The last day of the week at ICAO panel meetings is always the worst. That’s because on the last day of the meeting, all the actions and decisions that were taken, as well as the minutes of every day of the meeting are discussed in plenary. And it takes for ever, proceeding at a glacial pace.
Getting to the Airport
At 17h30 I check out of the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth and grab a taxi out to Montreal’s Trudeau Airport. It’s a fixed fee of CAD50.- from the city out to the airport, and the journey takes about thirty minutes. Actually, the trip is only about twenty minutes. And then you spend ten to fifteen minutes in traffic to reach the departure concourse.
Check-In
Air France KLM check in at the counters on row 400-499. During the winter schedule there is a daily KLM A 330-200 to Amsterdam at 20h10, an Air France B 787-9 to Paris at 18h00, and an Air France B 777-300ER at 20h05. There are four SkyPriority counters and I’m seen to straight away. My suitcase is checked in all the way to my destination. I inquire if there’s a priority lane for security, to which the check-in agent explains that “well… yes… there is… try, but they may not let you through”. Sorry, what now? So I give it a try and immediately receive access to the fast lane, so I’m honestly not sure what that was all about.
Montreal is an exceptionally ugly airport. Somebody put a lot of effort into designing and building the terminal, paying close attention to make sure it serves a purely utilitarian purpose – and even that it doesn’t really do very well.
The Montreal Air France Lounge
Air France KLM operates its own lounge here in Montreal. The problem is, though, that it’s too small to accommodate the passengers of three widebodies all leaving fairly close to each other. As I climb the stairs from reception to the lounge, I hear the gate agent tell the person behind me that it’s Business Class only right now in the lounge, even with Platinum status.
The food options don’t look too bad, though, with a selection of hot and cold dishes including, of course, a French onion soup. And the views of the ramp and of my aircraft are just excellent!
Boarding
Boarding for the flight is announced in the lounge at 19h15, fifty minutes before departure. Boarding is by groups. With only fourteen seats in the Business Class cabin, Group 1 is quickly taken care of.
The Cabin & Seat
This aircraft is in a high density configuration for 473 passengers. In the Business Class cabin there are only four rows of single seats on either side, and three rows of twin seats in the middle for a total of fourteen seats. The high density aircraft have a different seat installed than the regular Air France widebody fleet in Business Class. It’s an interesting mix between a staggared and a reverse herringbone configuration that optimizes the amount of space the premium cabin occupies on the entire aircraft but without negatively impacting passengers’ comfort.
The single seats on uneven numbered rows are rather private, as they’re the actual window seats and removed from the aisle, whereas the seats on the even numbered rows are right on the aisle and therefore more exposed. The seat is not bad. It’s comfortable and sufficiently spacious. In the lying position it’s long enough to allow me to stretch out completely. There’s also a decent amount of storage space. I think my only complaint is that the video screen is too close for me to be able to focus on what’s on it. However, seeing as I only very rarely watch movies, it’s not a big hardship.
Seat 1A feels very private. As the seats on each row are not aligned, it’s impossible to see the person on the other side of the aisle. In addition, there’s a privacy screen installed on every seats that can easily be opened.
The Service & Crew
The crew are typical of Air France. They’re friendly, engaging, but quite formal. The service follows the usual, predictable sequence – welcome drink, menu, vanity kit, hot towel. For the welcome drink there’s only champagne, which I decline. I have the bottle of Envian still water to tie me over. There is only one cabin crew to serve the entire Business Class cabin.
At 20h05, perfectly on time, the red strobe light on the aircraft’s roof starts flashing, reflecting against the window panes of terminal building. Very gently, the mighty B 777-300ER lumbers backwards under tow onto the taxiway. AF345 for Paris Charles de Gaulle is on its way home. The flight time today is five hours and forty minutes, which is rather short.
Amenities
Already at me seat when I step aboard are a pillow and blanket, plus the padded seat cover. The vanity kit is the same as on the outbound.
The Meal Service
Before we push back, the steward comes to take my order for dinner, but I tell him I’d prefer to sleep. However, I would appreciate it if they could wake me up for breakfast. Quite frankly, I’m not too enthusiastic about the menu anyway. I don’t like duck in any form, and none of the four mains looks particularly appealing right now.
Twenty minutes after wheels up, I fit the cover over my seat. I already changed into a pair of comfortable gym shorts while we were still on the ground, so I can go straight off to Noddy land. And indeed, I manage over four hours of deep sleep. I awake abruptly from the aircraft being jostled about as we hit a patch of turbulence. We have ninety minutes to run until Paris. Eventually, the air around us calms down again. I quickly go to the lavatory to change, and by the time I exit, the comforting smell of warm croissants is wafting through the cabin.
As I skipped dinner, I decide to go with the hot meal – the scrambled eggs with cheese, mushrooms and Rösti. The tray is served with a bowl of yoghurt and another bowl of diced fruit. With that there’s a selection from the breadbasket. I choose a croissant, but the steward just looks at me, “allez monsieur, prenez! Vous avez raté le diner”. Oh, okay then, I’ll have another. The breakfast is okay, even though the hot meal is, frankly, rather bland.
Once I’m done, the tray is quickly removed again. The crew hand out another hot towel, and that completes the service.
Arrival in Paris
Alas, the weather in Paris is really not much better than Montreal. In fact I think it’s worse. While it was icy freezing cold in Montreal, at least the sun was out on most days during my visit. But in Paris it’s cold and grey, with light rain and occasional snow reported. Eventually we land at 07h06. We’re running over an hour early. We land on the southernmost runway and slowly taxi to our stand on the M pier of the Terminal 2F satellite. The crew give passengers a warm send off as we step into the airbridge to disembark. I now have two hours to make my connection back to Frankfurt.
Conclusion
This was another great flight with Air France, with the crew showing good consistency with the brand in terms of their service delivery. I didn’t have the main meal, so I really can’t comment on that. The breakfast, though, was not up to their usual standard. It was bland, boring and a bit dry. Other than that, I have no complaints. As for the seat installed on this aircraft, I actually thought it wasn’t bad. 1A was comfortable and private. However, I can imagine that it may not be quite so nice and quiet of you end up on one of the seats closer to the aisle.
This is a prime example of a route where an elaborate First class cabin just isnt needed. In fact this Business class is better than the first class of 15-20 years ago. I wonder how many F class seats SWISS sell to Montreal?.
To fair, I think Paris and Zurich are difficult to compare from Montreal. There are clearly historical ties to France that warrant a product that is oriented to bulk. In as much, it may actually work in SWISS’ favour that they’re currently the only operator that offers a First Class product between Europe and Montreal.
Actually, scrap that. With the start of the summer schedule SWISS has handed over the Montreal route back to Edelweiss.
Interesting.
Those are the same seats as United’s wide body Polaris seats. That type of seat never really caught on much in the industry, though, as the only other airlines that use them (or a variation of them) are TAP, El Al, and Lufthansa (well, some of the Allegris seats), I believe. And even United has now introduced an upgraded herringbone style seat for it’s business class.
Too bad the food was disappointong, but at least everything else was solid.
Interesting, I wasn’t aware this was the same as United’s Polaris seat. I thought it was comfortable enough and quite private, but it seems to me that the difference between a window and an aisle seat is rather substantial, as the latter seems awfully exposed.
Oh sitting in them does feel exposed. Now that that they are renovating to a reverse herringbone and herringbone combo, it won’t be a problem for Polaris anymore.