New York to Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi to Dallas
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)
With a flight time of 12h45m, flying on the Airbus A380 is more pleasant vs the Boeing 777. The flight was scheduled to depart New York at 3pm and arrive Abu Dhabi the next day at 12pm. I had arrived to the gate and there was a lot of commotion - the number of passengers greatly outnumbered the number of airline staff; in fact there seem to be only 3-5 staff working on a full A380 flight. The boarding pass stated that boarding would start around 2pm but boarding did not start until 2:30p. Passengers were boarded by groups, and when I went to the front of line I was told I needed to get out of line and go into a separate line to confirm my boarding pass. Those passengers who were connecting to Etihad from another airline, and there were many of us, needed to get our boarding pass reverified. I understand this - what I do not understand is why this announcement was not made earlier (as other airlines have done) when the passengers were waiting for boarding. Also, if the airline knew many passengers were connecting why not have more than one staff person to verify everyone's boarding pass. It was extremely chaotic, disorganized, and not a pleasant way to start the flight.
I finally boarded and got to my seat. Etihad does allow complimentary selection of seats (something which Emirates now charges for) so I was able to pre-select an aisle seat. Because of the size of the plane, generally the seats on the A380 are bigger and better as compared to other airplanes; this was no different. The seat size was definitely bigger and it was nice given the long flight time. Each seat contained a pillow and a blanket, both of which were needed as the seat was not comfortable. The seats pitch was generally decent, especially given the long flight time, however the seat comfort was almost nonexistent. I used both the pillow and the blanket to add cushion to the seat as the seat felt as if it had no cushion, especially towards the end of the flight. The blanket came in a packet which also included the headphones and the amenity kit - the amenity kit included eyeshades, tooth brush and paste, earplugs and socks. Additional amenities of the seat included a decent size touch-screen PTV with USB port and headphone jack and a controller, a seat pocket, and a tray table.
Boarding completed, we taxied to the runway and took off. Etihad has a policy that it does not turn on the entertainment system until you pass 10,000ft on the departure, and turns it off when you get lower than 10,000ft on the return. This policy may have a reason, but what ends up happening is that passengers have nothing to entertain them so they notice all the commotion and delays. On other airlines, such as Emirates, the entertainment system is available as soon as sit in the seat until you depart - this policy is so much more customer-friendly.
In my experience, Etihad is not known for their exceptional service such as Singapore or Emirates. I have found Etihad's service to be lacking in the past, but this time it was decent. The service wasn't great, but it was better than previous experiences. A little after take-off the first meal was served - lunch - along with complimentary drinks. The meal was light but decent - not a lot of food but a decent amount. After the service was completed the meal trays cleared, the cabin was dimmed for passengers to rest. Water was available in the galleys for passengers to help themselves, along with some crackers. In other airlines, staff usually walk around with water or just to check-on the passengers; this has not been the case in the past with Etihad and it was not the case here. The staff rarely came through the galleys while passengers were sleeping. Midway through the flight, they did come through with a light snack and another meal closer to landing. The meal closer to landing was basically a big snack; it was larger than the mid-snack but smaller than the departure meal. Again, as we passed 10,000ft on our landing the entertainment system was shut off - it's an inconvenience to passengers.
We landed and our proceeded to our gate. About a month later, I took my return flight. This flight was from Abu Dhabi to Dallas and was operated by a Boeing 777. It's odd that for the 12hr flight Etihad would use the A380 but for the 16hr flight they would use the 777. I guess it has to do with load factors (update: Etihad cancelled the Abu Dhabi to Dallas flight - they said that their partnership with American was one of the reasons to bring the flight to Dallas and since American ended that partnership it seemed fitting to end their service). The return flight was operated by a Boeing 777, with a flight time of 16h30m, and was scheduled to depart Abu Dhabi at 9am and arrive Dallas at 4:15pm. A lot of Etihad's American flights were departing around the same time and from gates right next to each other - it created for some confusion as people for one flight were getting confused by announcements to other flights.
Boarding commenced and we were able to board the plane. The plane is laid out in a 3-4-3 configuration making it very dense. The legroom was decent, but the plane felt smaller as compared to the A380. Amenities on the seat included a blanket, a pillow, an amenity kit with eye shades, socks, and a tootbrush/toothpaste. The seat contained a PTV with a USB port and headphone jack along with a tray table, and a seatback pocket which contained the airline magazine, safety card, and duty free magazine. While the seat amenities were nice, the seat comfort was not. Given the length of flying time, you would think the seat would have more cushion, but unfortunately it did not so you felt the seat during the flight. Service on the flight was similar to the outbound - a meal after takeoff, a midflight snack in between, and a light meal before landing. Again, portions were on the smaller side but decent and flavors again were average (I've had bigger and more flavorful meals as well as smaller and not as flavorful meals).
What was the major disappointment as the entertainment system - Etihad's 'e-box' does not contain enough material to cover two long-haul flights. My previous experience with them was similar in that they provided an average on-board product, poor customer service, and poor entertainment options. Nothing seems to have changed in the 5 years I have been flying with them. Change needs to happen to ensure the airline not only competes with, but wins against its competitors.
