EL AL

This year we have taken six trips on El Al (ie, three round trips to Israel). In truth, El Al has come a long way. Remember when the big joke about flying El Al was this: Stewardess: Do you want dinner?” Passenger: “What are my choices?” Stewardess: “Or yes, or no!”

Yes, there are still too many seats on El Al. Yes, the seats are tightly packed in. Yes, when the person in front of you puts his seat back, the seat is about four inches from your nose.

But the general ambiance on El Al has changed. Whereas we recall flights with nothing but nasty flight crews, the airline seems to have made a concerted effort to hire enthusiastic, happy crew members. Yes, we recently had a flight when the captain said, “I demand that you all get back in your seats right now.” To his credit, he paused, and then added the simple word “please.” Nice come back!

And on many flights there are still some of the old guard around who think that unless they are less than pleasant, they are not doing their job. Yet, for every one of the old “stews” there are many more of the new, pleasant types. We once were on the dreaded out of Israel at 10:40 AM daytime flight to JFK. We did not feel like eating most of the trip. Finally two crew members came over and asked why we were not eating. We said we didn’t want to eat. Some time later, they came with a plate of fruit and silverware and said, “At least eat fruit- what would your mother say?” We ate the fruit.

This past week, we once again had the dreaded day time flight. At one point as most of the crew disappeared for their rest time in the crew room (ten points to anyone who can figure out how they get to it!), we watched as one young crew member worked a solitary shift in the galley and remained in constant motion for over two hours. Her name was Adi and she is a relatively new “stew.” She has been on the job for only nine months. She told me that she loves her job and finds it endlessly exciting. A beautiful young woman with intense eyes, Adi served everyone with a huge smile and endless patience. When we commented that no one seems to give her a second’s peace, she said, “I love being busy.”

That is the new El Al. The food is still airline food. As we said, the seats are way too crowded, but the rest of the experience is much better.

Did you know that there is a mini buffet available on some flights?? We have had tuna sandwiches, veggie sandwiches, tea, coffee, soda (with ice no less!!) and cookies in the middle of the flights long after the food has been served and cleared. We have had fruit in the middle of the night. We have also had long talks with crew members who have been wonderfully conversational.

Part of what makes El Al a tough flight is the presence of all those Jews who think that the rules are meant for everyone else but not them. You know who we mean- the ones who refuse to honor the seat belt sign. The ones who put up the window shade at 1:00AM NY time and start to yell “Shacharis, Shacharis” while everyone else is sleeping. (If you took the 11:30PM flight out of JFK, this can be really really annoying.)

El Al can do much more to improve the service. For starters, they could stop separating family members. We heard a story from a man who reps a very big company in Israel and who flies to and fro several times a year. He was on the flight with his son and son in law. Although they had booked together and been advance seated together, when he got to the airport, he found that they were in three different places on the plane. What happened?

Retire the old nasty crew members and replace them with younger, happier crew members. On our last flight, Adi was a standout, but, frankly, the others were no slouches, either. They worked hard and gave their all. And that makes all the difference in the world. O, that and the mid flight buffet, too!