OAG is proud to announce the winners of the 2009 OAG Airline Industry Awards. Known as the “Oscars of the Airline Industry,” 2009 marks the 27th anniversary of the awards, which are significant and valued in the airline industry because the awards are voted for by frequent flyers around the globe. The OAG Airline Industry Awards demonstrate OAG’s commitment to the airline industry by recognizing excellence in air travel.

Winners of the 2009 OAG Airline Industry Awards include:
- Airline of the Year: Singapore Airlines
- Best Transatlantic Airline: Virgin Atlantic
- Best Business Class: Continental Airlines
- Best Airline based in North America: Continental
- Best Airline Based in the Middle East/Indian Sub-Continent: Emirates
- Best Low-Cost Airline: Southwest
- Best Airline Based in Central South America & Caribbean: LAN
- Best Airline based in Africa: South African Airlines
- Best Airline Based in Central/Eastern Europe: CSA Czech Airlines
- Best Airline Based in Australia/Pacific: Qantas

“We are proud to distribute the 2009 OAG Airline Industry Awards to airlines and airports who work hard every day to give travelers the best flying experience possible,” said Peter von Moltke, CEO of UBM Aviation.

Winners are chosen by asking frequent flyers to consider which airlines they have flown in the past 12 months in each of the award categories and rank their top three airlines for each category. All votes were cast online. The results were calculated using a ratio of “mentions to best,” taking into account how many times an airline was voted 1st, 2nd or 3rd by each traveler. All votes were analyzed by OAG to ensure that they were placed in the correct category and to guarantee that all airlines and airports, irrespective of size, competed on a level playing field.

http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/34259

I have to say that on all of my trips on SAA I have not had any problems.

I found the movies/food/service to be just fine.

All of the SAA personel were very friendly.

Anytime I wanted something to drink or eat, I got it...

I have been very happy with SAA.

The Plane ain't crashed yet...

i would take a boat before i would fly SAA.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
i would take a boat before i would fly SAA.

Hey jdollar - I know you have flown Delta a number of times - what is your opinion on them?

Steve:
I've flown SAA 5 or 6 times without problems, but Dude. Africa-based airlines? Who, exactly would be the competition, and, gulp, what are their standards? This is like The Black Entertainment Network giving Oprah an award.

I have flown SAA and had good experiences. I have also flown them and had terrible ones. The main problem is the lack of consistency. If you get someone who is only there becauase of the "social equalization" or just dosnt give a damn you are in for an unpleasant experience. These folks think their job requires no customer service or people skills. It dosnt matter black or white they need to learn customer service. When there is a problem they need to listen to the customer and do what they can to resolve the issue. Too often I see them treat customers poorly and not respond to problems. I fly any other airline I can because of this. I have had very good experiences in and out of Africa on several other airlines. Why should I pay good money to be treated rudely by people who dont want to be there doing their jobs. I really have to wonder what this award is based on.

Hey everyone - thanks for your input. I am trying to get a feel as to what everyone thinks about SAA (and other airlines) and one of the reasons I posted the report in the first place.

I have flown SAA and Delta to Johannesburg and have only had good experiences with both (coach class). Delta's crew did not impress me in that it was a just a job to them and they did not seem to pleased to have to do it.

A few weeks ago I went back over to South Africa and flew a combination of Air France, KLM and Delta - with some domestic flights within South Africa on SAA - in coach class.

I found Air France to be very good and was pleasently surprised. Food was excellent for coach class standards and service was friendly and efficient on both flights I did, Atlanta/Paris and Paris/Johannesburg.

Within South Africa I did a round-trip flight on SAA from Johannesburg to Durban - similar I guess to San Antonio/Dallas - and was pleasantly surprised by the good service and even got a sandwich on this 1 hour flight.

I returned from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on KLM and again was impressed with the food choice and the onboard service. In Amsterdam I switched to Delta and flew to Memphis and was dissapointed in both the service and the onboard meals. Crew just were not interested in the passengers - food was litteraly thrown at you and drink service was only started after they had served the food! A client of mine returned the same day on Delta from Johannesburg to Atlanta and from talking to each other, we could have been on the same flight! Both of us agreed that the new onboard entertainment system and the non-stop service to Johannesburg were the best thing Delta had going for them.

The above are just my personal opinions and many posts that I do read here generally tend to be more about the negative things that are experienced. I am really interested in hearing the good stories (and of course the bad stories) - so please feel free to post here or email to me. I would really appreciate hearing from everyone regarding their experience on various airlines from check-in to onboard service to collecting their baggage and everything inbetween when traveling with firearms.

I fly delta alot to do buisness. Overall they are a cut out of the same cloth as SAA. More times than not they are late. The crews are often surly and the food is terrible. I know these folks are often on short schedules and all are worried about job security. In addition to the stress factor I think a lot of them have just given up. Everyone needs to get back to basics of customer service if they want to turn things around. Flying is not pleasant these days for many reasons but i believe this is first and foremost.

Several trips on SAA out of JFK to SA and onto Namibia.No problems in any way;service/baggage etc.I've always taken the evening flight which stops in Dakar both ways.

But I view the flight as just the way to get there,not as part of the experience.

If it don't crash;I'm good.

I would like to try the Delta direct but that means going to Atlanta and the associated layover and saves nothing on travel time,just seat time.

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
I have to say that on all of my trips on SAA I have not had any problems.

I found the movies/food/service to be just fine.

All of the SAA personel were very friendly.

Anytime I wanted something to drink or eat, I got it...

I have been very happy with SAA.

The Plane ain't crashed yet...

+1

And on a different note, am I the only one who has found British Airways cabin personnel to be extremely lazy? I could not believe how much time they spent "on break".

we have flown SAA 6-7 times and have mo complaints. We also have flown US flag carriers many times from St. Thomas to Dallas, and if the experiences are typical of their level of service, then, I would be afraid to fly across the pond with any of them.

No problems with SAA (domestic). The staff were excellent and firearms handling superb. They found me at the end of each trip and I had no problems.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Turner - Total Travel Solutions:

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
i would take a boat before i would fly SAA.

Hey jdollar - I know you have flown Delta a number of times - what is your opinion on them?

Delta is OK - much better than SAA.my only complaint is they only offer 2 classes of service( pretty much like AA). that is the main reason i generally prefer European carriers- especially BA and Air France. ah, the beauty of freq. flier tickets.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: it'll be a cold day in hell before I get on SAA again.

I could care less about cabin service. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it sucks. What concerns me is the lack of qualifications of the mechanics maintaining the aircraft and the lack of properly trained flight crew, all because of black empowerment. It's affirmative action on steroids and I don't want any part of it.

Air France, Air Canada and American (and United I believe) have all had crashes of varying degrees in the last few years.....