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FIRST CLASS, ISN'T IT ?

Well, the thing with collective service mentality is like a walk on the wire. Happily, one is looking forward to an Miles&More frequent-flyer-program upgrade into First Class for a transatlantic flight and then this: In passenger's paradise the kitchen happens to be incomplete. On board of Lufthansa flight LH 450 from Frankfurt to Los Angeles on October 17th, the First Class just turned out to be everything but totally first class. More than one of the 16! passengers were deprived of their free à-la-carte choice from the menu. This or that appetiser, this or that salad had not been available because "those people up front had already ordered too much". Even drinks as complex as apple juice mixed with mineral water could be obtained only after several repeated inquiries.

Even in Economy Class, not to mention Business Class, such events cause justified anger on behalf of the passengers. But in a "club" that requires an entrance fee of around 13000 Deutschmarks to enter, such embarrassments is nothing but unacceptable.

But do not let our judgement come down on the Lufthansa people too hard. As a whole, the understanding of the meaning of service has improved noticeably at Germany's largest airline. Exceptions from the rule can happen, as in any situation.

More annoying is the fact that even in the fifth year of the Lufthansa/United Airlines co-operation, now known as "Star Alliance", the communication between the airline partners is still not working as it should be.

Therefore funny things can happen to the happy "Star guest", especially on a certain October, the 22nd. After United Airlines re-booked him on an earlier flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles by telephone, he had to discover upon arriving at the departure gate that the flight sold to him as totally under-booked a few moments before, was in fact over-booked. Actually the connection was so over-booked that United even offered a sum of 300 US dollars together with a day of sightseeing on the Las Vegas Strip, including a generous lunch feast, to passengers who would place their tickets at the Airline's disposal.

How fortunate that one still has the confirmed seat on the original, later flight. Though by looking at the boarding pass, the "Star guest" notices that the printed seat number does not correspond to the boarding zone.

Checking this could provide to be useful - but not at the departure counter, as the guest learns after a short while. No, no, Sir, you have to go back to the check-in counter, on foot and by shuttle train, of course.

Now the customer, generally supposed to be king, is standing where he already was one hour ago.

There, Mr. X of United discovers that "there is something wrong", because the "Star guest" was not to be found in the computer system at all. The friendly passenger then asks whether this also means that the checked-in suitcase, already disappeared into the luggage catacombs, is not in the system as well. The answer is rather reassuring: "This should be okay indeed."

And voilà, there are the new boarding passes. Everything okay now, isn't it. Well, not quite, because now the seat number and the boarding zone for the long-range flight from L. A. to Frankfurt do not correspond to each other. What luck that the passenger directly faces the competent specialist. Well, there was nothing to be done about it, the specialist says. The mistake was located within the Lufthansa system now, into which he could not enter. But the colleagues of Lufthansa in L. A. would certainly solve the problem, of course not at the departure gate but at the check-in counter, naturally. Therefore this means a little exercise: out of the plane in Los Angeles, through the security checkpoint, into the departure hall and then - hopefully with the correct boarding passes (for the connecting flight Frankfurt - Cologne/Bonn, too) and "in the system" - back through security to the departure gate. After all one has a plentiful 45 minutes until boarding.

Nevertheless the guest enjoys paying and making himself the errand boy of incompetent sleepy-heads. He has nothing else to do, anyway.

But let us stop for a minute. The "Star guest" is a proficient traveller and therefore, in his idle mellowness, experienced in dealing with the infrastructural insufficiencies of modern air travel, isn't he.

Or should it be the case that this sequence of failures simply presents an unbearable and totally unreasonable demand on passengers of all airline classes?

Lufthansa flight attendant Petra Giese and her colleagues on the return flight Lufthansa LH 451 proved how agreeable it can be to be surrounded by professionals. The intelligently managed service that the guest experienced on board the 747-400 this time really justified the predicate that is already given by its name in passenger's paradise: First Class.

From page 4 of FLUG REVUE 12/98