| Jo |
Nov 25th, 2002 11:21 AM |
I'd like to tell everyone that all Alitalia Flights are non smoking since Jan 1st 2001, as every international Carrier adopted such policy in the last few years; it is also and most importantly because of safety reasons; a number of accidents occurred because some 'cool' passenger wanted to smoke anyway, inside a toilet or somewhere else regardless of the prohibition; And if you feel someone is smoking on board, most of the time is someone inside a toilet....you know like in school !!! They think they are cool, but they don't know they are putting their and your life at risk! That's why when the flight attendants find them they are by no means gentle and understanding, they are resolute instead, wishing that hopefully someone will report the police once on the ground and will teach such people a good lesson.They cannot do it unfortunately.....<BR>besides, maybe not everybody knows that most times (and this is the case in Milan Malpensa) the ground personnel handling check in procedures in the airport or at the gate is not a direct employee of ALITALIA, but it is an employee of SEA, the Airport Owners, so even though they are wearing an Alitalia Uniform (and they don't most of the time) no wonder they don't care about passengers and procedures....they are not directly responsible and prosecutable for their mistakes by Alitalia, nor is SEA going to do anything to them;that's why if you meet the wrong people you may have an unpleasant experience, but please bear in mind, with ALITALIA as well as with other AIRLINES that very often Airlines do not own the airports and are not responsible for mistakes done on the ground by such personnel prior to departure; airport authorities are often (this is the case in Italy at least)doing their best to give Airlines they don't favour a hard time and a bad impression on passenger. I will be more clear: If a foreign Airline (Swiss or Lufthansa) is paying SEA more for the service requested (i.e. handling check-ins and boardings)and is going to threaten a contract cancellation upon low completion of the contracts duties,be sure that the flights will be most often on time with boarding procedures and check-in as they should be. Don't ask me why, but in Italy there is this strange habit by everyone to regard Alitalia as a very bad airline, simply because people like to spit on everybody else instead of understanding that if they would cooperate, things will be better for everyone, including passengers.But nobody seems to care.<BR><BR>At last, I agree with who said previously that flying a certain airline is a very subjective experience and that there are many different things envolved plus it is a lot more reasonable to express your anger at someone rather than your compliments. Thus, keep flying, ALITALIA or whichever airline you want, and try to live your flight more easily, and think that you are often not the only one on board and that 4 flight attendants (this is the ratio in Y/C on a B767,and it is usually 1:50)have to cope with 200 more or less demanding people every day for at least 8 ours. So if they may be rude or may appear not so delicate at times, try to get the overall vision of the situation and maybe you will feel less angry and more willing to understand or tolerate (not necessarily accept)certain behaviors,regardless of the fact that they are supposed to be professionals.<BR><BR>One more thing: ALITALIA phased out all its 747 following 9/11 and is replacing them with brand new 777 with personal tv screen on every Y/C seat. this should help reduce the discomfort of the seats and make your flight more enjoyable.they will start using them in December on the NYC routes first and will be extended to other routes later on.
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