Nowadays, the staff of Air France has been news over discrimination of passengers on the basis of race. Over 50 Indian passengers, who were left stranded on the Paris airport due to a technical snag which took over 28 hours to fix, have alleged racism and complained that they did not receive food or water for more than 9 hours and were put in a separate lounge. After repeated requests, the passengers were given a water bottle and a sandwich. They slept on the floor and when asked for proper arrangements they were threatened to face police action.
The Travel Agents Federation of India has asked for a formal clarification from the carrier and rightly so. This piece of news has intrigued me because last month I flew to Europe Air France and even boarded the same carrier to travel from Berlin to Paris, which technically means I boarded three different Air France flights. I cannot claim that my experience was wonderful or absolutely great. Most of the announcements were done in French and an English-speaking passenger was definitely not the most respected ones. Air France does not command a good reputation amongst the international fliers and as I discovered it is not preferred airline.
My experience with Air France was an interesting one. When I was flying back from Paris to New Delhi, and was just about to board the aircraft I was interrupted by a staff person who asked me to delay my flight by a day, as the flight was overbooked, and also offered my 600 Euros for staying back a day. I was so homesick after a week away from home that I refused the offer. My conversation with Air France staff clearly showed that they were far from being systematic – an international flight being overbooked and you are looking to offload a passenger! I have no clue if this is normal.
My flight departure was at about 10:40 in the morning and we had to land New Delhi at 10:00 India time, which would be 7:30 Paris Time. We were served a light lunch at around 1:00 and thereafter just a cup of tea at around 5:00 Paris time. Needless to say, I went hungry for the last 2-3 hours of my flight, and had to suffice with unfavorable helpings of juices. When I asked one of the crew members for some red wine, he smiling asked me to wait for 10 minutes, which eventually turned out to be longer than infinity. Yes! I never really got to have it.
That the French staff was more courteous to the French was quite visible, but I never felt discriminated. I just concluded that the overall quality of the airline was not up to the mark. But then I did not expect too much from the airline as I had read and heard not-so-good reviews of the airline even before leaving New Delhi.
The allegations of racism and discrimination do not come as a surprise to me. It can be quite truthful but I cannot fathom a reasonable reason why an international carrier would do it so openly at the risk of being infamous and damaging their reputation. Also, if the passengers did not get any food from the airline they could have bought it at the Airport lounge. When I missed my flight from Paris to Berlin, I was immediately issued a boarding pass for another flight due 3 hours later in 30 minutes, plus gratis sandwich and a drink. I think it was fair. Even the lady at the counter was very courteous.
I probably have mixed reviews of Air France. If what happened with Indians at Charles De Gaulle is true, then it is undoubtedly unfortunate and sternest action should be taken against the international carrier, and the staff should be permanently sacked.