longhaul, except 1 flight when I had no choice, because I'm trying to boycott N. America routes this year due to this mistake fare. I'll return to flying (to anyone at CX listening: I'll return to paying cash for) more CX F next year to N. America once this mistake fare situation is over.

One permanent change I've made is my daytime Europe flights (2-3x a year) go to Emirates F. No more CX279/8 which I've done in the past, or this new Frankfurt flight. Nighttime to Europe, coming up I have Air France F booked one way and a BA F return, as bad as BA may sound to the forum. (to anyone interested, AF F is superb, especially when you transit in Paris). And apparently we saved 4k USD on my F ticket buying BA vs CX, I haven't done BA F in some time, and CX is in my doghouse. To North America, I've already done a round-trip to SFO on SQ and a one-way on JAL to JFK. I have another SQ "round-trip" booked to SFO / back from JFK. SQ ex-JFK via Frankfurt sounds fine, especially since I can add Singapore meetings at the end. Apparently they have the suites on that one so I'm sure it will be quite pleasant. SQ regular F isn't as comfortable as CX F, but I've found the service to be less variable and the galley party problem doesn't happen. Overall flying different carriers has been fun, and CX has bled quite a bit out of their loyalty out of me with actions that piled up over the last few years. I think what I'm trying to prove is how aggressively I have diversified my business without too much effort.

I cannot avoid CX. I easily will hit 1,600 miles each year. But my loyalty and appreciation is not what it once was. I think I might fly a few J class longhauls if the feedback here on the service was great, but I don't need to unless scheduling demands it. Given the the thoughts from posters I respect above (including yours!), I don't see a compelling reason to fly this new CX J service if not necessary. It sounds like a downgrade not an upgrade.

Cambo

Yes, maybe CX would like to do so to, though did you ever have a look at the size of the LH J class table ?

It's to small to comfortable put cutlery, plates, glassware, etc on it. So, yeah, there is a reason one gets trays with CX.

And yes, I once tried to put the tray aside, put all items direct on the table and found out myself, what I write

Why do you think, there is a table cloth underneath the tray ? Ever thought about the tray departing the table ?

Cambo

I agree with you on the over-stressing. I think, this is largely due to the whole meal administration being completely manual, a post-it one ....
Suppose, for half of the servings, something is forgotten, it'll require double the amount of aisle run-downs by the crew than minimal required.

No, see my previous post. There are practical limitations, which does force CX to the choices, being complained about.

FlyPointyEnd

The new tray has been reduced in size and from what I recall it doesn't even cover the entirety of table as before, hence I'm pretty sure there is ample space for everything on the newer tray to be placed directly on the table.

That's why I think your earlier argument about trays preventing the chinaware form going to China is incorrect because the tray can easily slip off the table because of the table cloth during turbulence.

the_emerald

Just got off the 27th CX254 flight. A pleasant surprise was that I missed the breakfast service and they still brought me food 35 minutes before landing. Dinner wasn't too shabby too. I noticed that the FA was still using pen/paper to jot down who's eating what - I thought they moved to tablets? Also, no sign of the breakfast sheet that you hang somewhere ...

Visconti

Not sure if this were the exception, but, on my DUB - HKG last week (usually in F, but only J on this route), there seemed to be an abundance of burgers. Matter of fact, the person to my right had the burger for dinner, and then 2 more later during the flight, as with the person in front me. While the food was average, the FAs on this flight were excellent, especially the one assigned to our section. This was one of those flights where most Pax held the view that the FA call button's intended purpose were to request whatever is required during the flight, e.g., water, snack, burgers, drink, etc...and the FAs, unlike the NA FAs, didn't seem to have an issue or show any frustration.

the_emerald

Is that not the job of FAs? I wouldn't be too happy seeing a FA getting grumpy because I asked for a coke/burger/etc... Especially in J.
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Visconti

Personally, I couldn't agree more and never hesitate to use the "call button" when necessary. But, in NA (America anyway), we have a bunch of articles impressing on pax to make the lives of FAs (not to pick on them, but, we have similar like minded articles for maids, waiters, and whatever other service staff) jobs easier. While I ignore any such rubbish, we, in America, have a rising generation who actually take these articles to heart.

So, you have these NA FAs whose unspoken rule is to only use the call buttons in case of near emergencies. One reason why I tend to avoid NA based carriers on long haul flights.

Cambo

Well, eating is the proof of the pudding, so why not give it a try, next time ? I personally did feel quite uncomfortable, when I had removed the tray, though YMMV.
Please report back.

Well, eating is the proof of the pudding, remove the cloth and see how stable the tray has become.
Please report back.

The core of science and knowledge is investigation. If it works according your ideas, please post and we all demonstrate to CX, they got it wrong and how it should be done.

Cambo

Not on CX254, other EU destination, though I did have a similar experience, waking up some 40 minutes or so before ETA and I still go my full breakfast without any grumble, and even better I got it offered spontaneously.

Maybe, they have internal records of me, being a nice guy towards CX

The table vs. paper/pen: It was me who reported that, based on my interaction with the ISM, though it would be introduced early may on the HKG-BOS flight. Though, they also did have tech issues, because the table got out of range of the on board service network and the FA does have to go back to the galley to let the table re-sync, etc. I forgot to ask whether this application would be an "on-line" (ie GUI only on the table) or an "off-line" one (ie some intelligence on the tablet to temporary store the input). Sorry about that. Let me try to get to know that next week or so

swingaling

FlyPointyEnd

I never asked people to put it directly on the table. In fact, I said:

Nowhere did I suggest removing the cloth. If you were to revisit your earlier response you said:

I believe by "it" you were referring to the tray and not the tablecloth. That is why I said,

On flights between HKG and MNL/TPE they no longer use tablecloths, placing the trays directly on the table, so far the experience is about the same. All I am pointing at is, with or without a tablecloth, things will still go flying when the airplane hits turbulence.

Kacee

Yes. Looks cheap and lacks any style. A tray service can be done so it at least looks attractive. CX has failed even that.

percysmith

CX 100 too as well. I thought they're not doing it for Australia.

Personally I don't mind trays.
Elimination of the casseroles is good.

Wonder if I can have both dessert and cheese. But after dessert, I was getting kinda full...

Central90210