Inside L’Avion, part deux: the airline that is betwixt and between
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There are two ways to make lines. The first, common at supermarkets, is the one lane per cashier model. The second, found at Whole Foods in Manhattan and Customs & Border Protection in the US, is to form a long, serpentine line feeding several cashiers/agents. In the first, your chances of getting stuck are high while in the second, if there’s a delay on one agent, the line keeps on moving to the other available agents.
You wouldn’t think that my posting about the new all-business class airline, L’Avion, would start with my thoughts on queues. But sadly they use the first one passenger/one agent model for check in and with two problematic passengers in front of me checking in at Orly, I had over thirty minutes to contemplate efficiency in queueing.
I can hear you now crying, “it’s not the airline’s fault! It’s the stringent security restrictions imposed by the US authorities!” True enough: I noticed that the Aigle Azur flight to Casablanca checking in next to me did not have the system blockage imposed by the security pre-screening since there was none for their check-in. But the fact of the matter is that L’Avion no doubt selected this private agency to do the pre-screening and, moreover, this back-up must happen every day! (FYI: non-US residents apparently need an address with ZIP code, which caused several frantic cell phone calls, causing some of the delays.)
Once finally checked in, I cleared the airport security (one line, eleven checkpoints!) and the border control (four agents, four lines) and then proceeded to the dedicated lounge called Icare, or Icarus. Unlike the partitioned gate 51 at Newark, this lounge has all the amenities you would expect of a biz class lounge, including wine, beer, champagne, two desktops with internet access. Apparently there is wifi, but I was denied the code since the flight had just been called for boarding, one hour before scheduled departure, and the agent looked shocked to think I could have such flagrant disregard for the announcement.
So I downed the last of my ho-hum Chateau Le Bonnat 2001 (for you, dear reader!) and headed to the gate where I was greeted with another security checkpoint! I’ll defer to Mark or others of you frequent travelers to tell me why, but I imagine that since this is probably the only flight going to the US from Orly, the general security did not meet the US standards, so L’Avion had to add their own screening at the gate. And of course there was nobody on hand to provide details.
Then once in the gate area, we had to do the bus-to-plane boarding. Ah, the whiff of coach class (or was it EasyJet) that started with the lines at check-in grew stronger with the bus! I felt like I was back at Charles De Gaulle on American Airlines.
Once on board, the experience was the same as on the way over. Although there were still no exciting beverages offered before take-off, I didn’t mind so much after the bounty of the Icarus lounge. The multi-media, however, showed it’s limitations on this daytime flight Westbound. I watched the excellent Last King of Scotland but then realized that the movie choices were either gory war epics or vapid chick flicks. Somebody airline must have thought the world is divided exclusively between movie goers from Mars and from Venus.
Once again, there were scant announcements, which is fine to keep things quiet. But on the third loop in a holding pattern above northern New Jersey–right in the chop of the clouds–it would have been nice to know how much longer we were going to continue bouncing and holding.
On the whole, the airline is betwixt and between. The seats say business class but the prices are closer to coach (to wit: my flight was $1600 versus $1275 for a nontop coach fare on the same, peak-season dates). L’Avion is close to providing the greatest bargain in the business class skies. But there are some small things they could do to enhance the passengers’ experience such as offering an aperitif, a better lounge at Newark, better check-in at Orly, no more bus-to-plane, and more information on the ground and in the air. I’ll give them a look next time my travel needs take me to Paris. But I’ll be glad to have already learned the ropes.
Related: “Inside L’Avion, part un: a good seat but a shortage of fluids and information”
-Tyler Colman writes about wine on DrVino.com
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July 5th, 2007 at 2:39 pm |
On my February vacation L’Avion proved a sweetheart deal at $1000 roundtrip. SInce I slept throught the flight to Paris I won’t comment on service issues. I would just state that I prefer a Full Flat Bed seat abd not the Lie flat 170 degree ski slope.
On the way back I wnat to point out that the Lounge at Orly is pre-security and has virtually no amenities. Bring your own! Once through security there is …nothing but a common (in both senses of the word) seating area. Alas I did not know that at Orly it is advisable to wait till the last minute to go through the checkpoint. Ah well… Next time.
For one who is 6′3″ I can no longer fly steerage on other carriers. This service fills a wonderful niche, but think of it more as super premium economy and not business class.
MFS
July 5th, 2007 at 3:37 pm |
Ah, one of my minor gripes. Why is it that some airlines have efficient queues for economy but terrible ones for business/first? Sometimes it is quicker to use the economy line even if you are entitled to use the business/first line.
As an example, consider Air New Zealand at their hub in Auckland. They have a very nice premium check in lobby in the international terminal, for their premium economy and business passengers, and star alliance gold and koru club members to use. However, each counter has a separate line. If you get stuck behind someone trying to sort out something complicated, some of the good feeling about the nice lobby and easy check in is replaced by frustration that you are waiting longer than you need to.
Yet, the equivalent line in the domestic terminal is the efficient set up - one line for multiple counters. By the nature of travel, there is more likely to be lengthy check in process for some at the international terminal than at domestic.
Another, related gripe, is where only one agent is on premium check in and is busy, while the economy check in line has many agents and not so busy. Why can’t one economy check in agents switch to doing premium customers if the agent can see they are being made to wait much longer than the economy passengers?
July 5th, 2007 at 3:52 pm |
Mitch,
The lounge at Orly seems better stocked now but yes they do board ridiculously early (and don’t even think about taking a can of Perrier through security of course)…Premium economy indeed…
July 17th, 2007 at 9:29 pm |
Having flown on the same flight as Tyler from Newark to Orly, I agree re the lounge at EWR, Basic is the key word, No frills here.
On the way back, to EWR, I encountered a brutal wait at customs at Orly that took over 1 hour and actually I was the last person on the plane at a few minutes after 2:00, the supposed take off time. I was harassed by a L’Avion representative for my tardiness. I asked her why she was harassing me due to the laziness and lack of support at her country’s custom’s officials? She shrugged and then her co-workers began a lengthy search of me and my personal carry on luggage, making me even more tardy for the flight. At that point all I could do was laugh at the rediculous situation.
Once on board the food was better than on the trip from EWR to Paris, service was better and the seats the same. Wine was , eh, as I too am in the wine business and airline wine will, virtually, never meet my ideal.
So all in all, I will fly L’Avion again and it still has its problems as do all airlines, imho.
July 18th, 2007 at 6:20 am |
…why were flight attendants searching your carry-on bags?!
September 3rd, 2007 at 3:49 pm |
As a frequent flyer between Paris and New York, I was ecstatic over the appearance of L’Avion — a sort of premium economy class, with good seating and plenty of legroom. However, one caveat emerged from my dealings with L’Avion administration: the need to document every charge and change in itinerary. On more than one occasion, credit card charges were duplicated, changes in scheduling were “lost” and, sadly, promised return calls never materialized. Reluctantly, I was forced to protest the duplicate charges through the credit card.
Characteristically, L’Avion never responded to the contested charge, and a credit was issued to me. I continue to fly L’Avion, and recommend it to my friends, but am sure to document all and any interactions with their Administration.
November 29th, 2007 at 8:58 am |
[…] point.) The L’Avion review certainly jives with previous reports from the field (here and here). Read his detailed post for the breakdown of what makes these discounted business class airilnes […]