easyJet? on the day we flew, it was more like Breezy Jet!
Written: Apr 13 '04 (Updated Aug 28 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Can be reasonably priced.
Small airports used means small check in queues!
Cons: No frills
The Bottom Line: Have you ever tried to get easyJet through a spell check!
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| cr01's Full Review: EasyJet |
Act 1:
(The scene): A couple stand anxiously at the window of the terminal of Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport and look out (in the backdrop, a corny logo can be seen: Liverpool John Lennon Airport: Above us only sky). The woman holds a couple of easyJet boarding passes
Above them, there is indeed a lot of sky; heavy clouds are moving overhead at a very rapid rate of knots, gusty and wild winds are blowing down the Mersey estuary.
A voice comes over the airport tannoy:
”Span Air regret to announce the indefinite delay of its flight to Palma due to the adverse weather conditions; further information will be available at 5:00.”
“Great!” the man mutters (almost inaudibly). Span Air was due to leave a little time ahead of the easyJet flight they were waiting to board to Madrid. The couple brace themselves for a long wait.
Three minutes later, another tannoy announcement; the first relating to the easyJet flight despite the scheduled departure time having come and gone ten minutes earlier:
”easyJet are pleased to announce that its flight to Madrid is now ready for boarding…”.
Passengers look somewhat confused by the announcement; the look is part elation that there is no long delay; part fear, how is it that they can fly when delays affect other flights?
The man jokingly tells his wife that surely the pilot doesn’t want to die so it must be safe. She shoots him a look and retorts with a slightly sadistic grin on her face:
“…but what if he’s just found out his wife is having an affair?”
“Joke” she says, and gently squeezes her man’s fingers to remove the uncertainty from his eyes. They decide to put their faith in the pilot’s decision.
Act 1: Scene 2: The Terminal Gate
The attendant tells the waiting passengers that they have a bit of a gusty walk across the runway. The weather is so windy, John Lennon Airport will not allow the planes anywhere near the terminal building for safety purposes.
The attendant pushes open the door with a grunt; the wind is battling to keep it closed.
The first allowed through the gate are disabled passengers, and those with children under five. A husband carries his son across the tarmac, leaving his wife to battle with the wind and a pushchair. The wind bowls her off her feet just as she leaves the terminal building, and she is escorted with a slightly wet patch on her bottom to the plane by an easyJet ground staff crewmember.
Customers hold numbered tickets given to them at the check in for their flight; the earlier they arrive, the lower the number they receive. They call groups of numbers; lowest first. The seats on the plane are not pre allocated; the sooner passengers get on board, the more choice of seating they have.
The couple line up as the first group are requested to join the aircraft, holding tickets numbered 1 to 30. Just ahead of them in the queue, a woman holding a ticket number 121 is spotted. The attendant allows her onwards rather undermining the ticketing order, although most passengers obey orders, play ball and wait for their number to come up .
The wind visibly takes the breath away from the man as he climbs the steps to enter the plane. Ahead of him is a wide elderly woman, who is seriously struggling with steps and wind, taking about three seconds a step. The man hesitates, he is wondering whether to offer her a push. However, his hands are full of newspapers and hand luggage. It would have not been elegant.
At last, the couple board the plane and make straight for a seat just over the wing; the strongest part of the plane. The wind is making the aircraft gently wobble. The plane fills up slowly as passengers battle their way onto the plane.
Eventually the captain’s confidence voice comes across the speakers to apologise for the windy introduction to the flight and to announce the safety instructions. He points out with a smile in his voice that we might want to pay special attention to the safety instructions given the weather, and that today in particular they might prove “useful”.
The plane takes off almost an hour behind schedule; a man in the seat behind the couple gently squeals as three seconds after take off, a strong gust of wind pulls the plane back to earth for a fraction of a second.
The plane soon pulls away and the man tries to unclench his aching jaw muscles.
Act 2: The flight
(The scene): A Boeing 737-700 (a 737-300 for the return flight). The planes are pretty tidy, but not the cleanest. The man’s food tray on the outbound flight had congealed coffee on it and on the return flight, the plastic trim at his feet was flapping with the vibrations of the plane.
As easyJet’s advertising colour is a rather lurid orange, it is no surprise that the seating is grey with bright orange streaks; the return flight had seating in a rather more calming blue check. The seats are of fairly standard size for coach class, limited controls and movement and reasonably comfortable.
Cabin crew are kitted out in the grey and orange combo. The women attendants seem to feel the need to wear bright orange make up in order to avoid looking washed out by the bright colours of their uniform. Outfits are relaxed in style; men wear short sleeve orange and grey shirts and black jeans with orange stitching: women, grey tops, sleeveless orange padded jackets and black skirts with orange stitching.
As the flight is coming to land, flight attendants come round with bin bags to take away any rubbish. The captain explains over the tannoy that the flight scheduling is so tight that the cabin crew have eight minutes to turn the flight back round. That’s not a great deal of time to keep a plane clean and tidy, although the toilets receive special attention.
Cabin crew are efficient but not particularly friendly during the flight. The crew seem to work well together as a team; passing change and food and drink items between the two trolleys they are using.
One of the trolleys bumps into an arm resting on the edge of a seat on its way through the plane. Despite the crewmembers stopping to readjust the trolley on its glide through the plane, staff don’t remark upon the incident, and no apology is offered.
The flight arrives at its destination within 25 minutes of its scheduled landing time despite the hour-long delay at take off.
Entertainment
As this is a no-frills operation, the only freebee available is the rather thick in-flight magazine. Staff hand out the magazine on request just after take off. The couple find enough in the magazine to read it for forty minutes or so.
The style of the magazine is young and punchy. Articles included 50 best bars (many of which by coincidence(?) are in places that easyJet flew to), city details and a “what’s on” listing for the various destinations easyJet fly to, an interview with British rower, Steve Redgrave, and an article on food.
Also in the magazine, a list of the food and drink that passengers can buy. These are of the Pringles and Peanuts types snack, although a limited choice of sandwiches were also available for £3 ($5).
The couple buy two small plastic bottles of wine for £3 each. The listing on the magazine detailed that the red wine was a Merlot grape; the label of the bottle of the couples purchase reveals a rather more robust Chilean Cabinet/Merlot. On the return flight, two small tubs of Pringles cost the couple £1 each ($1.80).
The scene ends, and a narrator offers the background story
History
easyJet was one of the British budget airline pioneers; from small roots in those early days, easyJet has grown to become one of the European budget giants alongside Ryan Air.
I have always had a soft spot for Easy Jet with its jaunty spirit of the aviator pioneer and it is true to say that Easy Jet and Ryan Air have revolutionised European air travel making it much more affordable, bringing hitherto unheralded European cities into easy reach for a weekend break.
On one flight I was on, the pilot came out of his cabin to speak with the passengers and on all occasions, the pilots have been chatty, amusing and pleasant.
Airports
Another reason for my appreciation of easyJet lies with the fact that it was about the first budget airline to create a major hub outside of the south of England. Others have since cottoned onto the fact that a great many people live in Britain outside London and the South East.
Today, most of easyJet’s UK departing and arriving flights leave from Luton in the south and Liverpool John Lennon in the north. Most internet reviews of easyJet complain about the location and standards of these airports.
Personally, I find John Lennon airport to be very convenient; it is located on the edge of Liverpool meaning that travellers do not have to drive through the centre of the city to reach the airport. The airport is small which means that even in these security conscious time consuming days, you can check in a mere 45 minutes prior to departure, even for European flights.
Luton airport too, is not the distant from London backwater that some may suggest. True, it’s not as convenient for the centre of London as say Heathrow or Gatwick is, but there is a regular bus link into the city for those that require it. Luton is also more handily located for some of the more attractive southern cities such as Cambridge and even Oxford.
Destinations
easyJet fly to a number of European cities, including Amsterdam, Madrid, Prague, Berlin, Athens, Barcelona and Nice. Unlike Ryan Air who often use a little artistic licence when describing the locations of the airports they use, easyJet tend to use fairly central airports. Of course, this saves public transport fares at your destination.
Prices
easyJet can still offer some good value for money bargains, but the traditional airlines have been forced to bring down their prices to the point where it is always worth hunting out hitherto expensive airlines such as British Airways for price comparisons. However, easyJet can often offer considerable discounts particularly if you avoid the Friday evening and Sunday evening peak demand times for starting and ending a mini break.
Our recent return flights to Madrid from Liverpool came in at around £65 ($110) return each, around £50 ($90) cheaper each than flights on offer from the traditional airlines using Manchester airport. £50 ($90) is a lot of money to pay for a bite to eat and a couple of glasses of wine! The flights are an absolute bargain when you compare it against my recent £130 ($230) four hundred mile round trip on the train to London!
Unfortunately easyJet and other budget airlines are adversely affected by flight taxes which are charged as a fixed sum payment, rather than a percentage of your air fare. £15.50 ($25) of each of our fares was flight taxes.
My experiences
Over the years I must have flown with easyJet on at least half a dozen return journeys. Perhaps I have been fortunate but on each trip, my flight has never been delayed for more than an hour, and my experiences have been good.
One of the biggest complaints about the budget airlines surrounds the lack of care extended to passengers should a flight be delayed or cancelled. Of course, any charges that the airline incurred for such a service would have to be passed back to passengers in the form of higher fares; defeating the object of the budget airline somewhat.
To sum up
easyJet is a budget airline; as such passengers receive a very basic service almost reduced to a flight alone. However, there are sums of money to be saved, although these days this is not as considerable as it used to be. It’s always worth shopping around, particularly if you are flying at peak times or at short notice.
If you want the comfort and support of a more traditional airline then you need to dig deeper into your pockets and pay for it.
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cr01 asserts his rights to be associated as the author of this review – 2004-
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cr01
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Member: Chris
Location: Yorkshire, England
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