What was your worst airline-experience?

Jense · Post by **Jense** » 11 Jul 2004, 23:39

As in the title, wich airline was it?

Mine was with Nouvelair, in 2001.
The planned route was CRL (Charleroi)-MIR (Monastir).
We took off 3,5 hours late. We were above Northern Paris when our old, noisy and ugly MD-83 did some decend. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're now descending into Paris CDG for a technical stop. We have some problems with the brakes on the landing-gears..."
Once landed at CDG, we were brought to a cold, under construction, and wet terminal where was no food or something to drink. We stayed there for about 4 hours when our flight finally continued. We arrived in our hotel 7 (!) hours late...

Now it's up to you... I'm really curious to see wich airlines are doing bad in service, food, being-on-time, ...

Maybe everyone can write down a little 'worst flight-report'?

Looking forward to your answers...

greettzzz

Captain · Post by **Captain** » 12 Jul 2004, 01:12

Mine was back from a 10 day holiday in Egypt.

First leg of trip was on an internal flight from Luxor to Cairo. Got to Luxor airport and was given a coloured boarding pass at check-in. All was fine in the small and crowded waiting area at our gate until a member of Egypt Air started making an announcement whilst 'shouting' in Arabic. 90% of passengers were tourists and assumed it was the signal that the gates were opened for boarding. As usual, everyone get's up and it was then utter chaos! They lady said in Arabic that the people with blue coloured boarding cards should come first then orange and then yellow last. No announcement was made in English and a few Egyptians amongst the tourists had to explain this to everyone. To make things worse people travelling in groups or families who were seated together had different colours, so you can imagine it took a while to get everyone onto the plane.

Flight to Cairo Int'l was fine, waited about 90 min for connection to BRU. Flight was then delayed for about 45 min and then we boarded 747 and all got comfortable. We were still on the tarmac for about 45 min and all had to leave the plane and wait for bus back to terminal. We had to wait a further 3 hours before being boarded back on plane. During the flight we all assumed we were going to land in BRU but were told about 1 hour before landing that the plane was being diverted to Schipol. It was new year's eve and people should have been back in the afternoon, so it was once again chaos when people found out their new year's plans were potentially ruined. Landed in Schipol and waited a bit longer for replacement buses to BRU. Midnight happened just as I got out of Taxi at my home about 8 hours beyond schedule. What a journey!

Funny thing is that the 747 was called "Cleopatra" which was also the same name of a boat our cruise ship collided into whilst on the Nile.

Captain

Post by **sn26567** » 12 Jul 2004, 09:26

The worst flight I had was aboard a Beechcraft from White Plains, NY, to Montreal Mirabel in the 80s. The plane was on time, no problem, but encountered heavy turbulence and storm weather. This smallplane was shaken as a leave and I became sick, the only time in 45 years flying!

The worst incident was a near-miss, while taxiing at Columbus, Ohio. My USAir flight was given clearance to take off and hurried to the runway when suddenly the pilot gave full brakes and everybody's head colllided with the seat in front of him. Another plane was landing on the same runway !!!!

The pilot gave the explanataion and blamed the control tower for the mishap...

Comet · Post by **Comet** » 12 Jul 2004, 09:38

Bad experiences - from a flight already reported, there is the severe turbulence of my first ever 747 flight between LHR and JFK, hours and hours of being thrown around above the Atlantic after some very severe weather systems. I was only five years old at the time, and it wasn't a nice introduction to long trans Atlantic flying

My other one is from a flight I haven't reported yet. It was an Icelandair Boeing 737-400 TF-FIC, named "Vedis". We were waiting to fly from Keflavik to Glasgow back in August 1993. We taxied from the terminal, and approached the runway in the usual way. When we reached the end of the runway, the pilot powered up the engines, and they suddenly went quiet. He announced that we had "a minor technical fault" and we would be returning to the terminal. At the terminal, no one was allowed to leave the aircraft, we had to sit there while engineers worked on it, and the cabin crew were in tears. After a while, we left the terminal and took off. We all hoped we would actually reach Glasgow, and I have never been so glad to land. We were greeted by the airport fire service who were waiting at the end of the runway for us, and they escorted us to the terminal.

After that I said I would never fly with Icelandair again, even though it has meant not returning to Iceland.

B744skipper · Post by **B744skipper** » 12 Jul 2004, 13:02

My worst airline experience was in 1996, I was 9 then so I have to dig that up somewhere from my memory.
In the summer of 1996 we flew to Corfu and we left the house at about 04.00AM. We flew on Air Holland and I thought that the equipment was a B757, but I am not sure about that. If someone has info on that I would be pleased to hear that.

When we came to the airport we checked in and then we found out that our flight had been delayed for some hours. Sitting at the airport we bought some magazines and waited until we could board the aircraft. But the delay grew and grew until, 15 hours after the planned departure time we could leave. In total we spend around 18 hours waiting at the airport. The rest of the flight was ok though.
But what happened? The explanation that we got was that our aircraft had a bird strike in Faro and the captain decided to turn around and land again. The engine was damaged so spare parts had to be flown in from Amsterdam and they fixed the engine so they could depart to AMS and then they could fly us to Corfu. Why it took so long I never got to know.

moons · Post by **moons** » 12 Jul 2004, 17:49

Well when I read the previous reports I think my worst airline experience isn't that bad as it seems.
Anyway I got 2 flights who irritated me.
The first was a flight from Rhodos to Brussels. Sobelair had an A 300 on that route and that plane had a 10 hour delay in Brussels due to a technical problem. So it leaved behind schedule and that plane had to bring us back to Belgium. So we didn't know from that delay till we were checking in at Rhodos. I think we had a 4-5h flight delay because of that. But that's not the worst to me...all those people who are stucked in the same space at the airport and you are in the middle of it. Very nice!

Second flight was from Orlando to AMS. At the check-in they already announced that we had 1h delay. Then we were waiting in an empty conference lounge of American Airlines I think. Unusual, but we had a reason. Then 1 hour later an empty 747-300 of KLM landed though we were booked a Martinair flight. That plane would bring us back. We thought we would be leaving quickly. A KLM crew came to the gate and all the people were smiling again because they would be leaving soon...they tought. A few people got irritated and began asking questions to the ground crew. Then the captain (who I met in the cockpit during the flight) came out of the gate and took the microphone. One problem before we leave he said...we have not enough meals for everybody! All the people were yelling and cursing. Normally getting more meals isn't such a big deal I think but now it was, its was 1h at night and the kitchens were closed. So the captain let his passengers choose...Do we leave or wait for more meals? Then all the passengers together yelled "we leave!" and boarding could start. So with 2h delay and less meals then ordered we left Orlando with thunderstorms near us. Luckely we got permission for take-off otherwhise we could wait again.

JetB · Post by **JetB** » 12 Jul 2004, 19:51

Citybird was just born and I booked a direct flight to LAX.

I guess the second MD11 wasn't delivered on time, so we left with an very old white MD11. You could not see outside the window thats how old the AC was.

Crew was not friendly, food was overcooked and we made a stop in Oakland (what a shock I expected a direct flight).

Passengers for LAX could stay on the AC, but once landed we had to get off anyway. But no problem we didn't have to worry about luggage, that would stay on the plane.

Once I passed immigration in Oakland I spotted my bags on the belt, I expected them to be on the AC as I was told.

We got back on the AC 2 hours late, don't ask me why there was just no communication.

The AC was not cleaned so the new passengers that expected a direct flight from Oakland to BRU had to board a dirty AC and made an unexpected stop in LAX.

And how can I forget Citybird's in-flight karaoke, boy oh boy...... What a disaster.
We also had to watch a home video, "the flight crew going to Six Flags Magic Mountain", like we care......?

Flight back wasn't much better, thanks for losing my bags and not bringing them to my home address in Belgium.

Good airlines survive, some don't..... Shitybird "the flying nightmare".

A318 · Post by **A318** » 12 Jul 2004, 21:44

I can be short since I told this story many times already.
Iberia A340 BRU (MAD) to LIM vv, awfull uncomfortable plane, bad food and the worst cabin crew I ever met in my life, an oak wooden door is more friendly then these Iberia "oldies". This was on the flight to Lima but also on our way back to (MAD) BRU. I never fly them again or it should be my only option.

Greetz,

Erwin

flyinghigh · Post by **flyinghigh** » 13 Jul 2004, 02:00

The worst service :
I was in Stockholm trying to find a cheap o/w ticket to Oslo. A travel agent booked me on AEROFLOT Stockholm - Oslo (then Fornebu) flight for the price of a rail ticket ! The plane originated from (then) USSR ,did a stop to ARN and continued to Oslo. I was the only passenger boarded from ARN. When I asked for "a non smoking window seat" the guy in the check-in laughed and asked me "if it was my first flight with AEROFLOT". Why ? Well, I experienced a flight I couldn't imagine : first come first serve seating in a single class very old plane, all smoking flight where 99% of the passengers smoked heavily (even in the lavatories), no one speaked English, no free drinks or even water ( just some Soviet guices at extra cost)and, of course, no flight details.

The flights I scared most :
One from Orlando to Newark (over Washington) and after some days from New York to Frankfurt right after take off. What a bad weather with severe turbulences on both flights ! If I could jump off the plane !

Robin_Bamps · Post by **Robin_Bamps** » 13 Jul 2004, 02:12

I had three flights on commercial airliners until now, and they were all good experiences !

Hope I'll never have bad experiences with flying, but if I once have any, I'll post it in this topic

Regards, Robin Bamps.

JDarby · Post by **JDarby** » 13 Jul 2004, 04:51

My worst flight was in September 2003, Northwest flight 012 SIN-NRT-DTW. The plane was a 30 years old B747-200. The plane had mechanical problems and departure was delayed for 5 hours. No food was provided and when we entered the plane it was as hot as hell because the air condition was not working properly. The entertainment system was not working in the SIN-NRT sector (7 hours). Before we landed at Tokyo's Narita, we were told that we will have to stay overnight because we will not be able to fly to Detroit. Once we landed at Narita, I asked if I could travel the same night to Detroit (I had an important meeting with a customer next day) and was told they could arrange to fly me the same night through HNL & MSP. I stood in line for the Honolulu flight for 1 1/2 hours before being told that the plane just took off. Had to stand for 2 more hours in another line to get my hotel/meals coupon. Stayed over-nite in a decent hotel near the airport. Next day, we were shuttled to the airport for the flight to Detroit. This 12 hours flight was the bumpiest flight I have ever been in. The FAs had to sit many times during meal services and when I was being served coffee, a very nasty turbulence occurred and as a result, a whole cup of Coffee was dropped on my shoulder. The FA apologized profusely. When I landed at DTW, my check-in luggage was missing(had important business papers in it). It was delivered to me next day.

Post by **sn26567** » 13 Jul 2004, 10:09

Robin_Bamps wrote:I had three flights on commercial airliners until now, and they were all good experiences !

Robin, the statistics show that you will have a bad experience once in a while: lost baggage (or even items stolen in your baggage, as it happened to me on a BRU-FCO flight on VEX), severe turbulences, cancelled flights or flights delayed by more than 4 hrs, flights re-routed to another airport, overbookings, etc. This ALL happened to me at least once, so trust the statistics

Post by **sn26567** » 13 Jul 2004, 10:14

flyinghigh wrote:A travel agent booked me on AEROFLOT

I also had a bad experience on an Aeroflot domestic flight on a Tu-134 from Moscow SVO to Minsk (Belarus, at that time part of the Soviet Union). Russian passengers were separated from the international passsengers, who were paying much more for the same trip. Russian pax were allowed on board first and took all the best seats (it was free seating), with their heavy hand baggage and pets or other farm animals (!). When I finally boarded I could barely find a free seat. FAs spoke only Russian and the only service on baord was a glass of opaque apple juice.

Berkkkk!

Post by **sn26567** » 13 Jul 2004, 10:19

JDarby wrote:My worst flight was in September 2003, Northwest flight 012 SIN-NRT-DTW.

Thanks for telling your experience, JDarby. And welcome to Luchtzak.

Our member nwa757 will surely appreciate

chunk · Post by **chunk** » 13 Jul 2004, 12:04

Had plenty bad flights but most were down to weather rather than bad airlines....a seven hour wait on the tramac in Bahrain in '82 because Dubai was fog bound and it must have been really bad 'cos nothing was allowed in or out - including the airl lanka tristar i was on.

Worst airline experience was on BA probably in March last year. We were due to fly to DXB in mid March for a 2.5 week holiday. Two days before the flight I get a call from the ticket agent saying our flight was being re-routed through Cyprus because of the impending gulf war and BA didn;t want their cabin crew staying in the Gulf. It was ok for tourists but not BA crew...go figure???!! No point in arguing with the ticket agent - not their fault - but it meant an extra 2hrs on hour flight...no big deal. Until we found out that our return was delayed also meaning a 7 hr wait in LHR T1 for the ABZ flight instead of 2...

Checking in at ABZ for our outward flight I asked how our 2hr layover ont eh return had become 7..'you miss your booked connecting flight because of the layover in Cyprus for our crew'. OK i thought...what can you do here...so I asked why the crew were on a layover.....'because we don;t want them in a war zone - what do you want me to do - invent a flight to Aberdeen for you?'!!!!

At this point I am getting wound up because it was a ridiculous answer - I pointed out that KLM, Air France, Emirates, Lufthansa and EVERY other airline going into DXB didn;t have this policy so why did BA (I had only bought the BA ticket 'cos it was cheapest - I should have paid the extra)? ' I then pointed out that had I known they were going to do this I would have gone KLM as usual (they MUST have know - that war was the worst kept secret in teh world for 6 months before it). Then the woman decides to tell me that BA scheduling is a little off just now as they are using aircraft to ferry troops to the gulf.That made be even more mad...but what do you do with these people? Eventuially i suggested that BA should at least give access to the LHR lounge given we were there for 7 hours through no fault of our own. Not a chance!!! Fort 'terraces lounge' know was not to be penetrated...

Oh - the flights themselves...usual BA. Not terrible but not very good either. 10 Minutes into the return flight they had no beer left???? The 11 hour total trip in the return i had booked was now 18hrs - how good could it be really?

danieln · Post by **danieln** » 13 Jul 2004, 12:14

I have done some 150 flights so far, and as far as I can remember, I have never experienced problems with luggage, overbookings, cancellations or big delays. I think 1,5 hour was the maximum delay until now.
By the way, a alot of these flights were with low cost carriers. For me, their performance was good

Flying_Dutchman · Post by **Flying_Dutchman** » 13 Jul 2004, 12:27

I've had never a real bad experience, but the most bad one was last year on a flight from Jakarta to Denpasar, with Garuda. Although Garuda is a really good airline, this flights was an exception. We've flown a B737. Everything was old, the exterior of the plane, seats, food. At some places, the paint was gone. The food was disgusting. The flight was about 1,5 hrs. So we got a small meal. There were dry vegetables, a kind of a "pasta", prepared in an Indonasian way. No, it was not tastfull. Arrivall in Denpasar, we had to wait some 30min. for our luggage. The back flight to Jakara was ok, and the rest of my Garuda flights were also ok, but this flight was exceptional.

Ozzie1969 · Post by **Ozzie1969** » 04 Sep 2004, 22:08

Here's a bit I copy-pasted from the topic "Gulf Air" elsewhere in this forum.

My worst experience was on a Gulf Air flight in 2002. I flew from CDG to BKK, with stops in BAH and DXB. I'd never flown Gulf Air before, but I'd booked really late, and this was the only flight left that was somewhat affordable. Trust me to get two Arabs behind me who were probably founding members of the Bin Laden fanclub (they certainly looked it!). Besides giving off a weird smell, they managed to keep kicking the back of my seat all the way from CDG to BAH. When I mentioned this to the FA (who judging by her name "Katrijn" wasn't anywhere near Arabian herself), she took one look at the culprits and muttered "what do you expect from those guys". Not that she did anything about the matter, though. After about 2 hours flight, these two prime specimen of mankind suddenly laid down their praying mat in the gangway, just as the FA was doing the rounds with breakfast. She told them in no uncertain terms that they would have to get seated, something which they obviously didn't appreciate (not that I understand Arabic, but the expression on their faces was more than clear). Luckily, they got out at BAH, giving my back time to start the healing process. Did I mention the plane was very dirty on the inside? Looked like it hadn't been cleaned at all at CDG. A year later, I went from CDG to BKK again, but this time I flew EVA airways. Despite the fact that I get a headache from cigarette smoke (and let's face it, those Chinese/Taiwanese smoke like madmen, often boarding the aircraft at the very last minute so they can get in their dose of nicotine before being stranded on a smokefree airplane for a number of hours. Needless to say, the odour of cigarette smoke does not stay behind in the terminal!), it was still preferable to being used as a football by two Bahrainis. I then proceeded to fly from BKK to REP (Siem Reap, Cambodia) to visit the wonderful Angkor Wat and its many surrounding temples using Bangkok Air, and later onwards to PNH (Phnom Penh) using Bangkok Air's subsidiary Siem Reap Airways, and although there were hardly any passengers on board, the flight crew were extremely friendly, and not an single Cambodian felt the urge to test his goal scoring ability on me.

levent · Post by **levent** » 05 Sep 2004, 09:39

Hi there,

I never had a real bad experience, I guess because I love airplanes and flying too much, but here´s let´s say the flight that went less smoothly:
This looks a bit like JDarby´s. In December ´94 I flew Amsterdam-Zurich-Bangkok with Thai. It was a B747-200. Boarding proceeded normal, we were pushed back and then the captain said that the throttle of one of the engines was stuck, so we were towed to a remote stand and maintenance started working on it. It took 4 hours, we had to stay in the plane. They did show a movie, but didn´t give any earphones. Then the flight to Zurich went fine, just over an hour´s flighttime, in ZCH we went into the terminal, boarded again after an hour, taxied to the runway and... nothing. The crew spooled up the engines three times, but got an electrical failure alert each time. Back to the terminal, some maintenance, back to the runway... and same story. I can tell you some people in that plane had pretty white faces by then! Anyway, this meant spending the night in an airport hotel. The next morning we were picked up, and from that moment on everyhting went just fine. All in all a 24 hour delay.
The worst inflight service was on Aerolineas Argentinas on a flight AMS-CDG-MAD-Rio de Janeiro-Buenos Aires. We departed with a 3 hour delay, at about midnight, and made intermediate stops in Paris and Madrid before finally getting dinner!!! No drinks or nothing else in between. I was seated right in the middle of the cabin, so before my meal reached me it was already cold.
Some other big delays were MST-MUC with a KLM exel ERJ-145, 4 hours; and MAD-AMS with BasiqAir, also 4 hours.

MD-11 · Post by **MD-11** » 05 Sep 2004, 11:21

My only bad experience isn't so long ago...
In august 2004 we went on honeymoon to Aruba with KLM.
First we had to fly BRU-AMS with KLM Cityhopper. Plane was supposed to be a F70.
Waiting at the gate in BRU boarding was late.
Eventually the check-in agent told us that the plane was changed ( F50 instead F70 ). That wasn't a problem but because of the delay ( they had to find another flightcrew ) we had to hurry in AMS to make it to the gate in time for our connection to AUA.
The F50 flight to AMS took some 35 minutes but then we had to taxi for at least 20 minutes ( landed on the 5th RWY ). Then a few minutes in a bus to the terminal.
At least we made it to the gate in time but our luggage didn't.

So we were in Aruba one day and one night without suitcase

But we got immediately at the airport in AUA $100 to buy some urgent things.
The day after our luggage was delivered to the hotel room.
But for the rest: I found KLM a very good experience, real tasty food, very friendly, enough legroom on the 9 and a half hour flight in the MD-11 to AUA.
And not to forget: the cockpitvisit in flight