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sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Trip route:
Singapore – Los Angeles – Austin- Los Angeles - Singapore
Airline – All Nippon Airways (operated by Air Japan)/American Airlines
Flight no. TR 2452/TR2457 Departure: 6:20/16:20
Date: April 18th 2011
Aircraft type – B767/B777-300/MD-83/MD-80
Class: J Class on ANA/Y class on American Airlines
Flight duration – 24 Hours

Background Info:

I had to go for a client meeting in the USA on short notice. Hence I started to scramble to get tickets. Most tickets were quite expensive or certain legs were wait-listed. The first obvious choice was the direct flight up to Houston on Singapore Airlines via Moscow but the fare was a whopping 4000 dollars more than the other American and Asian carriers. Finally after working out various options, I chose ANA and United Airlines. Since I have never flown on either, it was a great opportunity to try out the airline. Besides, being star alliance members, it made my choice easier. Both airlines also served my purpose as I wanted to break my journey on return in Los Angeles to meet a cousin.

I asked around my team for their opinion on whether to take the American or Japanese carriers and this is what they responded:

Gal: “Fly ANA. It’s an Asian carrier - you will be treated well.”

Gal: “The sushi will be great on ANA.”

Guy: “The airhostesses on ANA are hot.”

So as the vote was clear. I decided to stick to ANA not because of the Sushi being great or the hostess being hot, but I myself tend to lean towards Asian carriers. Besides I would get the opportunity to fly the B767-300 as well as the MD80/83 for the first time.

I arrived at Changi airport about an hour and half prior to departure and as I did not have much time, I did not bother to use the lounge but did some quick window shopping and headed towards my gate.

My Aircraft up to Tokyo Narita – B767 (operated by Air Japan):

Seems like ANA has quite a few subsidiary airlines and this flight was operated by Air Japan but it uses all ANA livery, branding and product specifications.

As I was waiting to board I saw Hong Kong Airlines at the gate:

Boarding was announced soon and at the waiting area I could see 90% of the passengers were Japanese, two Indians counting myself and a few Caucasians.

ANA on the Singapore – Tokyo sector uses cradle class type business class seats which has cocoon shape design with a 14 inch personal TV and in seat power. The seats are 180 flat but at an angle hence there is a tendency to slide down if you are fast asleep. I also found the seat in lie flat position a bit short for my height and had to curl up while sleeping.

Some mandatory seating shots:

Soon welcome drinks were given and we had a choice of champagne and Japanese green tea. Since it was 8:00 am, I chose the green tea. Along with the green tea, they also provided a bottle of mineral water which had an interesting write up about the new 787 and the composite material that it uses. (ANA is the launch customer for the 787)

Soon the doors were closed and the cabin was secured for takeoff. It was reassuring to know that the cabin crew locked and checked the overhead bins twice. Soon we pushed back and were moving towards the active runway. On most of the airlines that I have flown the captain would come and introduce the crew, the flight path that we would take and also advice the crew to take their positions prior to take off. On ANA it’s different; the captain or the first officer never came and introduced themselves. The only time they communicated prior to take off was via a loud chime that went “ding ding ding”. Initially I did not realize that this chime was meant for the crew to take position as the aircraft was moving to the active runway for takeoff, but as I continued further on my journey on other ANA aircrafts, I realized that this chime was basically an indication for the crew to take their seats.

The take off roll was powerful and the smoothest ever. Even when we had to bank 180 degrees to align to our course the banking was the smoothest and done in such slow precise movement that I had not experienced before. I am not sure if this is the advantage of flying this type of aircraft or whether the Japanese are trained to fly with true Japanese precision. Only after we reached cruising altitude did the captain came on board and introduce himself and the team.
One great advantage about the IFE is that you can actually view the take off roll via the front camera option on the IFE show.

Post take off another round of drink service began and I again opted for tea but this time the ANA special night blend as it is supposed to calm you down and make you sleepy. The tea was served with some nice Japanese salad finger food.

This was followed by lunch comprising salad, main course and an Indian sweet. I was totally disappointed with the main course as they did not provide any curry - only dry vegetables along with plain rice. In South East Asia it is fairly common to eat plain rice along with meat and vegetables, but I don’t think Indians like it that way. Since they had airlifted this food from Singapore I was surprised that they did not do justice to the same. The only saving grace was that the rice was freshly cooked on the aircraft itself; ANA is one of the few airlines that cooks the rice fresh in a rice cooker for business class passengers.

Since I was still hungry, I checked out the open bar. Unfortunately, it only stocked prawn crackers and hot soup which was not of much use to me. It was disappointing that they did not stock some cheese sandwiches, chips or chocolates like Mars etc for to satiate hunger pangs. Since I saw they had served Hagen Daze ice-cream to those who had ordered the western/Japanese meal I checked with the crew if they had anything left and they were happy to serve me a few scoops.

The interesting thing about food options on ANA is that if you are an economy passenger wishing that you were on business class well then you have a choice. Your menu lists the price of snacks or desserts which are available to business class passengers and you can savour these dishes by paying extra for the same. I think this is a good way to get rid of food that has not been eaten by their business class passengers and earn a few extra bucks at the same time.

http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/asw_common/promotion/ana_my_choice/mealdrink.html

Once the table was cleared I started exploring the IFE and it had a fair mix of western movies as well as Japanese movies, although no Bollywood movies or for that matter no movies from India were listed. The flight map is very well designed and has multiple options to choose from.

Similarly duty free items can be ordered or viewed on the screen itself. My only gripe was that all pricing was in Japanese yen.

The flight was also well stocked with all genres of magazines as well as the ANA’s in-flight magazine, duty free guide and IFE guide.

Overall the flight was pretty smooth all the way till Tokyo Narita. Once I landed I began my sprint for the gate to the connecting flight to Los Angeles. Although I did have time I can’t understand why they want passengers to walk a mile for their connecting flight.
Soon boarding was announced and this time it was the 777-300 that was to take me to the US. The seats on the 777-300 are not the new type cradle class seats like they had on the 767 on the Singapore-Tokyo leg but a little older generation seats.

I found it odd that on a longer 12 hour journey they are still using old style seats as compared to a short 6 hours flight. Nevertheless, the seat did turn into flat bed but at an angle. ANA is now in the process of upgrading the seats on the 777-300 range that flies to the USA into a staggered seating layout so I think once the refurbishments are completed, it should be more comfortable. See details of the seating plan on their website: http://www.ana.co.jp/int/svc/w_en/c/seat/business_staggered/

The IFE screen was also smaller and of an older generation, which means one has to pull it out from underneath the seat.

Take off was again quick and on time and the crew came around to serve drinks. Since it was early evening, I opted for wine which was served with some warm nuts and other fruity options.

Since I had a disappointing lunch earlier, I was wary as to what would be served but I was in for surprise. The food that was airlifted from Tokyo was tasty, although the salad was just boiled spicy potatoes.

The best thing was the desert - “Original parfait”. It looked so good that I did not feel like eating it ! The same desert was available for a price for the poor souls who were in economy class.

A second meal was also served prior to landing:

In between watching movies and falling asleep, I reached Los Angeles and made a smooth and on time landing.
After clearing immigration I headed towards the domestic terminal for the American Airlines flight to Austin. This was going to be my first time on the MD-80/83 aircraft also lovingly called the Super 80. Although I had read some reports which lambasted the aircraft design post the Alaska Air crash, I found that in all the cases involving the MD-80/83 aircraft accidents, it was the either a case of poor maintenance or pilot error and not design per se.

Airside Activity at Los Angeles Airport:

My Super 80 to Austin:

Soon boarding was announced by seat numbers. Seating is 2X3 on the Super 80 with comfortable leg room.

Soon we taxied towards the active runway and since I was sitting near the front of the aircraft, I could hardly hear the engine noise as both the engines were near the tail. So it was super quiet for me, but I am sure those who were sitting towards the tail would have had a nightmarish ride as the engine noise is quite loud, as these are the old generation P&W JT8D engines.

Soon we began the take off roll, and I must say that the Super 80 take off is the most awesome that I have ever experienced. It seems like you are sitting in rocket and you can fell the great gravitational push which I have not experienced in other aircraft types. Soon seat belt signs were turned off and complimentary drinks were offered:

Even though this is a 20 year old aircraft it had WiFi on board that you could purchase:

The rest rooms were also very clean with a blue liquid sanitization once you flush the toilet.

After almost flying for about three hours we landed at Austin’s Barbara Jordan Airport.

Since Austin is known to be the music capital of the world they had put up giant size guitars around the luggage carousel.

My return journey was a similar experience, hence won’t go into the details but I shall let the photos speak for themselves.

Tarmac action at Austin:

Taramac action Los Angeles

Check out a KLM flight with the tail inscription as “KLM Asia” I have never seen that before and not sure what an Asia plane is doing in North America 

Alitalia had not seen this airline in a long time

Food was better than on previous flight, but not as great as other Asian carriers:

Full marks for presentation:

Overall, I enjoyed my long flight although I was quite tired by the end of it.

Verdict:
For the price that I paid for the ticket, there is no scope for complaints and I will not hesitate again to fly ANA as they offer quality service at a great price. Some general observations:

Pros:
-Attentive staff that would come immediately once the call button was pressed. Polite and service style was very typical Japanese customer centric.
-All safety checks carried out prior to departure twice.
-Aircraft extremely neat and clean
-Japanese speaking ANA staff were present at the baggage carousel both in the US and Singapore guiding passengers and making sure everyone got their luggage.

Con’s
-Some of the crew member’s English was difficult to understand as they had a very strong Japanese accent.
-Indian food was not up to the mark for a business class environment keeping in mind that the food was airlifted from Singapore and not from a remote airport where getting good quality Indian food would have been a challenge.
-Crew was extra attentive to Japanese passengers as compared to the others, although the Japanese business executives are hard to please and pretty demanding.
-Old style business class seats on the long haul sector from Tokyo to North America (This is being addressed by phased seat upgrading.)

And another note, when I was exploring Austin, I was amused to discover a drain cover which had been exported from India:

Nimish · Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 10:00 pm Post subject:

Wow - lovely report and pictures, and I did not know that any airline sells their J meals to Y pax!

I've been wanting to fly NH for a while now, can't wait for a NRT-BLR service on *A, though I know that's at least a decade away Smile

. Perhaps a routing via BKK and then NRT would work out better, something to hassle my travel agent about when I need to travel next...

Glad you liked the NH service, and the lack of good Indian food in J is probably just a reflection of the traffic that NH flies. Perhaps a nicely worded letter to them will help other AVML candidates?
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jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

Nice report, thanks.

The food situation does seem a bit disappointing.

The parfait looks outstanding though! Did it taste any good?

As for the IFE, I suppose with no India flights they figured they didn't need to include desi options on the whole fleet. As you described, there were maybe two desi folk on the flight.

Their BOM is on a dedicated 737 with personal DVD players that also have desi entertainment options.

Also, about the KLM plane. Lots of airlines used to do this in order to fly to Taiwan (because the Mainland threw a tantrum). So we had British Asia Airways, Air France Asie, Japan Asia, KLM Asia, Australia Asia, Swissair Asia etc. Some just painted their plane different (usually the tail), some actually registered a separate airline.

Over time, either the tantrum-throwing stopped or the airlines stopped flying to Taiwan, so there was no need to retain the separate airline/identity. KLM & JAL simply chose not to re-paint the plane (they also remain the only European airline flying to Taiwan).

See if you can spot the difference between the regular and Asia liveries:

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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Srinivas, thanks for a lovely detailed report, liberally sprinkled with photographs. Very detailed descriptions of the J class on the ANA 767s and the 777s! The Indian vegetarian meal looked as if it had been somehow put together, not planned well. The second meal prior to landing at LAX: was the white oval item an Idli? If so, this is really amazing - what did ANA expect an Indian to eat an Idli with? Many carriers seem to go clueless with Indian meals - as you pointed out, this food was loaded in Singapore, where given the large number of people of Tamil origin, good Tamilian food should not be very difficult to get. As with member sshank's trip report, even SQ messed up with a sambhar offering in J class - offering it on a paper tray!
The first picture of a Super 80 - also seems to have a Quantas 380 at the right. I guess you are so used to 380s that there is no obligatory 380 shot! The drain cover was some fantastic observation!
I also liked the conclusion - the summary of the positive and negative points. ANA crew being extra-attentive to Japanese passengers - what a contrast to the Air India of the 1980s and a large part of the 1990s: the Air India crew were extra-attentive to foreigners, and sometimes disappointing in their behaviour towards many Indians, many of whom were well-behaved, educated and seasoned flyers. This slide in attitude, coupled with the sliding down of standards on the national carrier, started around the 1980s, to continue. The unfortunate part is the presence of some vestiges of all of this on odd occasions.
Once again, thanks for sharing a very nice trip report!
Cheers, Sumantra.

AKLDELNonstop · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 1066 Location: Auckland

Nice report. Thanks for writing.

Strange that they sent you to LAX and on AA instead of SFO and UA. I would imagine NH would keep it to Star.

Austin is a nice little place especially in the winters.
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Nimish · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 11:31 am Post subject:

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Thanks Nimish for your compliments. I was also surprised when I learnt that they sell J class food for Y passengers where available.

Jaspel thanks for your feedback and your pictures about the Asia tails was very educative I never know so many airlines had the Asia prefix. The Parfait was delicious. Regarding IFE I would have expected ANA to have some Desi flicks on board as today’s travelers are global and if they are catering to a global audience they need to up the ante a bit.

Sumantra thanks for your feedback the only girpe was the meal was not great. As you rightly said Singapore has a huge Indian population and getting the right meal should not have been that hard. The white thing was not an Idli but it tasted horrible anyways, it came along as a starter with the “Bhajiya” but that was hard and horrible as well. The Quanta’s plane was a A380, I see the A380’s so often now that I don’t get that excited to click photos 

AKLDEL thanks for your feedback. Austin is a very nice place and I was impressed as the people out there are very friendly. If I ever relocate to the USA, Austin would be one of the cities that I will have no hesitation to live. ANA has daily flights to both SFO as well as LAX from Tokyo. Since I had asked my agent to book me via LAX as I wanted a stopover on my return to meet my cousin ANA would have used AA as that was the only airline flying direct to Austin from LAX. Other airlines were routing via Houston which would have added additional flying time to my itinerary.

AKLDELNonstop · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 1066 Location: Auckland

Aah understood. That explains things.
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AKLDELNonstop · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 1066 Location: Auckland

sammyk · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 2:11 am Post subject:

Austin is a great place but of course I am biased. Wink

By the way, the name of the airport is Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Only the terminal is named for Barbara Jordan.

About those manhole covers. It is VERY common to see manhole covers made in India. It has been like this for many years and you can find them all over the country.

GuyFromBOM · Member Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Posts: 544 Location: VABB

Sri_bom, thats a very nice TR with great pics..!

Glad that the flight was nice and the desserts were even better.
Are you a herbivorous creature like me..? I do know its a ordeal to not be served a decent meal, and a severe pain if there's nothing Veg onboard.

This one time, my boss was only served a 1st meal on board the SQ A380 on SIN-LHR route, as they had run short of AVML. The crew offered him a fruit basket for the rest of the trip. He now plans to take revenge by carrying a 'Durrian' onboard an SQ flight..! Twisted Evil

me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

superb TR, sri_bom! Thanks a ton for posting!
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texdravid · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:38 am Post subject:

Thank you for the report.

Some observations:

1). Why do you expect "great" Indian food wherever you go in the world? On a ANA flight as well?!!

It's annoying when Indians, even westernized ones, demand their butter chicken and other treats even in Ulaanbatar or Buenos Aires. Have you ever heard of trying the local stuff?

2). ANA's old aircraft is surprising....767? Wow, that's the kind of stuff that ratty old UA and AA fly. I was thinking they fly the latest 77W or A330. Well, they are the launch aircraft for the 787.

3). Speaking of ratty planes by ratty airlines, you didn't comment enough on the montrosity that is AA and its old MD80's. Lucky for you that you sat in the front, because for those of us DFW people, we have spent decades, decades indeed at the back right next to the engine nacelles. Felt like I was at a heavy metal concert.

4). Finally, I of course, have been thru Bergstrom many times, but failed to notice the Barbara Jordan terminal thing. Good lord. Another liberal hack being honored for.....being a liberal hack.

We need to reserve naming airports for REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS, like Reagan National and Bush Intercontinental. Wink

At least until Ohare is renamed Barack Obama International in 2013 (after he is voted out of the presidency, Allah willing)
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avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

Great report sri_bom ... apart form the food ... good to see ANA offering a good soft product.

Thanks for sharing.

Nimish · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:22 pm Post subject:

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Thanks TexDravid for your comments:

If the airline has the option of Indian food than I would expect it to be great or at least get the basics rights. There is no excuse to give a lousy food specially in business class.

Personally I enjoy all the cuisines of the world and not stuck up on Indian food as you assume. I have experimented with other vegetarian cuisines as well like oriental, Thai etc. but on a long flight you never know what might show up on your plate as that’s a risk you take. Once I experimented by asking for oriental vegetarian and I just got served bland Tofu and glass noodles that was not only un palatable but did not fill my stomach. Indian food you can’t go wrong much as typically you will always get some rice and lentil portion, hence I prefer to stick to that option when I travel long haul.

ANA if I am not wrong is one of the largest operators of the 767 aircraft type and they are not old as you think. In fact even this year Boeing delivered a brand new 767 to ANA. I sympathize with you on the MD – 80/83 type aircraft although it does feel a bit squeezed trapped in a long aluminium tube but so long you are sitting in the front it’s not that bad an aircraft.

Avbuff thanks for your positive comments.

SammyK thanks for your comments and clarification on the terminal in Austin. I totally forgot you reside in Austin, next time if I happen to be in your town we should connect and have a drink on the 6th street. Anyways I love your city and explored all of Austin on a seagway which was fun to do.

GuyFromBom – Thanks for your feedback. Unfortunately I am a 100% herbivores creature like you but OK with eggs  Your boss would have gone really hungry on that flight. I think SQ should have at least upgraded him to business class to give a positive spin

texdravid · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 10:20 am Post subject:

SriBom,

I have found that airlines throughout the world are way behind the curve when it comes to vegetarian food. For most of them, it is little more than throw some stuff together in some stew. For most of the world, beef is king, and they put all their energy into fancy beef/pork/fish dishes.

I am not a vegetarian. Actually, I love meat and love beef. That is the Texan in me. I have been eating steak/lobster/seafood since 1975.

So, I sympathize with you if you are a veg. If not, try the non-veg. Airlines have put more work into it.

BTW, I hope that you didn't try the Segway in the summer in Austin. Austin in April/May is great. July/August...not so much.
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sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:23 pm Post subject:

Excellent report, sri_bom!
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indopaki · Member Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 479 Location: Pakistan

Food is quite boring, great report though and pics.

As for Asia subsidiaries JAL was the only airline in Asia to have one Japan Asia Airlines (JAA) and it seems even Japan Asia Cargo (JA Cargo).

http://www.nordicair.org/jl/jaa/jaa763.jpg

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Japan-Airlines--/Boeing-747-221F-SCD/0240264/M/

AF Asie also had a cargo wing.

stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: BLR, DXB

Nice TR.
So ... you got *A points on AA?
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sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore