We left LAX on AA at noon, passed Hawaii 5 hrs later, then flew right through the Int'l Date Line without feeling a thing and arrived Narita, Japan at 3:30pm, 10 hours after we'd left but 34 hours older (gain 7 hours, lose a day, subtract flight time, divide by pi = jet lag).
After two hours sleepwalking through NRT airport, we left NRT on Japan Airlines.
I'd never flown JAL before and since the flight was between Japan and Thailand, I wondered if we'd understand any of the announcements. Actually, all pa’s were in Japanese and (perfect) English, the Japanese crew were all English speaking, even the seat pocket magazine was half English, proving once again the dominance of English in global communication. The movie, unfortunately was in Japanese only ☺.
What was most surprising however, was a revelation I had that has made me look at passengers on US airlines from a different perspective: Maybe they have flown internationally. If so, their expectations in service would probably be much higher than what they received.
Our flight was 5:45; basically the same as LAX-BOS. We were served a hot meal (beef or fish), rice cracker snacks and a breakfast Danish before landing. Pillow and blanket on every seat – w/ linen pillowcases. Headsets in seat pockets. Seatback screens (think JetBlue) for entertainment w/ removable armrest game controllers. Hot towels after take off and before landing. Followed by green tea and a special citrus drink unique to JAL.
This is coach.
More than amenities though, it was the service. The f/a’s don’t just pass by your seat with a tray, they stop at each row, smile, bow, and ask if you’d like some. Maybe our JAL flight was an anomaly, (100+ open seats tends to affect favorably on a flight crew) but not only was every f/a dressed in crisp, fresh-from-the-dry-cleaners uniforms, but their hair was, without exception, pulled back or piled up with that lacquered look we used before stage performances on my high school dance team. And they did everything with a smile…and of course a simultaneous nod of the head. It was automatic. Even when Erikka was “caught” taking this photo moments after the door closed,
a f/a walked by, hesitated, and said, “Uhhh, the door has jeest bean closed, I’m so sorry, (bow apologetically) please could, uhh, please may I ask you to switch off the eeelectronic device now? (smile, bow) Tank you so much, tank you" (smile, bow).
The clencher however, was that each time you use the lav in flight you find the toilet paper rolls have been folded at the ends to a triangle like maids do in hotels. Sheesh. Like I said, I have renewed understanding of American passengers disappointment in lackluster US airlines. But also renewed understanding of the difference between 9 flight attendants to 100 passengers and 4 f/a's to 188. Ahhhhh, the good ol' days...
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