johan rebel

They do. The 787 seats are annoying in all sorts of ways. My three most recent 787 flights were with KL, AM and AF, and the former came last in my ranking.

On shorthaul flights they used to make PA announcements with the same message, with exactly the same results. They finally woke up and stopped making them about a month ago, I think.

Johan

Fabo.sk

E2 flight from Vienna this afternoon was also cancelled.
I was supposed to fly on it once, didn't happen, but I can't quite remember why

Escape

In December is was announced that the service in WBC would be ‘simplified’ (no predeparture drink, etc, etc) due to the new Covid wave. Is this still the case or is the service back to normal?

Ukchris82

I flew WBC last Friday and there was no pre departure drink; just a bottle of water and a bag of nuts on the arm rest.

ATOBTTR

In what order does KLM do meal-selection/service on widebodies? Flight is an odd number, westbound TATL flight if either of those matter. Does KLM do "FEBO"? Or do they do a "U" starting with 1A, working down that aisle to the back then switching over to the other aisle and working their way forward? Or do they just have an FA work each aisle at the same time? Or is this sort of thing just hit-or-miss on KLM in general?

I'm currently in Row 1 (1K), which I usually prefer with the type of seat KLM has on the 777s since the footwell is bigger, but since it's a daytime flight I'm also far less likely to put the seat in fully flat mode so wouldn't be all that concerned about moving back to the middle of the cabin if that provides me a better chance of getting my first (or second) meal choice, especially if 1K would be the last seat to be asked for meal choice.

Thom00992

On my last flight (DXB-AMS 3/12) FAs started at row 1 working their way back.

Escape

Depends on the plane I guess, my experience with on 777's I believe they have a FA on each side starting at the front. Sometimes they also enquire the meal choice before taking off, I've only experienced this since being Platinum. In my experience this can come across a bit rude to a passenger sitting next to me who will be skipped.

NickB

A more tactful way to do it would be to ask everyone and then prioritise based on status in the background, in the galley.

feederflight

But it would then be difficult to handle. That would make the whole asking passengers for meal choices kind of obsolete. And would maybe disappoint passengers even more if they only learn at the time the dish is being served that their choice was no longer available due to prioritizing status pax.
The way of asking "in order of precedence" will prevent disappointments afterwards.

747jetter

LIM-AMS on 777. Assigned 6G in mini cabin which got changed in app when seating in lounge to 3G, on board explanation because they moved infant to that seats so it is not in main cabin on a long overnight flight. Fantastic crew, 3 choices for main and 3 choices for breakfast. Appetiser either salad or soup, not offered both to have. Quality of the food mediocre at best but the crew made up for this. No PDB, just water and nuts, both dinner and breakfast drinks refilled quickly and all the time, the FA did not closed the bar until final call from the cockpit to be seated for landing. Houses distributed from the tray and you could choose which one you want. Again it confirmed me that on AF the dishes are imho better but crew on KL is exceptional.

AMS-CDG amazing purser pleased absolutely everyone on packed J cabin of 5 rows, this guy worked as machine. Ceasar salad + opened bar with whatever you want. All in all, except the pdb on long haul, the service is normal.

NickB

You would not need to wait until service. You would go back to the pax before service apologising that their first choice is not available and invite them to choose something else. Passengers who are not going to be able to have their first choice will always be disappointed anyway at whichever point you say it but, at least, you only disappoint those who are unavoidably going to be disappointed rather than handling in a way that implicitly tells some passengers that they count less than others even when there is no need for you to do so.

the810

I agree with this approach. The thing is, FFPs can offer very little to people who already spend a lot. You can get good seat, lounge access or priority security by paying for appropriate ticket. So one of the few things airlines can do for their loyal high-spenders is giving them a little bit of priority when things go wrong. Therefore this makes a lot of sense from commercial perspective.

As an example, having a status with my hotel chain has never been about upgrades or free breakfast for me but rather about getting a good room within the category I paid for. The reality is that not all options available within the same price level are equal, and that's the moment when loyalty should pay off.

Maestro Ramen

For the record on AMS-LAX when the chicken ran out they went through the cabin and asked everyone if they really want the chicken or wouldn't mind to change. To be honest I didn't mind the Salmon either, so was happy to change.

Then come snack time they came to get my order first and explained I'd get top priority on it, which doesn't matter because both snacks were not great if I'm honest but at least the personal touch was nice and I thought it was a delicate way of handling it.

Wonder what would have happened if every single person had dug their heels and demanded the chicken

feederflight

True. That would be the better option, for sure.

KLBGO

How about that oatmeal cookie? Goes very well with the KLM covfefe.