Thank you for your r/r/c. I'm a former air stewardess, now working as a Project Manager in a Civil S...
Thank you for your r/r/c. I'm a former air stewardess, now working as a Project Manager in a Civil Service department. Studying part-time with the Open University for an English and Politics degree.
Member since:01.11.2002
Reviews:89
Members who trust:106
As a former easyJet Cabin Crew Member I thought that I would write a review about easyJet and try to make it as unbiased as possible!
About easyJet: EasyJet PLC is a short-haul low-cost airline established in 1995 by Stelios Haji-Ioannou and has come a long way from flying solely between Luton and Glasgow with two B737's leased from another airline. Today easyJet flies to 80 destinations and has 137 planes with a further 120 A319 planes on order. EasyJet bought out rival carrier Go in 2002 and in 2007 purchased the British Airways subsidiary GB Airways. They are very successful carrying 30 million passengers a year and made a record £129 million pounds before tax in the last financial year.
EasyJet is 43% owned by members of the Haji-Ioannou family though unlike on the ITV series 'Airline' Stelios is no longer the main man running the airline. Andy Harrison is the CEO and is keen to make easyJet a more business-orientated airline and has made many changes. The airline employs around 4000 staff.
The airplanes: The airline started with Boeing 737-200's, these have now been replaced with B737-700, however most bases are now Airbus A319 bases and all bases will be replaced with these planes by 2011. It is worth noting that easyJet fly a very young fleet, the average age of their planes are 2.2 years. At BA the average age is 9.8 years.
Where do they fly? This depends on which airport you want to fly from, some examples are
Milan Malpensa, Athens, Marrakech, Istanbul, Aberdeen, Newcastle, Amsterdam and Tallinn. The problem is, they often fly to the smaller, out of city airports so by the time you factor in travel cost and time it may be easier/cheaper to choose a mainstream airline.
Booking: Most bookings are made on the Internet. I find the process very easy as the website is very clear and easy to understand. You are then issued with an e-ticket. You can also purchase 'Speedy Boarding' which allows you to be amongst the first passengers to board the plane although this doesn't always go to plan (had many unhappy pax moaning at me!) This is being enhanced by 'Speedy Boarding Plus', which allows you to check in online, get on earlier flights for no extra fee and gives you access to a business lounge. You should also be aware that you can have checked in baggage of up to 20kg BUT they now charge £3.99 for each bag. If you do not pay online and have check in luggage be aware that they now charge £8 at the airport! You will be charged £6 or the equivalent in local currency for each kilogram your bag is over weight!
Prices: Booking with easyJet you will have to be flexible with times you travel to get the best deals. You can get some very cheap flights if you book far in advance or equally you may find cheaper tickets on full service airlines such as BA. Also bear in mind that you have to pay for onboard food and drink and some of the airports are very out of town. I have also seen very expensive flights too.
Check In My check-in experiences have not been so good with waits of up to 45 minutes being the norm. The ground staff are employed by Menzies Aviation, a ground handling company, not by the airline themselves. The agents wear either the Menzies uniform or the easyJet orange one. In general I have found the check-in agents to be rather surly and miserable. They do have to put up with a lot of abuse, long hours, poor pay and no travel perks, it's easy to say they should go and get a new job if they are so unhappy at work but unfortunately many people in jobs like this are somewhat limited as to what kind of employment roles they can get.
My last experience involved me greeting the agent in a friendly and polite manner and the agent barely spoke a word back to me or looked at me. She was also very slow. I have never witnessed any scenes like on the television show Airline! It is worth noting that the checks in staff at other airports outside the UK are generally better than their UK counterparts. You need to be checked in at least 45 minutes prior to your flight leaving and are advised to be at check-in at least 2 hours beforehand. The order you check in also affects when you board the flight…last people to check in are assigned boarding group D and are last on the plane. If you have hand baggage only you can check in Online.
Boarding: It's worth noting that easyJet's motto is "If you're late, we won't wait!" In other words, it's up to you to get to the gate on time. There is a strict boarding system. Speedy Boarders go first, then passengers with babies and special needs, and then group a group b etc. Do not try to board before your time, as you will be told to go away by one of the assistants! Seats are not pre-assigned and you may not sit in a seat with a grey headrest cover (front row of the aircraft, on the wing exits, and on the last row) if you are not able bodied. This means you have to be over the age of 14, not disabled in any way, not pregnant, and not elderly and frail. This is CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) law, not easyJet's own policy, so please follow the crew's instructions.
On the same note, you should be able to stow your own carry-on luggage and not expect the crew to stow your great heavy suitcase. You pack it, you stack it! The A319 plane can hold 156 passengers (one class only) and the seats are grey and orange. It can be a little cramped. There are two lavatories, one at each end of the plane.
Onboard Service: "At easyJet, our philosophy is that "there's no such thing as a free lunch" - so we don't offer one! "Free" onboard meals add to the overall cost of a seat - and we believe that our passengers would prefer to forgo a tray of plastic airline food in order to save money on their fare."
My advice would be to shop before you board, as the food is overrated and expensive. The easyJet's Shop (well a trolley) consists of a selection of drinks and snacks. You can pay in Sterling, Euros or by credit card (no
Pictures of EasyJet - EZU
Cabin Crew
debit cards.) The selection is in the In-flight Brochure.
Food: Cuppa-Soup, hot pizza and hot bacon bloomers. There is a selection of sandwiches. These have included: cheese and vegetable wraps, cheese salad, turkey, chicken and ham. The food is ok-typical airline food and the sandwiches are quite stodgy.
There are also healthy choices such as smoothies, nuts and seeds, cereal bars and fruit.
Please be aware that food is subject to availability and with crews flying up to four flights a day with no restocks and limited galley space food (and ice) does run out-don't take it out on the crew!
Depending on the length of the flight there may just be a call-bell service on very short hops or on a longer flight two trolley services and a duty free.
Duty Free: This trolley is normally pushed through the cabin very quickly but contains the usual collection of perfume, cosmetics and gadgets that you would expect-full details in the brochure or on the website.
Cabin Crew: You do hear a lot of bad press about easyJet crew, I think it is important to remind passengers that the Cabin Crew are onboard for your SAFETY and this is CAA law. I flew with mostly great crew from a wide variety of backgrounds. From school leavers to people with degrees, crew who spoke several languages, former midwives, nurses, civil servants, ballet dancers, actors, teachers and even a zookeeper. Unlike a lot of airlines there is no stereotyping and crew are encouraged to be themselves as well as informal, fun and professional.
I do get annoyed when people say easyJet crew are low-class. I have flown with crew who have flown for many years, crew who have flown for charter airlines and wanted a permanent job and one flight attendant who had flown for about 15 years and who's previous airlines included Gulf Air, BMI and a Saudi private airline. Crew have to pass four weeks intensive training-this includes safety, security, fire-fighting, first aid, emergency evacuations etc
There are people who probably shouldn't be crew yes. I have flown with them and it's not fun. Crew who are rude to passengers and crew alike, lazy and surly are not professional and are really not pleasant to fly with. Some examples include slamming down of drinks onto trays, swearing in front of passengers, ignoring passengers and the list goes on. These people are in the minority thankfully.
The Cabin Crew now wear a smart dark suit with either orange or white fitted shirts, ties for men and neck scarves for ladies (not orange casual attire anymore, have included a photo of the old unifom which the ground staff still wear) and on the A319 there are four cabin crew consisting of a Senior Cabin Crew Member and then three other crew. The crew do work quite hard (up to four flights a day) with a few night stops thrown in. They also earn a very good salary, one of the best for the UK airlines.
Cabin Cleanliness: This is one area that is not so good. The planes get a proper clean at night. They can fly up to 8 flights a day (with two crews) before they get their deep clean. During the 25-minute turnarounds the crew (often including the flight deck!) do a cabin tidy and crew do 'gash-ins' during the flight with the lovely orange bin bags. They also restock the loos. Unfortunately some passengers really are pigs are leave behind a lot of mess…Pringles smashed into the carpet by delightful chavvy children's, alcohol spilt, magazines and newspapers everywhere etc Lovely. Oh and if you have any leftover magazines or newspapers please hand them into the cabin crew as they love them!
In-flight Entertainment: Obviously no televisions or radio or headsets handed round. There is an easyJet magazine with some interesting articles (and lots of adverts) so I suggest bringing your own entertainment. On the same vein…don't expect luxury so no pillows or blankets either.
Who travels on easyJet? All sorts of passengers fly with easyJet. Stag parties, family groups, school groups, business travellers and people with second homes abroad. So not just the chav-tastic passengers commonly seen on the television show!
The future? I am predicting that the airline will eventually have a business class cabin. With the takeover of GB Airways they will have also taken on the Manchester base so expect new flights from MAN. I also think there may be a low-cost long-haul operation launched. I think they will continue to be successful unlike so many other airlines-they are constantly expanding, recruiting staff and launching new routes. So watch this space!
(I have included some photos from easyJet.com as apparently "The following images may be downloaded from this site and reproduced royalty-free provided full credit is given to the source and to the copyright holder, easyJet Airline Company limited.")
UPDATE: Due to increase of fuel there seems to be a lack of cheap fares...by the time you have added on bag charges etc it may be cheaper and easier to travel on a non low cost airline.
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Very helpful review. I voted it Exeptional because it is. I have never travelled with them but I wouldn't mind.
py106 26.08.2008 18:57
A well-deserved E review. Very informative and good presentation. Anan
JVL 07.07.2008 12:23
Excellent review, very fair - I've flown with Easyjet a few times and never had a problem with them. And I always have to remember that Easyjet saved my bacon once: stuck in Madrid after a major cock-up on my part, I nabbed the last free seat on the plane to Gatwick and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg either!
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Advantages: Low cost travel at its best, plenty of destinations, fly into centrally located airports Disadvantages: Seats a bit cramped, lack of product on board.
KELLYLOUJ 13.12.2007 (12.11.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of EasyJet - EZU
Advantages: Online trading - should be extremely advantages Disadvantages: get it wrong and you're heavily punished both psychologically and financially
corky 14.07.2000 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of EasyJet - EZU
Dec 27th, 2007
(Dec 29th, 2007)
exceptional by (20%):
very helpful by (80%):
