Individual experiences on particular airlines don't count for much I suppose, judging by the varied experiences posted here. One passenger may condemn an airline, but he may just had bad luck to be stuck on that particular flight which happened to be delayed or lost his luggage when those cases might be in the minority. Likewise, another passenger may praise another airline for excellent service when he just got lucky and the flight attendants just happen to be in a good mood in an otherwise poorly reviewed airline. And then there are also the subjective perspective on seat comfort, food etc.
Its more useful to get an aggregate sampling and see what the majority (if there is majority) says on particular airline. Skytrax supposedly does this by collecting all the review and opinions of particular airlines that passengers post on their site. Of course, this is where the numbers get "massaged" where airline employees pretending to be passengers post on Skytrax's site.
I used to love CX, especially when their new NYC-HKG direct flight opened back in 2004 or 2005. I was one of the first sets of passengers to board their plane (I still have my "certificate"). This flight was my most comfortable CX flight in which they certainly earned my loyalty for flying them for the next decade (mainly for the direct NYC-HKG line). The seats were arranged in 2-3-2/2-4-2 don't remember which but this was cattle class. It was the most comfortable cattle class I have ever ridden. Here are the qualities that earned my loyalty:
NYC-HKG Direct Flight: Yes
Food: Standard meals depending on time of day
Snacks: Cup Noodles and Sandwiches (unlimited as long as there are left after 1st set)
Cabin Quality: Neighbors respectful and quiet
Cabin Service: Prompt and courteous
Unfortunately, the seats became smaller year after year and the quality of passengers suffered greatly (mainlanders). They also started to combine flights with American Airlines which always filled the plane to the max. Here is what happened since:
NYC-HKG Direct Flight: Yes
Food: Standard meals depending on time of day
Snacks: Not served anymore. You can ask for cup noodles but it has become a lottery since there can be times they simply run out.
Cabin Quality: More seats = more people, more people = more noise, overall lowered quality
Cabin Service: FA with attitude and generally arrogant
___
And no, I am not romanticizing. This has been my experience.
Anyone also ridden their first few NYC-HKG flights?
If you only get to fly A330s (which happens to me if I want to go home to see the family, no matter which airline I choose) it is hell no matter what.
Airline food is the dumbest thing to argue about as well. It is all just microwave ready meals in the end.
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CX are fine. Very happy to have them as my go-to airline whether it's for business or for a holiday. They're inconsistent as are all the rest of the major players but they beat any N.American/European airline hands down and as a pretty frequent flyer I take that as a huge benefit about living in HK. God I'd hate to be flying Delta or KLM or whatever every other week or so. Survey probably is rigged though somehow. S.A. & Emirates seem to have a much more positive word of mouth these days.