SOME people may criticise Malaysia Airlines, but after having flown on many airlines I have a different view.
When I worked in the plantations, such as in Sabah, upriver from Sandakan and driving under the oil palm trees in the Labuk Valley, I could hear the plane fly to Kota Kinabalu each morning.
I had time to think that my life as a planter was the opposite of the one led by the pilot.
He would be miles away on the other coast and I was still where I was.
The first time I flew was on MSA’s Boeing 737 from Singapore to Sabah. It was a thrill to see the ground rush below and just before the runway ran out, we were lifted above the grass and heading over the sea, then veering to the east to cross the South China Sea.
The wheels went up and the wings’ tips levelled as I watched the white crests of waves below. The speed was something else.
Since then, I have noted some things have changed. In the old days when you went on board, the air hostess would offer you cigarettes in small packets of five, including Rothmans and Dunhill. I could even smoke my pipe. Not anymore.
For international flights, I could go to the cockpit and chat with the pilot if he happened to be a friend from my class at the Royal Military College.
I could see, save for some flicker of lights, the land was asleep across India.
Then we were past the shorelines and far below were the towers of oil rigs burning their gas in the Arabian Gulf.
Further on, as we flew just at dawn over Europe the sky became bright over the snow peaks of the Alps, and it would not be long before we saw the first green fields of England.
The crew prepared for landing and with a roar, the wheels were out again just as the Thames and Heathrow came into view.
Of course, now we are no longer allowed into the cockpit.
When in Europe, I was travelling on airlines that now no longer exist. Some did not deserve to be boarded.
This would include Sabena, for which passengers had found a full description: “Such a bloody experience, never again.”
British Overseas Airways Corporation was busy in the mid-70s with charter flights, selling tickets at a discount.
But things did not always go smoothly on board, with poor service. Someone coined the phrase “Better On A Camel”.
The first time I went to Africa was on Air Afrique, jointly owned by some West African countries, with its headquarters in Abidjan.
As I found out on board after a meal was served and cleared away, the lights were off, we were in the dark and the crew did not appear again.
I felt very thirsty and when someone walked past my seat, I thought she was a staff.
I snapped at her to bring me a glass of water. After a while, she came back with a glass.
I asked her how many hours before we landed.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “I am a passenger too.”
I was glad that she did not see my face when I realised my mistake.
From my office in London, I often went to Africa later on, using the most convenient connections that sometimes got me to board flights by Union de Transports Aériens, which were just as bad as Sabena. It was absorbed by Air France in the 1990s.
Another airline that left the skies was Swissair, which was formed in 1931, and was lauded as one of the best-managed airlines, and I liked it in the 1980s for its efficiency in timing.
But ten years later it started to show a fall in standards as I tried to board in the rain in Zurich for a flight.
I asked for an umbrella, but the ground staff using it did not have one to spare.
“We don’t have umbrellas for you.”
I did not fly on that airline again and I heard that it did not last long after that.
I could also take different airlines to Africa and one of them was Ethiopian Airlines from Dubai to Ghana. It stopped for a while in Addis Ababa.
I had read a lot about Ethiopia and felt sorry I had no chance to visit it, but I liked what I saw at the airport.
Once I took an Air Nigeria flight. It was a short hop from Douala in Cameroon to Calabar, but it was enough for me not to fly on it again when the air hostess was making light of the safety drill in her demonstration up in front. She was laughing and took her task as a joke.
I was glad when we landed safely. My treatment by immigration and customs on the ground is another story.
Thai Airways has become better over the years as tourism has increased and the crew knew more about the dietary requirements of Muslim passengers.
It was not the case when I was with a group travelling to Bangkok in the early 1990s.
We had booked Muslim food earlier but we did not get it on board.
The beautiful girl who served us was hostile and we were hungry.
And when she passed us the immigration forms before landing, she had the heart to say “Muslim forms!”
Unlike some airlines which provided gifts of toiletries, or had combs in the toilet drawers for passengers to take, the airline did not provide this, even in business class.
I asked the stewardess if she could give me a comb.
“No!” she said. “Use your own!”
Some airlines are very good. For example, Singapore Airlines has always been touted to be the best and certainly, things went on like clockwork.
But there was something impersonal about the way the air hostesses went about their work, that some passengers would say they had a plastic smile.
On the other hand, when I was booked to fly on Malaysia Airlines it was a welcome sight to see the plane at a foreign airport.
The aerobridge was fixed and ready for boarding. After some time being away, when I stepped in I felt I was at home.
The familiar words, the smile and the warm greetings that followed would take away the anxiety of foreign travel.
It was left for the cabin crew to spoil me with the food they gave, the helping of satay arriving first and after the main course, some ice cream and fruits, and I might even get sachets of peanuts.
The slim air hostess would answer my questions well and with a smile.
Perhaps her mind already knew my next questions, for they were likely to be the same ones asked by other passengers who tend to speak more when in the air and travelling alone.
My sleep may not come with the enjoyment of more coffee and movies.
Or I could catch up on home news in the papers, and read those business and sports magazines. I was happy with everything.
On the other hand, I had heard that the financial results of the airlines were not as good.
I was speculating on some of the reasons. My thoughts could get interrupted when the air stewardess came back in the soft light with a form for me to fill out.
“What is that for?” I asked.
“Head office wants you to say what you think about us on your flight.”
I had rejected the forms before. I would ask for another one.
“Do you have a similar form for me to fill out about your head office?”
She lost her smile and fled back to the galley.
Unlike all my previous questions, this one frightened her.
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