At one point, I was bouncing between NY and London like a possessed shuttlecock (my schedule is somewhat saner now) and I tried virtually every combination of carrier, even at one point experimenting with Icelandair, which involved a stopover in ReykjavÃk.
I finally settled on United, which isn’t the most glamorous carrier, but it embodies the two most important qualities I’m looking for – (1) a professional service (crew well trained, flight feels safe) and (2) a reasonably good record for punctuality. Some American readers may be surprised by this (everyone has their own airline horror story) but it’s important to note that international United flights feel like a different (and better) airline when compared to the US domestic offering.
Having a lot invested in United (points and knowledge of the wrinkles in the system) I was aghast by their decision to terminate their London – NY service at the end of October. I still don’t know what they were thinking – it’s such a key route to surrender.
Anyhow, I now need a new airline, and I’ve just spent a week in NY experimenting with MaxJet as the means of transport. They fly from Stansted to JFK. Travellers who like me need to shuffle backwards and forwards between the world’s publishing capitals may find the following journey report interesting.
You want to like MaxJet – any small company brave enough to take on the titans of the industry with a better offering immediately has my interest. They are clearly going after “premium economy and price-sensitive business class passengers†as WikiPedia says. Unfortunately, they’re not yet performing to a true business-class standard…
First Impressions
- The dedicated MaxJet lounge at Stansted is serviceable, not the most luxurious I’ve been in, but it does the job. Good free wi-fi access, unlike United. But why no accessible power sockets to connect your laptop? Even if you don’t need to work in the lounge, you’ll want to charge your batteries for the flight (see below). A member of staff finally pointed out an industrial-type power socket on the floor, cut my hand trying to get the damn thing connected. Very poor, and not the friendliest of personnel.
- Amazingly, there was NO onboard power for laptops on the plane! For an airline that claims to be all-business, this is a stupendous mistake. So when your batteries run out (and London-JFK is always a longer flight than the return) you’re stumped.
- Flight was pretty empty, crew were uniformly pleasant and gave good attention. I overheard the pre-flight briefing given by the purser and was quite impressed. The seats aren’t the most comfortable BC I’ve been in, and they do seem much closer together than United’s, which I don’t like. Because the entire plane is BC, you don’t get that small-cabin feeling you get in other airlines.
- The biggest disappointment to me was the meal. First course was very limp and tired greens, main course was simply not edible. Being veggie, I ordered the veg meal at the time of booking. Very sensibly, they offer only one dairy-free option, which of course is acceptable to both vegetarians and vegans (it doesn’t work the other way round). I can’t believe any airline is still offering a half stuffed pepper as the veg meal! This took me back twenty years to the bad old days, when vegetarians weren’t really welcomed on board. For my hard-earned money, MaxJet gave me a plate onto which three tired asparagus tips had been welded (burnt on, refused to come off), a half pepper filled with dry and totally inedible rice. Seriously bad, MaxJet. Even the purser agreed it was unfit for consumption, and promised a better meal on the return (it wasn’t).
The flight was pretty much on time and disembarking at terminal one at JFK was very fast.
- The return flight was nearly full, but it didn’t look as if most of the passengers were businesspeople. The crew had their hands full, and frankly didn’t give as professional a service as United does when at peak load.
- This was a night flight, on a Sunday. The one thing you desperately NEED on a night flight is to sleep! MaxJet simply didn’t get it. Whereas United turns off the lights and keeps them off fur the full duration of the flight, MaxJet turns them off for take-off, then turns the side light back on again for much of the flight! Sitting in a window seat, this means I’ve got the light shining directly into my eyes. Horrific! I ask the crew if they can douse the lights – no, they can’t. One of them gives me an eyeshade, which I simply can’t wear.
- The meal service again starts with dry lettuce, which I eat, because I’m hungry. Then a few steamed veg with some rice – not dry rice this time, but 100% devoid of flavour. Not nice, and certainly inferior to the food served in economy on United.
- We arrive at Stansted late, and I’m now wrecked for the rest of the day. If you’re coming back from holiday, you may not bother about this too much, but if you want to put in a full working day, you’re trashed. I reckon MaxJet owe me a day’s work.
So there we are. My feeling is that despite the above, they will succeed in attracting a “premium economy†market of people who don’t want to spend the earth but want a better experience than cattle class. But as far as business class is concerned, MaxJet isn’t there yet.
