It’s not possible to say enough nice things about Qantas airlines. It’s how air travel used to be, and shows how it still could be if someone put some initiative into it. I can’t imagine that they’re not losing money as badly as any other airline. Nonetheless, the fact that they’re going all out to help the passenger have a pleasant experience shows.
On one of the flights, we saw a film about their special training school that flight crews attend. In addition to the things you’d expect – emergency evacuations, how to deal with unruly passengers, etc., they also teach courses about wines, impressions and body language, food preparation and presentation, and things that go a significant step beyond what we normally get on a US Airline.
Jen, the flight attendant who took care of us this trip, was so incredibly pleasant when you know she had to be just dog-tired after working a flight like that. The food was pretty good (at least as far as airline food goes), and they came by through the night with glasses of water, made sure we knew there were sandwiches and snacks available if we wanted them, and then as they were waking us up in the morning brought hot towels by so you could freshen up a bit.
It’s a big fall to go from there to US Airways, where they make it clear if you want a soda or a snack, you’ll be paying for it. You also have to pay for blankies and pillows on here now. The US Air flight is packed full and there are 3 (maybe 4) flight attendants for the entire plane. Jen told us there were 22 on the flight over. The plane used by US Airways is dirty and, as seems more often than not lately, my seat won’t recline AT ALL. It is incredibly loud and makes rattling noises that aren’t especially reassuring. I never had to use my earplugs on Qantas; the noise just wasn’t there on either their domestic or international flights. It’s so loud on this one that you couldn’t talk to the people next to you without shouting. This, for a cross-country flight in the US!
