Apr 26, 2006 11:43 AM
5376 Views
(Updated Apr 26, 2006 11:43 AM)
I have flown on Lufthansa couple of times during vacation. It is usually New York-Frankfurt-Bombay-New York. Lufthansa is an airline of great repute. They have excellent airplanes, interiors are clean and pilots are real professionals.
However, I do not have a good impression of Lufthansa’s in-flight crew and ground handling
staff. The check-in counter girl on my last trip was rude and non-chalant. She did not smile or greet me at all. And she removed my I-94 card even before I could blink my eyes. For those of you who don’t know, every tourist/student of foreign nationality arriving in the US gets a get which includes his/her arrival no. in the US. This card is attached at the landing airport by INS officers. When you leave the country, INS or the airline removes this card from your passport and enter the admission no. in their computer, which means the person has left the US.
Usually airline staff is very polite and ask you for your passport with I-94 at departure airports in US. But this Lufthansa lady was rude.
Inside the aircraft, most air-stewardess were tight-lipped and behaved like ’’I-HAVE-BEEN-ORDERED-NOT-TO-SMILE’’ I guess I am used to over-friendly Americans but some stereotypes has it that germans dont smile. Lufthansa can increase it’s sales if only it teaches its staff to smile and make small-talks with the passengers.
Frankfurt airport transit is ok. But it is very difficult to find a helpful and smiling german/Lufthansa officer. They are professionals--they will do all their work...but wont show a personal touch and won’t smile.
I am not exaggerating but Lufthansa’s punctual arrival and departure, clean aircrafts and nice food is all of no use if the cabin and ground crew dont know how to please their customers.
