In recent weeks, Austrian Airlines has repeatedly used long-haul aircraft on short-haul routes such as Frankfurt-Vienna. For example, it flew with Boeing 777s. Actually, this was an ideal opportunity to get passengers excited about the long-haul product, but management seems to have completely failed to grasp this opportunity.
In Germany-Austria traffic, the use of Boeing 777-200s occurs now and then, but it is by no means the norm. On September 26, 2024, the OE-LPE was used. Some passengers knew that OS216 was being operated with a widebody, but many infrequent flyers were only surprised when they boarded the aircraft.
Crew training has to be carried out again and again and Austrian Airlines mostly uses short routes such as Vienna-Frankfurt-Vienna for this. It was obvious that Austrian Airlines had succeeded in marketing the additional capacity - at least in economy class - because the OE-LPE was extremely well filled. The premium economy class, which costs extra on long-haul flights, was used as "normal economy" and one or two passengers then had a supposedly better seat. For business class travelers, the use of the 777 may actually have been an upgrade, because Austrian Airlines does not offer real C-seats on its short- and medium-haul fleet, but believes that a free middle seat is enough. Unfortunately, a great many European carriers opt for this option.
The use of the long-haul aircraft on a short route such as Frankfurt-Vienna should actually be viewed by the management of Austrian Airlines as a marketing campaign, for which passengers pay with their regular tickets anyway. After all, there is a realistic chance that one or two travelers will be satisfied with the comfort on board and will then book their next long-haul flight via Vienna with Austrian Airlines. Many carriers deliberately go the extra mile on such "special missions". But at AUA there was absolutely no sign of this on OS216.
Weather conditions caused delay
But first things first: flight delays are always annoying, but nobody can do anything about the weather in Frankfurt am Main. At this time, a bad weather front delayed both the landing from Vienna and the return flight to the Austrian capital. Annoying, but what can you do? Safety first! But it is the way the problem is being handled, because even on the ground, the passengers were only given very little information about when boarding would begin, as is unfortunately often the case with many airlines in Frankfurt am Main.
There was an announcement on the plane itself from the captain, who apologized for the delayed availability of the B777, but that was it. After that, there was no information for the passengers about how long they would probably be on the apron at Frankfurt Airport. At some point, the order was given to secure the slides and the engines were started.
Screens didn't work
The crew's safety instructions normally follow. In this type of aircraft, a video is usually used that is played on the IFES screens. If only these would work, because in Premium Economy, none of the screens in row 10 were functional. All of them were "inop". Even those that could have been folded out - at least in theory - were not functional. That shouldn't have been the case, because the passengers in row 10, Premium Economy Class, had no access to the safety instructions.
You would think, "hey, cool upgrade to premium economy", but in this particular case it was not an upgrade at all. For example, seat 10H had some not-so-appetizing dirt on the armrest and it gets even stranger: the passenger in 10K was asked by a flight attendant to put his seat in the upright position for takeoff. But that was impossible because the seat could not be adjusted and so the cabin crew had to say "inop".
Sockets "inop" or with loose contact
The situation was no different on seat 10H, because the electrics needed for adjustment were also "inop". At least it was in an upright position. How about a power socket and/or USB port for charging your cell phone? Well, the supposed 220V socket delivered zero volts, so "inop" and the USB-A socket, well, had such a bad connection that charging was simply impossible. All other features of the seat, which came with a high surcharge on long-haul flights, were either also "inop" or dirty.
It is of course not a must, but Austrian Airlines could use such flights to offer a small taste of the long-haul in-flight service. It really doesn't cost the earth, but a good experience and positive reports from friends and acquaintances or colleagues and/or family is priceless advertising. Yes, if they are so happy, we will book with AUA to New York, Bangkok or wherever. But the AUA management missed this opportunity and in Economy and the makeshift Premium Economy class, only a cup of Vöslauer water was offered. Well, the passengers are not entitled to anything better, no question about it, you know in advance what you are getting and what you are not.
purchase option without a menu
A flight attendant's announcement that passengers could order food and drinks from the Melangerie menu in the seat pocket and that they could ask the crew about it if they were interested was a real disappointment, as there was no Melangerie menu in any seat pocket in Premium Economy or Economy. If you want to sell and are using a plane that doesn't normally have it, you should at least take a few copies with you and hand them out to passengers if they are interested. Some competitors who also offer buy on board, such as Ryanair, also hand out their menus and sales catalogs if they are interested and then collect them again.
The only conclusion that remains is that the opportunity to promote the long-haul product with little effort was missed. The icing on the cake is that it took an enormous amount of time to collect the luggage at Vienna-Schwechat Airport. It's about the same waiting time as in Frankfurt am Main, where travelers are now used to standing around until their legs are worn out, at least since the "post-coronavirus era".
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