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- Joined
- Nov 26, 2001
- Posts
- 3,374
Ok, I'm a little biased, but I flew on an Aloha Airlines trans-pacific flight yesterday for the first time. I want to share my impressions with those that haven't flown on Aloha to Hawaii, especially in light of recent discussions regarding poor service at some of the other carriers.
I took the HNL-SNA flight. The flight was on a brand-new (less than one month old) 737-700. The interior had that new-airplane smell, and was in immaculately-clean condition. I had a window seat in coach, and, looking at the wings, I've never seen such shiny britework (except for when I flew corporate!). Each seat had a clean blanket, which was wrapped in plastic, and a pillow.
The flight attendants were the most pleasant and accommodating people you could imagine. I'm not surprised, because our flight attendants also fly inter-island, and I'm been impressed with them since day one. I usually fly American every week between Hawaii and the mainland, and there was a huge difference in attitude between the two airlines' employees' attitudes.
By coincidence, one of the owners of the company was on the flight. He brought three beautiful leis for the flight attendants. On a previous flight he brought a box of pastries for my crew. While he didn't help clean the cabin, I was impressed at his kindness and thoughtfulness towards the crew. It was obvious that this one kind gesture made the flight attendant's day, and they in return passed on their good mood to their passengers.
After takeoff, the flight attendants came into the cabin for the beverage service. Free mai tais (the Trader Vic's brand, nothing watered-down) were served, in coach, along with a wide variety of fruit juices, sodas, beer and wine. It always seemed strange to me why American doesn't offer pineapple juice or any juice other than orange juice on their flights to Hawaii. This was a welcome change.
An "amenity kit" was passed out, which was a small drawstring pouch that included free headsets, a formal handiwipe cleanser and a packet of aromatherapy lotion. A very nice touch.
The meal service was also nice, and featured a much better coach meal than I've experienced on other cAArriers. I caught glimpse of the meals in first class, and they seemed much nicer as well. The meals in first class were served on china with silverware, not plastic utensils. I read in the inflight magazine that the meals were conceived by Chef Alan Wong.
Another mai tai was offered during the meal service.
After the inflight movie, the flight attendants did another service. This time, it was fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and milk. In coach.
The flight left HNL on time, and we arrrived to SNA early.
So, again, while I am biased because I work there, it was an eye-opening experience. Since I fly interisland, I didn't really know what to expect on the -700 side of the family. And, since I fly on American every week, I assumed that was the standard by which flights to HNL operated. In the new era of charging for headsets, cutting meal service, dirty airplanes, cold flight attendants and few amenities, I'm glad to discover that our airline offers such a great product.
I took the HNL-SNA flight. The flight was on a brand-new (less than one month old) 737-700. The interior had that new-airplane smell, and was in immaculately-clean condition. I had a window seat in coach, and, looking at the wings, I've never seen such shiny britework (except for when I flew corporate!). Each seat had a clean blanket, which was wrapped in plastic, and a pillow.
The flight attendants were the most pleasant and accommodating people you could imagine. I'm not surprised, because our flight attendants also fly inter-island, and I'm been impressed with them since day one. I usually fly American every week between Hawaii and the mainland, and there was a huge difference in attitude between the two airlines' employees' attitudes.
By coincidence, one of the owners of the company was on the flight. He brought three beautiful leis for the flight attendants. On a previous flight he brought a box of pastries for my crew. While he didn't help clean the cabin, I was impressed at his kindness and thoughtfulness towards the crew. It was obvious that this one kind gesture made the flight attendant's day, and they in return passed on their good mood to their passengers.
After takeoff, the flight attendants came into the cabin for the beverage service. Free mai tais (the Trader Vic's brand, nothing watered-down) were served, in coach, along with a wide variety of fruit juices, sodas, beer and wine. It always seemed strange to me why American doesn't offer pineapple juice or any juice other than orange juice on their flights to Hawaii. This was a welcome change.
An "amenity kit" was passed out, which was a small drawstring pouch that included free headsets, a formal handiwipe cleanser and a packet of aromatherapy lotion. A very nice touch.
The meal service was also nice, and featured a much better coach meal than I've experienced on other cAArriers. I caught glimpse of the meals in first class, and they seemed much nicer as well. The meals in first class were served on china with silverware, not plastic utensils. I read in the inflight magazine that the meals were conceived by Chef Alan Wong.
Another mai tai was offered during the meal service.
After the inflight movie, the flight attendants did another service. This time, it was fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and milk. In coach.
The flight left HNL on time, and we arrrived to SNA early.
So, again, while I am biased because I work there, it was an eye-opening experience. Since I fly interisland, I didn't really know what to expect on the -700 side of the family. And, since I fly on American every week, I assumed that was the standard by which flights to HNL operated. In the new era of charging for headsets, cutting meal service, dirty airplanes, cold flight attendants and few amenities, I'm glad to discover that our airline offers such a great product.
