Introduction

I arrive at Zürich airport at 07h30. The terminal is busy with the autumn holidays here in Switzerland in full swing.

Check-in

I’ve already checked in online. When I opened my mail box this morning, there was a message from SWISS informing me that the flight was very full, and that therefore, I could check-in my hand luggage free of charge.

So my first stop at the airport is the luggage drop off in Check-In 1. The queue is longer than it should be, mainly because there are only two counters open. At least security is calm and there’s no queue at all.

SWISS Senator Lounge

The SWISS Senator Lounge is quite busy, but still far from being full. I grab some breakfast and then park myself in my usual spot to do some work. While I’m working, I receive a notification from SWISS that my flight has been delayed by thirty minutes.

At around 08h45, I pack up my things and slowly make my way to the gate. Today, boarding will be from A85, at the far end of the A concourse, which is inconvenient because it means I won’t be able to get a decent photo of my aircraft.

Boarding

The boarding process is painless and efficient, despite it being a full flight. As I pass the gate, a flimsy pops out of the scanner with a seat change. Apparently, I’m now sitting in Business Class, but on an aisle seat. I ask the gate agent if I couldn’t have my old window seat back, but she looks ready to murder me. So I take it that’s a no…

The Cabin & Seat

There are six rows of Business Class, and all 18 seats are occupied. The seat pitch supposedly decreases gradually towards to rear. But to be honest, row 5 already feels quite tight to me. Other than that, the cabin is showing some serious signs of wear and tear. Several seats are patched up in places with duct tape.

The Service & Crew

The crew are obviously in a rush. Water and packaged towels have been plonked, rather unceremoniously, in the middle seat. I don’t envy them, especially with such a large, busy cabin on such a very short flights. The purser is a middle aged French speaking female with a rather strange modulation when attempting to speak English. If she even has a personality, she hides it very well. She is joined in serving the Business Class cabin by a German young man with a serious lack of motivation.

The Snack

The snack service is a small tray with Birchermüsli on it. In addition, the crew pass through the cabin with a basket full of croissants. There’s also butter and jam in the basket, but it’s not as though the cabin crew are actively volunteering any of it. I ask the cabin crew if I could have some butter and jam, and he reluctantly and silently edges the basket a little closer, like he suspects I’ll abscond with it if he’s not paying attention.

My glasses are in my bag in the overhead bin, so I ask him what jam there is. I can make out different colours but not much else. To which he responds by saying that it should probably say on the jar what flavours there are. Which doesn’t really help. With that, I have a coffee which is positively dreadful and served in a cardboard cup.

At the end of the meal, the crew pass through the cabin handing out chocolates.

Arrival

We land in Luxembourg after a flight time of 45 minutes. We taxi to our stand, and that’s when the scrum starts, with passengers wanting to be the first off the plane, apparently. I collect my bag from the belt and head outside to catch the bus.

Conclusion

This was a run of the mill short-haul European flight of 45 minutes, so I think it’s fair enough to argue that you have to manage your expectations pretty much from the moment you set foot in the airport. Having said that, the hardware is never really the issue with SWISS. The Senator lounge is a nice place to wait for your flight to be called. And even the dire state of the tattered seats patched up with scotch tape could be overlooked as the unavoidable result of wear and tear. But I think the cabin crew definitely require a bit more work.