Rudy

If you have flown Egyptair, what were your impressions of the airline? In light of the recent crash, would you fly them again?

mm

I've flown Egyptair on a domestic flight when I visited Egypt four years ago. I found the attendants to be pleasant enough, service to be okay and the flight on time. I would fly them again if I needed to as I believe any airline can be involved in a crash. Now if Egyptair or any airline for that matter, had several safety incidents in a short span of time, then I would definitely stay away from them.

cb

I flew Egyptair for NY-Cairo and return and for all domestic flights. The planes were all modern, even more so than many US carriers. The service was also better. I agree with mm; any airline can have a crash. In Egypt or the Middleast, air flight may be the least of all safety concerns.

Paula

Egyptair is no more dangerous than any of the other airlines presently flying. Unfortunately crashes happen and in a spectacular way highlight the fact that great number of people can die instantly. The statistics still favor airline travel over auto travel as far as safe miles travelled. In instances such as this airlines become more vigilant to prevent future crashes but the nature of manmade travel indicates that accidents happen for whatever reason. <BR> <BR>Egyptair is a small national carrier with newer equipment than the major US carriers and has a small army of people assigned to each plane due to national patronage. I certainly would not hesitate to fly them - in Egypt you have no choice.

Tony Hughes

Personally I would avoide Egyptair if I possibly could. I had an internal flight from Cairo to Luxor last year where the airplane pulled out of landing only 250m above the ground. It flew level above the runway for a number of seconds then, with a loud groan from all the engines, attempted to abort the landing altogether. An explanation was given in Arabic and lasted about 2 minutes, the English explanation lasted 5 seconds ('We had problems with visibility'). No idea if this is typical but doesn't fill you with confidence.

Tina

In response to Tony, I flew United Airlines in September and upon landing in Atlanta we pulled out of the landing at about 500 feet above the runway. It was scary with all the noise of the engines and steep climb back up to altitude. The reason was another plane not getting off of the runway in time. This manueaver was better than a crash with the plane on the ground. Should I not fly United anymore because of this safety move by the pilot??

Tony Hughes

You do what you like, Tina, but who told you it was because of another plane on the runway? The pilot? He isn't going to say 'Hey folks, didn't I really mess that landing up?'. Of course not. Why would your United Airlines pilot attempt to land with another plane on the runway anyway, huh? <BR> <BR>Incidentally, I gave one reason for not particularly wanting to fly Egyptair again. There were others: lousy food, inattentive staff, suspect ground crew to name but three. <BR> <BR>I would fly with them again but not if I had a choice.

tina

Tony, <BR>The pilot said the plane wasn't close enough to the taxiway and when the plane pulled up I was looking out the window and did notice a plane just leaving the runway. I thought that was strange and then our pilot told us what happened and it made perfect sense to me. <BR> <BR>I will be flying Egypt Air between Israel and Cairo for a "puddle jump" flight so I do not care about food, staff or the ground crew. This one hour flight will sure beat a 12 hour bus ride through the Sinai Desert!!!

Amy

I just returned from Egypt, days before the crash. We flew Egyptair domestically between Luxor and Cairo, and had decided based on that experience that I would fly them whenever possible because the planes were obviously newer, the staff at Egyptair offices in Egypt incredibly helpful and informative, the inflight service, food, attention to details of safety and comfort much higher than on any other airline I've flown recently ( I've been on about 10 in the last year).... <BR> <BR>It's very frightening to fly just after a terrible accident, but I repeat that the planes were as modern and safe, and the staff were as professional as any airline I've been on. (The food and the flight magazine were also very good...)

leslie

I just returned one week ago from a trip to Egypt and flew EgyptAir from Cairo to Luxor, from Aswan to Abu Simbel and back, and from Aswan to Cairo. I agree with the rest of the replies you have received. The planes seemed newer and cleaner and the staff is more caring than I had expected. Every airport takes security extremely seriously (all you have to do is carry filmbags in your luggage which require security inspection to know how carefully they check bag x-rays). Actually, some members of our Nile cruise flew on EgyptAir flight 990 the day after the crash and they didnt seem to have any particular fears about their return flight. By the way, I reject the current explanation about the pilot committing suicide based on the prayer he recited. Phrases like "god willing" etc are very common for Egyptians since they are fairly devout Moslems and need to be understood within the cultural context. Imagine what an Egyptian would think if the tables were turned and an American plane went down with the pilot repeating one of our "expletive deleted" phrases. I hope you enjoy your trip. We loved our time in Egypt and would definitely fly EA again.