Thursday, September 08, 2005

What Do I Know About LOT? Not a lot.

A little more than 24 hours ago, I was informed of a last-minute requirement to travel to Warsaw, Poland on business. Having been there once before, I felt I could maneuver the airport, ATM machines, taxi queues, etc. relatively easily, especially since I was a return traveler. Long story short, it was a quick in-and-out trip, which was relatively hassle-free.

As my meeting broke up earlier than expected, I was hoping to catch an earlier flight back to Düsseldorf. Unfortunately, no earlier flight was available on Lufthansa, the carrier I had flown earlier in the day. However, LOT, the Polish national airline carrier, a Lufthansa partner as well as a Star Alliance partner, had seats on its 5 pm flight.

Suddenly, I was faced with this quandary: do I fly an airline carrier I have never heard of or no nothing about their safety record? Or do I just take a deep breath, and climb on board a no-name carrier, resting calmly in the blind assurance that all will be well? Truthfully, I would most likely have passed on flying an unknown entity, but the thought of a bath and an early-to-bed routine (my morning had started at 4:30 am) rated a bit higher in priority than any potential safety concerns.

While the Warsaw airport, named after Frederic Chopin (how refreshing - cities actually naming their airports after cultural icons as opposed to only politicians), is quite old and dilapidated, a renovation project is currently underway. Still, you can imagine my trepidation as to the potential condition and age of LOT’s fleet as I stepped off the bus and walked across the tarmac to walk up the stairs to board the plane (you got it: regional flight, so we board the aircraft on the tarmac).

Well, it was lovely flying experience. Very new plane, albeit only a 70 seater. Clean. Leather seats throughout. Smooth flight. English and Polish speaking pilot. I must confess, though, that I actually did read the safety brochure, locate my exit rows, and watch the safety demonstration, just in the off chance I might need that knowledge…

Would be curious to know what you would do, so post a comment below by clicking on comments or the pencil. (I know, a shameless ploy to get people to post comments on my blog).

5 comments:

Missy said...

Get to bed early at all costs.

Anonymous said...

have flown with lot some 13 years ago... didn't mean to, the plane of my original airline was out of commission... all I remember is sitting in the back near the exit and there was condense water dripping down on me during the whole flight... that's when I decided not to ever fly LOT again... good to see that times are changing!

Hachie Gal said...

to anonymous: that is exactly what I expected but thankfully did not find. I am not rushing for a return trip, though...I like the known quantities...warts and all.

Hachie Gal said...

to missy: we are so alike it's scary sometimes...

Hachie Gal said...

I could see why they won. My plane was almost brand new....