‘Economy’ – a careful, thrifty management of resources. That’s what my computer’s dictionary says. What I am going to tell you about is Economy Class, commonly referred to among businessmen as cattle class. We’ve all been there but is it that bad?
It’s the overcrowded, dirty, cramped cabin squashed in at the back of the plane where the air hostesses daren’t venture in to. It’s dark, noisy uncomfortable and you want to avoid it as much as you can. Or that’s the common thought of Economy Class, isn’t it?
History of Economy (the boring bit - no, not a paragraph – the opinion)…
Many hundreds of years ago, back in the 1900s, air travel was expensive and uncomfortable. The seats were wooden and the aircraft were… lets say… ex-military. You had to wear oxygen masks and basically it was like travelling Air-India in 2001.
Slowly air travel expanded, and Heathrow then became a tent. Airlines realised that air travel did actually have a future, and so did people who built airplanes. Boeing was soon set up made propeller jets in the 1930s, which Pakistan Airlines still operates today.
Then someone had a bad idea. But it wasn’t to create something bad – to create economy. In stead it was to create something better – business class. Planes got bigger, better and faster and new ‘classes’ were added to them. Cattle class remained.
One thing I can’t tell you is why Economy is at the back. I suppose it’s because it takes longer to get out, and you’re nearer the noise of the wing. And also, if you’re
stuck in the middle, you get your in-flight meal last. Not that you were going to eat in anyway.
A Typical Economy Experience…
I am going to do two examples here, so you can actually see the difference in Economy Classes. The first example is SriLankan Airlines, which have lost three aircraft in the attack on Bandranaike Airport. Route: London – Colombo (SriLanka’s capital).
You arrive at the airport, carrying your luggage, not realising you have exceeded the limit by about two kilos. Anyway, so you and your child enter terminal four and find the SriLankan Airlines check-in desks. There’s a rather large queue. You join – at the end.
You’re standing around, looking bored. If you watched airport last night, you will have seen the friendly man who works for SriLankan. Anyway, there are one or two supervisors. They come round, and have a friendly chat, keeping you happy.
The time seems to go by as you discuss where you’re going in SriLanka, what you hope to do, the guy recommends you some things to do, things to see. And before you know it, there are another hundred people behind you and it’s your turn to start checking in.
SriLankan check-in at Heathrow is handled by British Airways, that is there are British Airways staff behind the desks with a few SriLankan Airlines staff supervising them and a few more locked away in the back offices within Heathrow’s dark corridors.
A teenager who looks really miserable meets you at the desk and as though British Airways don’t pay her enough. She orders you, ‘Ticket please.’ You hand it over and she stropilly types on the computer, making mistakes and slamming the backspace key.
The woman at the desk carefully weighed the bags. She seemed absolutely horrified by the fact that I was two kilos over the limit and was trying to charge me excess baggage. Anyway, I got revenge on her when the guy said I could get away with two kilos.
The small and nasty experience of British Airways is over, and you drift around the airport, looking at shops but not really achieving anything. So your flight is called and you move towards the departure gate. And you start to queue. You wait a little.
Everybody from Business Class gets on board. Then you are invited to get inside the plane, which you do readily. Oh god, you’re thinking, SriLankan Airlines – they’re Asian, they must be crap. Not so. SriLankan has the best Economy Class I’ve seen.
You must believe me when I say that. I have flown on over forty airlines around the world but SriLankan is the one that stands out. They lost three aircraft in the recent terrorist attack, but they have nine year-old Airbus aircraft that are really fantastic.
On board…
I am 1 metre ninety centimetres tall, or six foot one in old money. I was dreading the eight-hour flight to Colombo in what I expected to be cramped conditions. I sat down. Then I got up. Sat down again. I moved around. I couldn’t find a way to feel cramped!
There was heaps of legroom, along with a great magazine. I fiddled around with my personal TV for a while and I was amazingly comfortable. I looked at the selection of films. All of the latest titles – Meet the Parents, Charlie’s Angels – five months ago!
The whole experience was great; the hostesses greeted you with their hands in the prayer position, saying ‘Ayubowan,’ Singhalese for welcome. So the flight took off. And we were served the most excellent food which we ate while watching the latest films.
We landed, and many were sad to leave the plane. We had been comfortable with our thick, large blankets and nice fluffy pillows. The crew were most helpful and assisted us with our bags and said goodbye to us in a very friendly manner. We were in SriLanka!
So it was time to jet off somewhere again. This time it was British Airways, Johannesburg from Heathrow. So we arrived at Heathrow and found our desk among the many hundred that there were. There was a huge queue, just like with SriLankan.
The difference with British Airways was that there was no one being nice, no one being friendly. So we got to the plane. It was cramped and the staff unfriendly. The meal was average, but overall I was extremely disappointed with British Airways’ service.
What I’m trying to show here is that Economy Classes can be very different indeed. You need to check out different airlines by looking at their websites, to see what services they offer, etc. If you’re on a budget, then go for the cheapest ticket.
But the cheapest fare may not necessarily be the best value for money. I mean, you can be lucky – SriLankan is cheap but also very good. And I forgot to mention SriLankan has specially trained staff to look after children, and special smaller kids headphones.
But British Airways are abusive of their market position and charge huge amounts, for very poor service. So do shop around. Anyway, I need to give you some more advice about Economy Class now, to help the cattle come through with getting diseased.
(Don’t worry, his family knows he’s mad says Mrs Etheridge looking over my shoulder)
Deep Vein Thrombosis…
a.k.a. Economy Class Syndrome
My personal view is that calling this condition Economy Class Syndrome is very unfair, as it has happened in Business, even First Class before. What happens is that blood clots form in the body through being cramped or inactive after a long time stationery.
The dan*e guide: Preventing DVT…
To prevent this Deep Vein Thrombosis from affecting you, make sure you drink lots of water and get up and exercise every hour or so. I don’t mean to start doing press ups in the middle of the aisle, but just going for a walk to the end of the cabin and back.
You should also take an aspirin before your flight and drink plenty of water. Instead of constantly nagging the cabin crew for glasses of water, water machines can usually be found at the back of aircraft next to the toilet with some small polystyrene cups.
If you’re flying British Airways, don’t forget to take something to do, as the only in-flight entertainment you’ll get with them is the fuel stop. Sorry, folks, hat’s as far as my sense of humour goes. I’m a bit of an old man. Someone say bum and I’ll probably giggle.
Where you sit…
Try and avoid windows if at all possible. You will get more pressure in your ears and also they are the hardest seats to leave. The best seats to get are those on the aisle – the ones that are second in from the window. That way you can stretch out your legs!
Summary…
-Look around for the best airline
-Bring your own food in some cases
-Sit on aisle seats
-Stick to the baggage limit
-Bring a book
-If you’re flying Economy, get that airline’s lowest fare
-Exploit services as much as possible – take all you can
-Try and sit near the front
-Exercise
-Drink water
Thank you for choosing to read this opinion and I wish you a pleasant flight!
-Copyright, Daniel Etheridge, 2001.
09.08.2001 16:42
Very informative! :)
31.07.2001 00:15
Superb op mate.. loads of info and very useful overall. AL
29.07.2001 12:27
Oh and I nearly forgot, have a nice holiday in Bilbao.