As I reflect more on my Kenya Airways 787-8 journey from Nairobi to New York in business class, I cannot help but point out how much warm service can make a difference in influencing how I rate and review a flight.
How Great Service Can Best Distinguish An Airline, Even With A Mediocre Business Class Product
On an objective basis, Kenya Airways has a dated 2-2-2 business class seat where passengers wtih window seats do not even have direct aisle access. There were no printed menus onboard. No internet. The IFE selection was quite limited. The blanket was fine, but I’ve had much better.
In other words, this was a decidedly mediocre flight by most measures (not bad, not good, just sort of average).
Let’s put it another way: let’s compare my Kenya Airways flight from NBO-JFK to my United Airlines flight from EWR-CPT.
United offers a better seat, better bedding, comparable food, in-flight wi-fi, and more movies and TV shows to choose from. Thus, by almost every “objective” measure United is better.
And far from being hostile, the crew on my United flight from EWR-JNB was really quite nice (and of course, I slept through almost all of the flight).
So I am not saying that Kenya Airways is a better choice than United Airlines for your premium cabin trip to southern Africa.
But is not the picture above worth 1,000 words? The reason I gave my NBO-JFK flight such a positive review was because of the excellent crew. I singled out Mohamed Khan, the purser (the gentleman in the red coat with four yellow stripes in the picture above) and Sang (on the right).
Khan in particular provided friendly and engaging service, making every passenger onboard feel welcome and like a valued guest, not just a customer. He took time to converse with each passenger and offer them a warm welcome and cheerful goodbye. Flight attendants were attentive…and smiled. It makes a big difference.
Of course business class on Kenya Airways is vastly inferior to leading products like Qatar Airways Qsuite…yet a kind crew covers a multitude of mediocrity.
CONCLUSION
“Service” is the most subjective part of a flight review. Yet I see, in thinking about my Kenya Airways flight, how absolutely important it is in forming my overall opinion of the flight. Think back to your greatest flights. Was it really because of the seat (to an extent, all flat bed seats allow for sleeping) or are your greatest flights always the ones in which service is the best?
I had a very nice FA on US Airways once, Frankie P. Later I read about her, a brief mention online. So it does make a difference. Years later, I still remember a pleasant US Airways 767 flight with Frankie P. giving good cabin service.
Think about it.
A job as flight crew, especially on international routes, for the flag-carrier of a country like Kenya is still quite prestigious. The closest comparison is like PanAm in the 1950s and 1960s.
1) You have to be reasonably well-educated to, in most cases, speak a second language.
2) Given the time and expense of being qualified as a pilot, you can imagine the people who are pilots are either foreigners, ex-military or upper-class.
3) The pay is probably significantly higher than the average wage. Plus, the perks of traveling have to be incredible. 4) In many countries like Kenya, the flag-carrier is a state-owned enterprise or is very well-connected to the political class. I imagine many of the flight attendant jobs are political or given to well-connected kids.
FNT Delta Diamond.
I too, because I’ve been around a while, flew often with Pan Am in the 70s and 80s. Their crew are still unequaled. Such a shame their C suite was incompetent.
I googled Pan am C Suite thinking it was their business class seat :). Face palm
My mate and I ate at the hotel restaurant with a Filipino flight attendant for Cathay years ago and she said she loved her job. Was so lucky to have a gig that paid well and allowed her to travel.
Agree with you 100% Matthew. Flights that I still remember fondly have all had stellar crew – the FA who brought me a snack when I was working through an ultra longhaul, the ground agent who worked through broken IT systems to upgrade my family (and persisted with multiple no’s from her IT support team) or the FA who kindly checked on my family multiple times, heated up our infant daugter’s food, brought milk and moved us so we had empty seats around us to let our daughter lie down and sleep, the FA who politely encouraged me to try all the desserts from her country etc.. These are all experiences I remember.
I conversely also remember negative experiences with rude FAs and gate agents, times when they could have been kind but chose to be the opposite and it took escalations to get a fair result (e.g. refusing to let my family board because of an issue with the carrier’s IT systems when traveling in business… finally got resolved after I insisted on speaking with the station manager multiple times (who was very kind and pr0-customer) and even then refusing to even acknowledge the issue let alone apologizing).
I am delighted to see Khan recognized again for excellence. We flew in Kenya Airlines in 2021. Prior to the flight we realized we were missing a piece of luggage, which contained a gift for someone precious. Khan recognized my husband’s distress. He personally saw to it that the bag was delivered to our home in Florida- including meeting the driver, flying bag to NYC, and having a friend mail it the rest of the way. Nor would he accept money. It still makes me choke up- the humanity in what otherwise can seem like a cold world.
Great story. Thanks for your comment.
My grandma, who is wheelchair bound, was also fortunate enough to be well looked after by Khan from Nairobi to London on KQ100 05September2022. It’s great to see his efforts being recognised along with others at the airline that work so hard to make the journeys as pleasant as possible for passengers.
Mohamed Khan has excellent service skills. He treats everybody as a special guest on board his flights. He also won the International Sales Person of the Year Awards in 2002.
Well done Khan!
I was very fortunate to fly with him.
Great article and as a frequent traveler myself, good service definitely beats some of the giveaways, additional space and entertainment you get on the “bigger airlines”. Meal options though would be a much needed improvement on Kenya Airways. Its wonderful to see Khan mentioned as he thoroughly deserves the accolades and recognition for his personalized approach. He also has this fantastic memory and not only does he remember me everytime I board but also my favorite beverage. I also count myself fortunate to have had Khan on a couple of flights on the Nairobi JFK route as the 13 hours seem to fly by quite fast.
HIS NAME IS Khan. IT WAS LIKE HEAVEN IN THE SKY. MY NAME IS LADY T. I AM AN AMBASSADOR FOR AFRICA. I HAVE A PASSION FOR AFRICA AND I HOST MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS ON THE CONTINENT.
MR. KHAN AND HIS TEAM WAS AMAZING. THE BEST SERVICE EVER. THEY SANG TO MY GUESS, THE WELCOME TO NAIROBI SONG ON THEIR WAY FROM JFK TO NAIROBI. KHAN AND HIS TEAM TREATED US LIKE ROYALTY. THIS MADE THE FLIGHT SHORTER AND MORE RELAXED. MANY OF MY GUEST HAS NEVER FLOWN THIS FAR BEFORE. THEY WERE AFRAID BUT IF YOU ASK THEM HOW THEY FEEL NOW….THEY WILL TELL YOU THEY ARE COMING AGAIN.
MY MOTHER IS 75 YEARS OLD AND HE TOOK GOOD CARE OF HER AS SHE RETURNED BACK ALONE IN BUSINESS CLASS. I HAVE 5 GROUPS TRAVELING THIS YEAR IN 2023 AND I REQUEST THAT MR MOHAMED KHAN PLEASE BE ON ALL FLIGHTS.