Gone are the days when we received some unknown meat topped with a squishy brown liquid and neon green vegetables on board airlines. These days, either we don’t receive anything for free ($2 for water anyone? Think US Airways ), or we receive peanuts (think Southwest) or are over-fed (think Qatar Airways). But which airlines serve the best food?

[caption id="attachment_776" align="alignright" width="373" caption="Food on Singapore Airlines - pretty good, but not the best"][/caption]

This article is inspired from a review SimpliFlying has received, which notes that there is hardly any talk about food quality on board airlines on this blog. Indeed, food quality and serivce forms an integral part of the flight experience – especially for long haul flights. In fact, it can sometimes be crucial to winning the customers hearts, as Malaysia Airlines CEO realized. They had been serving mutton biryani on routes to China, and customers didn’t like it. They switched to chicken rice, and won their hearts. At the same time, they started offering mutton biryani on flights to Delhi, which was well received too.

Personally, …

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Sleeping for 12 hours straight is uncommon in today’s busy world. Doing that while blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube over Greenland is even more rare. But that was that was the best part of my flight from New York’s Kennedy airport to Hong Kong, aboard Cathay Pacific’s new business class last weekend.

It’s the first time that I’ve recovered from my jet lag in just a day. And that’s enough to convince me that this is probably the best way to travel from New York to Hong Kong. Let me share my personal experience, and you be the judge.
Keeping the promise
Before I boarded the flight from Kennedy airport, while browsing through the Financial Times, I saw a Cathay Pacific advertisement (see picture) for their new business class, which highlighted their cozy beds, as well as the new StudioCX entertainment systems.

True enough, those were two of the key highlights of my flight – I enjoyed uninterrupted sleep and watched a good selection of movies on the 15-inch widescreen when awake. The noise-canceling headphones that were included enhanced the whole experience. Moreover, the seats were almost exactly the same as the virtual demo on Cathay Pacific’s website. Though, I had checked the movies listing on Cathay Pacific’s website before the flight, they turned out to be different on board. In reality, the selection was better (with 100 movies!), so I didn’t really mind that.
Top quality in-flight products
There are a few key items on every business traveler’s mind when traveling long haul – privacy, comfort, space, and to a certain extent, exclusivity. Cathay Pacific’s new Business Class comes up tops in privacy and comfort. The seat converts to a fully-flat bad in just the press of a button. And the bed is very comfortable indeed. The plush pillow and blanket ensure you’re put to instant sleep.

The herring-bone seat configuration ensures complete privacy, as each seat is surrounded by a shell – perfect for the overworked among us who can’t beat the urge to open up that sensitive document. There is an international power adapter and a USB port in the seat too. There is a sense of exclusivity as well, since the Business Class passengers alighted from the plane before everyone else, had bigger television screens, tables had table covers. The AgnusB amenity kit also contained a number of cosmetics, socks and eye shades. But I have to admit that the seat wasn’t as wide as I’ve seen on Singapore Airlines’ new Business Class. Nevertheless, it wasn’t something I’d get too concerned about.

Professionalism is the key word in service
Cathay Pacific is among the famed Asian carriers like Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways that are renowned for their in-flight service. And indeed, the service was very professional on board this 16 hour flight too. It’s always nice to be greeted by your name as you enter the aircraft or just as you’re being served dinner. In my case, I had cut my thumb just before boarding and asked for a band-aid as I got seated. Though I had to wait a while (since the stewardesses were busy preparing the aircraft for departure), not only was I given three strips, but a couple of stewardess stopped by to ask me how I cut myself and if I needed anything else. That was sweet.

Although American Airlines posted a $45 million profit in the last quarter, it was only the sale of a financial advisory unit that kept them in black. Otherwise, they’d have lost over $300 million in one quarter. But why? Shouldn’t all those charges for anything that’s not attached to the plane helping boost profits? Apparently not. Since the fares themselves are not just low, but utterly unrealistic and unsustainable.
Shocking prices!
Here’s an shocking discovery I made while searching for fares on Vayama.com. The fare for a JFK-Singapore flight is $800.20 (on Cathay Pacific), and from Boston – JFK – Singapore is $807.20 (on AA + Cathay Pacific). That means the flight from Boston to JFK is merely $7! That is less than the price for a person to get from Manhattan to JFK by subway! Even a regular bus ticket from Boston to New York City is $15. See the screenshots below for yourself.

How is this possible?
Even though both American Airlines and Cathay Pacific are part of the OneWorld alliance, and cooperate …