Purjelentaja

Flying BKK-HEL yesterday (on AY96) was perfect! It is so much up to the crew and purser how they manage and organize everything, and yesterday was one of the best long haul experiences this far. Before take off we (two Plats) were personally welcomed onboard, aperitif and meal choices asked right away after take off and drinks served immediately, meal service started promptly and was quick but without any hurry, service was personal and friendly. Everything was served individually, not from the cart, which made it feel very personal and like having good lunch in a restaurant. J was totally full and despite service in forward cabin was taken care mostly by just 2 FAs (one Finnish and one Thai) it was really quick and efficient, but still we felt that they were there just for us and to make our flight a good one! This time also the food was also exceptionally good. A good example of their attitude was that on row 1 there was a gent that used crutches and almost always when he wanted to get up, one of the FAs was immediately there to get his crutches from the storage closet, I think only once his wife needed to help him up.

Service experience is so much dependent on the people doing it, and this time the ones on that flight belong to the best ones. Excellent experience! The challenge in service industry is how to get the best practices in use everywhere in organization and this far AY hasn't quite succeeded in it, even though they have made alot of improvement.

Oh, one major negative issue, though: internet was not working on LWF, satellite antenna out of order, they told

WilcoRoger

Give a feedback to AY (both the good and bad). For a non-workng wifi you should get 5k or 10k

Purjelentaja

Yep, will do, as however frustrating it might be, I still want to believe honest feedback is an excellent tool for improving service, if they just want to use it! Also gave the purser and the FA serving my aisle feedback in the end of the flight for work well done.

LoungeEnthusiast

Indeed. I received 5k after complaining about LWF's non-working wifi (AY81 13FEB). They really should have fixed it by now...

Cupart

This is a problem.

One would think there was one standard ops manual on how the crew should operate and not down to the individual purser and his/hers team which seems to be the norm on AY.

intuition

I am pretty sure there is, since there is a "inflight service concept manager" with team in HEL, "designing" the experience.

It might be that the manual is very detailed in some areas and lacking in some. It might also be that the manual lacks in reality-checks and contains wishful thinking, so that it describes things staff can't do IRL.
Lastly, there is only so much anyone can control via manuals and PMs, especially in a legacy company where staff have been around decades longer than the current managerial fashion.

I agree it shouldn't (especially if Finnair wants to succeed in Asian market) but onboard service is very dependent on purser and team and we should all praise the good ones.

Cupart

So, rather than starting a new thread I thought I'd continue here. Still in J btw

Dinner served last evening actually went fine and relatively fast. Still I don't seem to get the logic in place on in what order trays are delivered but I guess that's not for me to worry about.

Now breakfast is a different story.

As some may know, you "pre-order" your breakfast and I went for the light option which was identical to my partners choice, except the selection was anything but when they arrived.

My partners tray consisted of the usual suspects, fruit, yogurt, jam, butter, a croissant and cheese in the form of Belpaese (which I love).

My tray consisted of fruit, yogurt, a croissant and wait for it... Balsamic vinaigrette! I was very surprised so decided to ask the crew member why my offerings were so differwnt from my partners sitting next to me. First I was told that I had ordered something specific, erh no I hadn't , then I was told it was catering's fault. So I just wanted her to tell me what part of the tray that the vinaigrette would go well with? The yogurt or maybe the fresh fruit and she couldn't answer. Clearly she had no clue what was going on.

I then asked for cheese, butter and jam just as what my partner had as default. Not sure if English was her strongest language but she heard Omelette! This then made think what now if there was an emergency?

Anyway, AY longhaul is very very poor when it comes ro service in J but it is relatively cheep so I guess one have to live with the Mickey Mouse service and just take it for what it is...

Oh, last remark.. "The symphony of light" show, what the hell is that all about?

OldFruity

Have flown HEL-HKG-SYD and return twice on AY and the same with QR last year and am booked on AY again in Apr. So far no 'memorable' adverse experiences. But as a native speaker, English, beyond a few rehearsed phrases, does not appear to be a strong point for many of the CC - which is sometimes discovered at random e.g I once ordered a white wine and got red. But no dramas. Nice aircraft, good connection for PRG,reasonable pricing and a nice connection onto either QF or CX - both of which invariably offer a top notch value for money experience (at AY's prices). That said, when compared to the slick, attentive, expeditious service and excellent English language communication skills I have so far encountered on a QR 787 out of Osl, and onwards on either the A350 / B777 to ADL or MEL, AY's soft product across all customer service and dining elements is inferior in my opinion.

OF

SPBanker

I hope you send feedback to AY. I think HKG-based crews are not very good, and they are actually doing AY's image a disservice. This applies to Y as well.

Cupart

I was actually contemplating in doing so but then decided that I didn't want to waste my time in complaining as life is too short in doing so.

This said, maybe I should but then again, I do not see myself flying AY to HK ever again as there is a superb CX direct service from ZRH to HKG daily...

wkndtraveler

Dear Cupart, please do a favour for rest of us who will still fly AY to HKG (and other destinations).

WilcoRoger

In other news - AY will have a daily rotation of A350 to LHR starting 27/March. Rejoice.

philthegreek

I have just had the experience of the HEL-HKG A350 flight and I was somewhat confused in the lounge by the light show but as not as confused as I was when I got on board.
The 4 J cabin staff were all Hong Kongers and the CSM (or whatever he is called) was also from Hong Kong. I thought I had somehow stepped on a CX flight. As a native English speaker I thought the staff had some problem with English but I did not hear any Finnish spoken which although I do not speak Finnish, I thought was wrong. All CC announcements were made in English and Cantonese whilst announcements from the flight deck were in English and Finnish.
Strange for a national airline not to use the mother tongue in all cabin announcements.

R2

The thought wears off fairly quickly once you realize the service standards are not from CX...

JoWa

Well, I was on AY96 yesterday, and it was completely opposite.
No plat recognition, they even forgot to offer me any pre departure drink.
After one hour or so I went to see a friend in the Y cabin and found the pax there munching on their lunch, attended by six FA:s.
Meanwhile, in C weŽd only had a toothpick with a small piece of cold fish...
Carts and trays used most of the time.
So I donŽt give much for any "Consistant service concept"...