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FLYING ALITALIA
February 2008
The three of us flew Alitalia to Italy. I love Italy and I love Italians. This airline however brings the lack of customer service to a whole new level.
It was February school break week, the airplane was crowded. After the usual chaos of finding our seats, stuffing the overhead compartment with winter coats and carry-on luggage and then trying to cram our bodies into seats designed for much smaller people, the flight attendants wanted our immediate attention. Suddenly, we were moving away from the gate and they still had to get through the safety video. After many attempts to restart the video, they realized it was broken. Could they do it without the movie? Probably, but being Italian they shrugged and figured what the hell and went back to sit in their seats until take off.
After take off, we're immediately given "dinner" or what Alitalia thinks is dinner. Unlike American carriers, there are no peanuts, no cocktails, no beverage offer at all. Just a choice of fish or pasta. The group in front of us insists they had pre-ordered vegetarian meals. Turns out they weren't on the "list." And since they weren't on the "list," their choices were either fish or pasta.
With dinner came wine. One glass. After dinner came water. One glass. We had been in the air for four hours and serious dehydration was setting in. We tried to sleep, licking our lips. Then came "breakfast" -- a focaccia-like roll with cheese spread and an ersatz apple pastry. We were offered water and juice. One small glass each. When we asked for more, we were glared at.
Luckily we were about to land. Note to fellow travelers: if we are ever stuck flying Alitalia again the only way we're doing it would be to try and bring our own food and water, provided of course the provisions make it through security.
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