A Few Thoughts about Ethiopian Airlines
So for my recent mission to Juba, South Sudan, I flew Ethiopian Airlines. This was my first time on Ethiopian Airlines, and I couldn't help but make a couple of observations:
1) The seat belts on Ethiopian are notably shorter than on most other airlines. They are so short, in fact, that the average size to thin Italian man sitting next to me on my flight from Rome to Addis had to ask for an extender piece for his seat belt. I wonder why this is. The only thing I can think of is that the seat belts are designed for Ethiopians who, on average, are thinner than most people in the world, with the exception of east Asians. I guess that's fair, but as one of the farthest reaching African airlines, one would think that Ethiopian would realize that most of their passengers are likely to be non-Ethiopians.
2) On my flight from Addis to Nairobi, we were given a menu from which to choose what we wanted for lunch. The first page of the menu contained a full-page write up about injera, the traditional Ethiopian/Eritrean flat bread made from tef. It went on to say that passengers on this Ethiopian flight had the opportunity to sample injera with wot and something else (probably shiro). But on the next page of the menu, the two choices for lunch were listed as beef cooked in soy sauce and prawns with noodles. So naturally, I asked the flight attendant if they had injera, because that was definitely what I wanted. And her answer, "No, we don't have that today." How can you hand me a menu that has a whole write up about how injera is available on this flight and that you should try it and then not actually have it as an option?!?!
3) On this particular flight, I flew business class. When I checked in for my flight from Juba to Addis on my way back to Rome, I, like everyone else, was given a boarding card without a seat number. I wasn't sure what this meant, but given my vast experience flying in Africa, I knew it was possible that I might not be given a seat number at all for this particular flight. Then, while I was in the waiting area, I overheard someone say that we would be given a seat number at boarding. And that's exactly what happened. As I went outside to board, I was handed a partial boarding card with a handwritten number on it. I couldn't read the number, so I didn't think to object when the man handed it to me, but when I got to the plane, I was told it was 25L. Clearly not business class. Nevertheless, I again decided not to object because on this flight, business looked exactly the same as economy, just in a different part of the plane! But I spent the whole of that flight plotting what I would do if I was put in economy on my connecting flight from Addis to Rome, where I definitely wanted to be in business. As it turned out, I had no reason to worry. But I still have no idea what happened at the airport in Juba!
So for my recent mission to Juba, South Sudan, I flew Ethiopian Airlines. This was my first time on Ethiopian Airlines, and I couldn't help but make a couple of observations:
1) The seat belts on Ethiopian are notably shorter than on most other airlines. They are so short, in fact, that the average size to thin Italian man sitting next to me on my flight from Rome to Addis had to ask for an extender piece for his seat belt. I wonder why this is. The only thing I can think of is that the seat belts are designed for Ethiopians who, on average, are thinner than most people in the world, with the exception of east Asians. I guess that's fair, but as one of the farthest reaching African airlines, one would think that Ethiopian would realize that most of their passengers are likely to be non-Ethiopians.
2) On my flight from Addis to Nairobi, we were given a menu from which to choose what we wanted for lunch. The first page of the menu contained a full-page write up about injera, the traditional Ethiopian/Eritrean flat bread made from tef. It went on to say that passengers on this Ethiopian flight had the opportunity to sample injera with wot and something else (probably shiro). But on the next page of the menu, the two choices for lunch were listed as beef cooked in soy sauce and prawns with noodles. So naturally, I asked the flight attendant if they had injera, because that was definitely what I wanted. And her answer, "No, we don't have that today." How can you hand me a menu that has a whole write up about how injera is available on this flight and that you should try it and then not actually have it as an option?!?!
3) On this particular flight, I flew business class. When I checked in for my flight from Juba to Addis on my way back to Rome, I, like everyone else, was given a boarding card without a seat number. I wasn't sure what this meant, but given my vast experience flying in Africa, I knew it was possible that I might not be given a seat number at all for this particular flight. Then, while I was in the waiting area, I overheard someone say that we would be given a seat number at boarding. And that's exactly what happened. As I went outside to board, I was handed a partial boarding card with a handwritten number on it. I couldn't read the number, so I didn't think to object when the man handed it to me, but when I got to the plane, I was told it was 25L. Clearly not business class. Nevertheless, I again decided not to object because on this flight, business looked exactly the same as economy, just in a different part of the plane! But I spent the whole of that flight plotting what I would do if I was put in economy on my connecting flight from Addis to Rome, where I definitely wanted to be in business. As it turned out, I had no reason to worry. But I still have no idea what happened at the airport in Juba!
posted by Hillary | 11:48 PM
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