Have a very last minute business trip to Madrid and pretty much my only (remotely reasonably priced) option is an Air Europa flight out of JFK. Any thoughts on this airline? Last time I flew with them was many, many years ago and the experience was *not* good - an overbooked and cancelled mess. Thoughts?

Distressing that no one has commented on this... Anyone? Thoughts?

How was your flight on this airline? we're booked with air europa in december after getting bumped off of an AA flight we had booked thru expedia. should I be nervous?

I don't know about transatlantic flights, but we flew it from Santiago de Compostello to Madrid within Spain and it was just slick. No glitches. Maybe they've improved since you last tested them.

Like Julie , I have flown with Air Europa r/t between Madrid and Santiago de Compostela. Nothing unusual about the flight. I can't believe there would be a big difference between AA and them.

We flew them w/in Europe in Sept. No diff.betw. them and a real airline.

a perfectly normal airline, as good or as bad as the rest.

Heading out of NYC was a mess. They didn't have a record of the reservation and gave *us* a problem despite having a printed confirmation. In the end, all was sorted but very frustrating nonetheless. Return was (thankfully) uneventful. One additional point - I found coach to be extremely cramped with very limited space between seats - moreso than most airlines. I'm pretty small (5'5") and it was very uncomfortable. I honestly cannot imagine a person of 6' being able to tolerate that for 7+ hours.

Thanks - i've read very mixed reviews. hopefully our flight won't be delayed or cancelled, as I think there's only one flight per day out of JFK.

michelleNYC..what type of plane were you on?

For what its worth on this older post, I flew Air Europa twice. Once from Paris Orly to Sevilla San Pablo where I was upgraded to business class (likely due to a snarl up at the inefficient check-in process) and that was OK, below par in my estimation for business class (both in space and service).

The second time was from Paris CDG to Malaga Pablo Picasso. I was in coach, I am over 6 ft tall and I did not fit properly in the extremely cramped space (did I mention EXTREMELY cramped?) I could barely breathe ... let alone move my limbs. Upon arrival in Malaga, my understanding travel companion assisted in unfolding me, limb by limb so that I could limp my way out of the airplane. I have never ever flown in such really tight personal space conditions.

In both cases, the aircraft was a boeing 737 (as I recall) with a 3+3 seating configuration. Even with the seat in front in full upright position, I had very limited room in front of my nose and I cannot for the life of me remember where my knees were, but I do remember pain as I was jammed in. Punctuality of flights was fine, and there were no problems with luggage. If you are a shorter person, it may be fine, or maybe they have more room on planes earmarked for longer hauls.