Just Smiles & Miles and nothing else!. Review on Malaysia Airlines

The wife and I went on a short trip to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in the first week of November. As my travel agent recommended Malaysia Airlines, and as I had never flown with this carrier before, I decided to give it a go.

The flight (MH191) took off on schedule from Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi. The Airbus A330 was quite new, and the take-off was smooth. But once we were cruising, to my dismay, I found the aircraft to be very noisy. On my complaint, the cabin crew informed me that this was quite normal with seats behind the wings. Being a seasoned flyer, I found this hard to digest, so I walked up the aisle to the front of the aircraft and found that it was true! Since the flight to KUL was 5 hours of night flying, I requested for a change of seats, a request that was gladly granted. Up front, the noise level was quite tolerable.

The cabin crew was found to be very courteous and helpful – the smiles appear genuine, not plastic, as is the case with most other airlines. But the food was barely palatable, and cold! One lesson that I learnt on this flight was to accept whatever food is offered – or you’ll go hungry! While we were offered a choice between lamb and chicken, I opted for the former and got it. My wife wanted chicken, and was told (very sweetly), to wait. Come clearing up time, there was still no sign of her dinner! Reminding the flight purser twice, we were told that they had exhausted not only chicken dinners, but all non-vegetarian dinners! And the flight was only half-full! The poor lady had no option but to have a cold, bland, vegetarian meal. Come to think of it – she did have an option – go hungry!

Although the Airbus seats are quite comfortable, (can’t crib too much when you’re flying economy), the so-called blankets given to passengers are nothing but thin acrylic shawls – hardly able to keep you warm. As a result, we hardly got a wink of sleep due to the cold. And another thing – if you have to use the toilets on the aircraft, be sure to do so within the first two hours of the flight. After that, you will find the toilets dirty and stinking! Can’t blame the airline here, it is we passengers who mess things up!

The in-flight announcements also leave much to be desired. Not only is the heavily-accented English difficult to understand, the volume levels between announcements vary from a deafening roar to an inaudible whisper.

The return flight (MH190) a few days later was no better. Although the change of boarding gates (bays) twice over, and a delay of an hour due to technical reasons, gave us the joy of riding the “Aerotrain” three times, it could not adequately compensate for the in-flight lapses. The beer served before dinner was warm. They had no refrigerated beer and ice is a thing the cabin crew had never heard of! Moreover the beer is served in dainty little plastic tumblers, each having a capacity of not more than 100 ml. And hang your head in shame if you have to ask for a refill.

But all said and done, the politeness of the cabin crew, the sweetness and charm that they exude is enough to make us forget all that went wrong.