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Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 5/97 THE IMAGE OF GERMAN HOLIDAY AIRLINES by Heiko Reuter How good are the German holiday carriers? In part 2 of FLUG REVUE's comprehensive survey our readers told us about their experiences with the largest carriers of the branch. It is difficult to find something positive in the crash of an aircraft with 189 casualties. The only positive outcome of the Birgenair crash on February 6 of last year is that the German public has been questioning the reputation and origin of airlines more critically since then. Fourteen months after the catastrophic crash in the Caribbean the charter sky over Germany is not the same any more. A task force of the German aviation authorities LBA is checking obscure airlines in Germany and abroad. Conspicuous holiday carriers such as the Turkish airline Holiday Air or the US carrier Rich International have been refused permission to enter German airspace. Some suspicious back-door carriers have given up on their own. It is clear that not all foreign carriers are automatically potential crash candidates. However, there are still several black sheep especially among the charter airlines. Rickety aircraft, tight seats, bad service, and hours of delays: The start into the most valuable weeks of the year may easily become a horror trip. Still, the tendency is irreversible: In the post-Birgenair era the customer is questioning with which airline he is taking off to his vacation. The German holiday carriers especially are profiting from the run for more quality. Many travel organizations have shifted their bookings to the established German carriers. But how good are they really? FLUG REVUE readers have evaluated the six largest German holiday carriers. Concerning the personal impression of safety, the branch's giants LTU and Condor come out ahead. Still, in the direct comparison to the scheduled airlines, the holiday carriers do badly. "Offering a maximum of safety" said 40 percent of the survey participants about LTU which is leading in this category before Condor (38 percent). Swissair, holding the top safety position among the scheduled airlines, achieved 63 percent in the first part of the survey which was published in last month's FLUG REVUE issue. At the bottom of the holiday carrier list: the safety image of Aero Lloyd, Air Berlin and Germania which came in as tailender (13 percent). In the category "modern fleet" the branch giants, including Air Berlin, are again far ahead. Again ranking on the last position: Germania with 22 percent. In the opinion of the FLUG REVUE survey participants, the carrier which is registered in Berlin has massive image problems. Only four percent of the readers who have last flown with Germania have given the carrier a good image. Between Germania and Condor, which is leading this category ahead of LTU, is a major gap of remarkable 64 percent. Still, Germania is doing better in another category. 74 percent of the survey participants had the impression of Germania having "friendly cabin crews". Aero Lloyd (77 percent) and Hapag-Lloyd (75 percent) came out only little better in this category. Condor is relatively close to the leading group but the 64 percent of the Lufthansa subsidiary in this category was only good enough for the last place. In the category "in-flight service" our readers saw a domain of LTU (64 percent) and Air Berlin (63 percent). Hapag Lloyd, Condor and Aero Lloyd are ranging in mid-field (around 55 percent). Only 30 percent of the readers thought that Germania was offering a good service on board their last flight with that carrier. Whomever had ever to wait for hours with other passengers for the departure, knows how much delays can be nerve racking. LTU and Hapag Lloyd are leading the punctuality assessment. Condor (42 percent) came in second in this category. Air Berlin is the tailender in this category (25 percent). Still, even the 43 percent of the leaders in this category is alarming. From page 24 of FLUG REVUE 5/97 Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 5/97 Copyright 1997 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved. Last updated March 30, 1997