There are already a few outfits that rank airline performance so why are yours different?

I use a proprietary model that assigns numbers to 20 different factors of airline experience. These numbers make up a total score.

Planereality’s rankings compare apples to apples by using categories: i.e. comparing international business class to international business class. Comparing Delta domestic coach class to Singapore Airlines International Business class will tell you very little.

The person ranking the airlines, me, has experienced the airlines first-hand. These rankings are not a combination of tens of thousands traveler opinions

Only airlines I have flown are included in these rankings.

TOTAL SCORES: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CLASS
total possible score: 100
name of each airline links to its location on Planereality.com

1. Qatar Airways 92
2. Singapore Airlines 87
2. Emirates 87
3. All Nippon Airways 84
4. Cathay Pacific 83
4. Asiana 83
5. Malaysia Airlines 81
6. Swiss Airlines 78
6. Lufthansa 78
6. Delta Airlines 78
7. Korean Air 77
8. Virgin Atlantic 76
9. Thai 75
10. Air France 72
11. American 71
12. United 69

20 factors that make up score (last 3 are purely quantitative)
leg room
food quality
food quantity
service
schedule
value
frequent flyer program
reservation ease
check-in ease
entertainment
seat comfort
privacy
lounge
clean aircraft
beverage selection
boarding
amenity kit
average age of fleet
load- lighter the loads, better the score. based on 2009 & 2010 average
safety- based on number of fatal accidents

This past Friday a Lufthansa A380 made its inaugural flight from Frankfurt to Miami (D-AIMD). The crowds were huge and sprawling along Runway 9.  The street turned into a parking lot and active railroad tracks a standing gallery. A DC-3 and DC-7 preceded the A380′s landing. In case you missed it, here is the inside of a Lufthansa A380 (D-AIMA) . Here are the photos from the event.
There are also a few other random sightings while waiting for the A380.

It’s that time of year.  The time to think about what happened in 2010, both the planned and the unexpected, and to ponder what might take place in the upcoming 365 days.  I don’t stand a chance of telling you about the latter, but I will share some insight into the former as it relates to Planereality.com

You may have noticed that I am not and expert at writing or photography.   Or blogging for that matter.  I don’t even know what blogging really means.   Anyway, there are 101 statistics that are supposed to help one evaluate whether their blog is doing what it is intended to do.

As a summation of 2010, I thought I would share one of Planereality’s statistics: Which posts are people reading and, of course, which posts are not read very much. Why? Because you may have missed a topic you are interested in. (And to generate more traffic!)

A friend once said to me: “I can’t wait until 2009″
I said: “Why?”
He said: “Odd numbered years are always better for me”

Whatever your strategy or thoughts are today,  I wish you a happy, healthy and properous 2011.  Thank you for coming by Planereality. Happy New Year!
Cheers.

posts that recieved the most traffic in 2010

Delta’s Lie Flat (Not Angled) Seats

The Lufthansa A380 trip to Tokyo

Delta’s Angled Lie Flat Seats

United’s “Old” 777 Business Class

United 747 Business Class Seating

posts not read as much

Asiana Airlines Business Class: Taipei to Seoul

Air France A380 Innagural Back to Paris

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class: Kingston to London

ANA Business Class: Tokyo to JFK

Etihad Economy Class to Manila

Two highlights of this lounge: the view of the apron and runway and the cheerful, friendly Lufthansa agent who was checking boarding passes outside the lounge.  I asked the gal if I could take a picture of the lounge entrance. She said absolutely and posed in front of the Lufthansa sign.  I did not post it as I’m sure she would have opted out of the picture had she known it was for a blog.

The only Lufthansa attendant I had interaction with inside the lounge was a bit snooty. Each of the two times I asked her a question, she smirked at me as though she was thinking:
“Are you seriously asking this question, you idiot…”
She also spoke perfect English and had no accent at all… go figure…

There was plenty of room to spread out which included some restaurant type seating near the food and beverage areas. There was an assortment of fresh breads, cereal and fruit. The only hot food was a Panini “bar” where one of the attendants heated up ham or veggie paninis. My ham panini left a bit to be desired a.ka. the quality of ham was not very good.
There was a solid selection of spirits, highlighted by Bouvet Brut and Famous Goose Scotch. Also available, 2 different beers on tap in addition to several varieties of Becks in bottles.

It wasn’t the Business Class Lounge in Doha but Lufthansa’s Tower Lounge was much better than 90% of the lounges I have seen in the US.

no free wi-fi but computers available opposite this work area

view

Just a follow up to the first post on my Lufthansa A380 flight from Frankfurt to Tokyo.  Here are some additional photos of the interior:

This was my 2nd trip an Airbus A380. The first was on Air France. This one was on Lufthansa which just started flying their A380, but on only one route: Frankfurt – Tokyo. The extra incentive for me to fly this route was that the return trip was a Lufthansa code share operated by All Nippon Airways. ANA recently launched their Spirit of Japan product on 2 routes: Tokyo-JFK and Tokyo-Frankfurt. So, for a decent price, I would be able to check out both the A380 and the Spirit of Japan. I will follow up this post with another that contains a few photos of the first and business class cabins on Lufthansa’s A380.

There was definitely a sense of excitement at the gate in Frankfurt. Many passengers were scurrying around taking photos and discussing this feat of engineering that sat a few feet away. I am even more impressed now than I was after the first time I flew this beast. It is quiet, the ride is smooth and despite a full passenger load (minus 2 first class suites) the plane accommodates everyone with ease.

Seats
I was in seat 76K for the10.5 hour journey, which has to be one of the 6 best seats in the entire economy section. Seat 76K & A have no seat in front of them, making them similar to an exit row because of the extra legroom. You can also get up anytime without climbing over anyone. On top of that, you still have a window seat. The potential drawback to these seats is that your personal TV swings up from the armrest. This TV has to be stowed during takeoff and landing which means you cannot view the tail and nose cameras during those periods of the flight. Also, the wing is SO huge that you really can’t see anything besides it. The wing must rise a good 12 feet above where you are seated and you can barely see beyond it. Seats 75B,C,H and J are true exit row seats. In my seat, I could hear and feel (in my feet) the nearby toilets flushing which can be annoying in addition to the crowds that line up at the lavatories.

Food
The fare was standard for economy class, although no economy meal has matched that of Air France. In the above mentioned seats, you will be served first in this section of economy. Hot towel service was provided before lunch and breakfast. There was free beer, wine and liquor with lunch but none available at breakfast.

Entertainment
Despite what the printed entrainment guide indicated, there was a severe lack of options to watch or listen to. The entertainment was in fact awful. There were 18 audio cd’s, not one of which I had ever heard of in addition to 7 atrocious audio books.  There were zero games to play and this may have been because there was no controller at the seat.  There were 2 TV shows, a surfing competition and fashion show. There were 6 “comedy” and 2 “action” movies. Out of those 8 movies, I had only heard of the 2 action movies: Sherlock Homes and Edge of Darkness, which for some reason, seem to be playing on every airline in the world right now.  I had 2 brief conversations with the FA about the AVOD.  She was very polite but could not really tell me the reason for the discrepancies.

The saving grace being the half dozen or so cameras and moving maps. There is a short video below of my monitor showing a 360 degree of the aircraft and the terrain it is flying over.  If you are an aviation enthusiasts, you will love these features.

After we landed, I asked a flight attendant if I could have a walk around the plane and take a few photos. The FA obliged and escorted me to the top deck where there were 98 business class seats and 8 first class suites. The FA followed my every move and politely asked me to hurry up several times. I will follow up this post with another that contains those cabin photos.  None the less, just wanted thank the FA for allowing me the opportunity.

I took over 100 pictures, but I think the ones below give a fairly accurate depiction. Shoot me an an email or post a comment of you have a question or are looking for additional pictures. Thanks!

being towed to gate

tough to even get it in a picture

boarding process

my seat 76K

view from 76K

taxiing

takeoff

lunch

aft stairs to upper deck in flight; I felt like DeCaprio in Titanic

moving map

breakfast- note the 2 tone grapes!

decending across the coast of japan

nose camera just before landing

touchdown

Tonight I will make my way to Frankfurt in order to catch the Lufthansa A380 flight to Tokyo Narita. I am quite interested to see how the experience will compare to the Air France A380 flight I took. Mainly, the layout. I am sitting in coach and am hoping I will be able to have a look at the other cabins. Air France was overly accommodating when it came to this, but then again, it was part of their inaugural fight.

From what I can tell, the business class cabin is full and economy is roughly 85% full. I originally was seated in row 92, all the way at the back of the lower deck, but just switched myself to row 76. One of the seats in row 76, mine, supposedly has a seat missing in front of it, although there are some discrepancies dependent upon whose seat map you look at.  Lufthansa’s web site would not let me select the actual exit row even though it was available.

Needless to say, I am excited and will post the pictures as soon as I can. Has anyone flown Lufthansa’s A380 already? Care to comment on the experience?

LH #631 DXB-FRA
Boeing 747-400
duration: 6 hours with 3 hour time change

passenger drop:

a sample of airlines and flights leaving Dubai tonight:

I found myself stuck in the Dubai airport at the check in lobby. See, I had arrived too early, before the Lufthansa desk opened and I had not printed my boarding pass online; hence, I could not pass through security. The check in desks are not staffed by airline employees, rather airport employees. Some airlines only operate 1 or 2 flights per day from Dubai and when a flight is “open” for check in (roughly 3 hours before departure) the desk staff simply change the signage and the monitor to reflect whatever flight they are preparing.

By the way, passengers have to pass through a security screening just to get to the check in area. This was a free for all. People running into each other, knocking bags off the x-ray machine. People’s bags were passing through the x-ray while they still had a five person wait to pass the metal detector, causing a pile up of bags on the other end. Oy ve…
The check in lobby looked and felt like Grand Central Station at rush hour, on steroids. Some people were running, yelling, sweating and just plain frantic. I sat back, watched the action and snapped a few….

I was second to check in at the Business Class counter. No sweat.

Security was a breeze. Just past the security check point, I saw a British guy storm up to a Dubai Military officer and demand to speak with whoever was in charge.
“Why?” the officer asked. The officer sternly informed the Brit that he was indeed in charge.
The Brit said something to the effect that the security personnel were rude, un-professional and their behavior would make people not want to return to Dubai.
There was another American next to me and we looked at each other and chuckled because neither of us would ever dream of saying something like that for fear of never being let back into Dubai or worse yet, not being allowed to leave!!! The two walked off and I proceeded to the terminal.

Dubai Terminal 1/Main Terminal with lots of duty free shopping:

Pre Departure from Dubai
After I was through security, I still had a few hours to kill in the Star Alliance lounge, right by gate 126; nothing special here; small & crowded; limited seating; 2 service areas, both self serve with full bar, beer & champagne. Finger sandwiches like tuna salad; roasted veggies and flank steak. Candy, potato chips, raisins, cheese & crackers were also available. Some passengers had nowhere to sit. The bathrooms had lots of water on the sinks and floor.
The stalls have a spray gun (like the one in your kitchen) not sure if that’s to wash down the seat or wash your behind (didn’t use it for either). Free, slow Wi-Fi was also available.

Boarding was chaotic as everyone in the gate area crowded the door to the ramp. The first announcement the gate agent made was for all those coach passengers seated in the back of the plane (i.e. rows 40-70 to board). Only after she had said that, she immediately then offered boarding for First and Business Class passengers to board. First time I had seen this and it certainly added to what was already a ja
m-packed mess.

Our ride to Frankfurt:

Once seated (14A), sparkling wine, juice and water were offered. No need to guess what I chose. I was surprised to see some crumbs between my seat and the wall of the aircraft. There was also a giant black hair and the headrest next to mine. Besides these two items the plane was new and clean. The amenity kit was hidden in a compartment behind the seat and I didn’t find it until an hour into the flight.

The amenity kits were the same on my DXB-FRA & FRA-ATL flights. Toothbrush, toothpaste, eye shades, ear plugs, socks, moisturizer, lip balm, ear phone covers and a towelette.

About the same time, the steward showed me where the tray table was. He was amused that I did not know where it was. It took a long time to start the 1st meal service, or at least what I thought would be a meal service. Much to my dismay, only a snack was offered; no menus, no linens and when I asked for utensils, the steward looked shocked. I attribute the lack of food to the fact that this flight left at 2:25am local time. The FA’s were very diligent about refilling cocktails and water.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, the plane hit what I thought was a massive air pocket. It was a large enough jolt that even the FA’s serving drinks braced. The pilot immediately came on the PA and explained that another plane had cut us off and that plane’s wing had dipped into our flight path…. I started to wonder what qualifications were required for pilots in the part of the world. I mean, not our Lufthansa 747 pilot, but Iran Air or Royal Brunei Air? Yikes….

I felt like I was the only one awake on this flight, but it did not matter because the super professional FA’s routinely checked on me to ensure I had all the water and whatever else I needed throughout the night. I was warm and it was tough to sleep. The seats move in just about any direction you want, but when they are all the way reclined and you lay into the shell of the seat, they become a little too narrow for broad shoulders, making on your side the most comfortable way to sleep. Somehow, I managed 90 minutes or so of shut eye.

Shortly before landing in Frankfurt, the cabin lights were turned on and a second meal service started. The same male FA (think Germans in “Beer League”) recited the breakfast choices in German, even though we had already had a conversation in English. I asked him to repeat it in English: “Mushroom pancake (?), muesli or continental cold plate.” I went with the 3rd option which was tasty but not terribly filling. Some variation of deli meat (definitely turkey based as we were flying out of the middle-east) and fruit.

With that, we landed in Frankfurt and I faced a 6 hour layover. My seat after arrival in FRA:

Lufthansa #444; Frankfurt-Atlanta

Airbus A340-300

10 hours with 6 hour time change

A 6 hour layover is bearable; however, the one I experienced was extra difficult because of the hours the layover occurred. I was still on EST time and my arrival in Frankfurt was 6am local (midnight in Atlanta). Essentially, I pulled an all nighter. Yeah, I could have slept sitting upright somewhere, but somehow I had a few ounces of adrenaline left (which I would pay for later)

A business class boarding pass gave me access to Lufthansa’s business lounge, but not the Star Alliance Lounge (like in Dubai). Look, if I spend a few thousand bucks on an airline ticket, I should be entitled to any available lounge. My guess is that the only difference between the two lounges was hot food consisting of breakfast protein, which I was in dire need of and that is really the only reason I was annoyed.

Business Lounge:

After an hour in the business lounge I walked around for a while…a long while. Here is what I saw:

Our ride to the ATL:

Finally, I was on the plane for a leisurely 10 hour hop to the US. What is so impressive about Lufthansa is how genuinely important it is to the flight crew that each passenger has a pleasant experience. You’re flying with a crew that takes pride in the tasks as hand. They execute with passion. I call it service with a smile. ( I didn’t coin that term)

First lunch was served. Lufthansa does it right. When food was served on this 2-2-2 (business class) configured plane, there was a FA in each aisle serving food with an additional 2 fa’s behind with drink carts. The FA called me by name when offering me a beverage–just like US carriers

delicious beef stew:

The seats on this Airbus were the same as the seats on Lufthansa’s 747-almost lie flat. Sleep came quickly after lunch. The in flight entertainment consisted of the typical movies, music and games. I believe the movie selection could use more variety. I am not a movie buff, but of the 2 dozen movies, I had only heard of half of them.
During lunch, I watched “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Not tops on my list but I killed two hours.

Some shots of the empty rear business calss cabin:

The “Asian Snack” and more cocktails were served before landing.

15,281 miles in 4 days…done!