A bit chaotic boarding flight but over all good experience.
We had a good flight experience with this airline despite reading many negative comments
The crew was unfriendly and very rude to name a few (Helina). I felt unsafe due to most of the cabinets were open while on flight. All in all the flight was ok, but the crew needed more training on customer service most of all for international flights.
Delay not posted, only departure time listed- not boarding time. We left an hour late and arrived 45 min late. Restrooms had backed up sinks and toilets not flushed ) passenger error). Lots of screen for entertainment didn’t work. But we arrived with our luggage
The plane was old and the luggage racks above us were visibly shaking during turbulence. Water was dripping on our heads during landing. Our flight was over 2 hours late departing but we were not updated or told what to expect as the screen at the gate continued to read “on time”
Check in took over an hour because printer was not working. Attendant did not know how to give free layover Addis Ababa hotel vouchers or update frequent flyer number. After repeated attempts, got voucher emailed. However hotel wanted printed voucher hence more delay. Bus time from hotel back to airport was printed 4:50 hours, but hotel reception called at 3 pm saying bus will leave at 4 pm. Then hotel reception called again saying 4:15 pm. We rushed at 4:15 pm and bus was not ready until 4:40 pm. Many audio outlets were not working in planes.
They only gave us 30 minutes to make an international connecting flight. We didn’t make the connection but they did do a good job rebooking us despite the chaos. Our bags didn’t make it back and their process for customer support is pretty bad when it comes to luggage.
The Boeing 737 MAX on this route, flown in the middle of the night, is an UTTER FAILURE for business travellers. The whole point of business travel is to arrive alert and recover from travel quickly, and this little aeroplane with its quarter recline uncomfortable business seats does nothing for that. It’s a small step up from economy in that you have decent legroom, but that’s it. Absolute margin at the cost of the traveller.
POSITIVES The hostesses were mostly pleasant, NEGATIVES The full flight wifi was horrible, hardly able to use it. My charger port was not working which made me use my neighbour's port which resulted in an accident which ruined her flight. During dinner, meat ran out when the cart got to us forcing us to eat vegetarian which was not great. We watched everyone around us eating meat. My wifi did not transfer to the second leg of my trip as they promised as they changed the plane. I was thrown off the window seat I booked for the 2nd leg of my journey as they changed planes, all done at my expense. This was not a cheap flight ($2600) which i hurriedly had to book to attend my mother's funeral who passed away suddenly. I was honestly disappointed with the whole saga as I heard Ethiopian Airlines was one of Africa's best.
The food was terrible and the seating was uncomfortable, but the airline did a great thing letting us board in Abbis Ababa on our connecting flight after our original flight was very delayed.
