Air Europa

JFK to Madrid with connection to Venice return via same cities. Plane took off about 2 hours late from JFK but arrived on time with the benefit of a strong tailwind. No explanation for delay provided but once on the ground in Madrid the cabin attendant gave the typical insincere apology for "any inconvenience." The next leg to Venice on time - the only flight segment that was timely. The return to Madrid left Venice about 1.5 hours late and arrived Madrid late by same amount. Madrid to JFK pushed back more than 2 hours late and then immediately halted for a half hour more while mechanics were called on board to fix the air conditioning. We deplaned at JFK 3 hrs late. Again the cabin attendant gave a rote "apology" but no explanation for the delay. Air Europa has no info on its rather primitive web site to inform whether flights are on time or delayed. Delays aside the cabin staff were polite animated and professional except that curiously no one claimed to know anything about the cause of the various delays encountered. This is a Spanish airline and most of the passengers seemed to be Hispanic. Important announcements were given in both Spanish and English but the message was often delivered in heavily accented English. The pilots said little particularly avoiding any discussion of delays. I suspect delays are too sensitive a subject for AE to discuss in a forthright fashion. Check the airline's on time record before buying tickets as I wish I had. Avoid this airline if making onward connections is a critical concern. Passenger comfort in Economy was at the lower end of tolerable. I don't travel enough to make a comparison with other airlines but I'd venture that few airlines afford the economy passenger less seating room than Air Europa if indeed that were even possible. For a relatively new A330-200 the seats didn't return to the upright position without some assistance. Stowed baggage was routed through to the end destinations and arrived without problem. Be careful though at the JFK we were charge $50 for an overweight bag. Next time I'll use something more accurate than the bathroom scale. Food and beverage service were OK. One observation: as the low price leader it's surprising AE has not sought to leverage this advantage by more zealous attention to managing flight delays. If so I would have given higher marks for value. For example they might start by acknowledging a problem exists and that saying nothing won't make it go away. I wish AE good luck but next time I'll pay up to choose a carrier with a better on time record a more informative web site and more seating room.

MAD-ORY-MAD. Air Europa no longer give access to VIP Lounge to SkyTeam Elite Plus members (Flying Blue Gold Card as well as Platinum) which was a quite negative experience. Boarding was chaotic - ground staff announce the boarding stating boarding priorities (families with children elite plus members then passengers from rows 15 to 30 and then rest of passengers). At this time the queue becomes unmanageable everyone moves without knowing the priority of other (why not create separate lines like AF and IB do). Catering service as in low cost companies (paid) no chance to get emergency exit as they charge like in low cost airlines. Special thanks to Flying Members announced on PA but at this time I really felt that they don't really care about FB members.

London Gatwick - Madrid - Tenerife North they had the cheapest fare on the route. I checked in with no problems at Gatwick but as soon as I got through security I saw that my flight was delayed by 1.5 hours - could have been communicated at check in. This meant that I would miss my connection. Onboard crew apologised for the delay (which was due to the aircraft waiting for passengers transferring from a delayed Buenos Aires flight - but lots of people on my flight were transferring across Spain and to Caracas and missed their flights.) The seats were comfortable and crew very friendly. On arrival in Madrid people were waiting for us to give new boarding passes. I was put in business class on a Spanair flight 2 hours later and Air Europa paid for a meal and to use their lounge. To top things off Tenerife North was closed due to bad weather and we had to divert to the south airport. All in all it was all very annoying and a long day but Air Europa dealt with everything well and as best as they could.

LIS-MAD on a regional Embraer aircraft. Economy seating which was only distinguished from business by a curtain (seats exactly the same). Ticket agents were pleasant no line and efficiently provided boarding pass. At the gate agents announced the flight orderly line and boarded the plane from the jetway. Aircraft seemed new seats were somewhat cramped for a 6'1" pax. Refreshments were served. Arrived on time without any delay. Was out of the airport in less than 15 minutes.

Gatwick-Madrid-Caracas. Overall not very pleasant but if you really need to save the difference in fare go for it. Pre-departure communication is very poor regarding e-tickets check-in etc. Checking in I had no problems having arrived about 1.45 before flight. Gatwick-Madrid was delayed nearly two hours.As a result I had to charge through Madrid airport to my gate where the connection to Caracas was waiting replete with angry Venezuelans. I found the staff very pleasant and accommodating and their English was very good. Food was bad worse than usual. The planes are in a bit of a state with reclining chairs needing to be manually pulled back into upright position that kind of thing. No problems with baggage. Overall I would probably have preferred to pay slightly more for TAP (Portugal) or another established airline.

Gatwick to Madrid and on to Cancun - flight late only just made connecting flight. Return home economy - worst flight I have ever done. Food inedible no water until two half hours into flight and none until almost landing ten hours later- requests for drinks ignored by very rude staff. All announcements in Spanish and not had a reply to my email complaining.

London to Caracas and back. Modern aircraft clean and pretty much in working order. Couldn't find cheap flights to CCS until Air Europa flights came up and were significantly better priced than everyone else. Flights between London and Madrid on tiny plane and had to pay for onboard food and drinks but perfectly acceptable. The transatlantic flights were great good leg room decent food and film on demand service (limited choice). Would use them again to get to Latin America.

A charter flight for Thomson holidays from Humberside to Palma. Flight delayed both ways by around an hour. Inflight announcements from crew totally unintelligible due to heavy Spanish accent and speed of delivery. In flight snack consisted of one small roll with plastic type ham tiny chocolate and half a cup of lukewarm tea or coffee. On our return flight we had an hour of Air Europa promotional adverts on TV all in Spanish - played to an aircraft full of Brits!

Madrid to Havana on Boeing 767-300: we flew with Air Europa as a result of a missed connection in MAD which prevented us from boarding our original flight. It appears that the airline is reserving its better aircraft for U. destinations and Latin America is treated to what's left. This particular B767 seemed OK at first but the seats are very tight and legroom is insufficient if you're over 180 cm/6 ft. tall. Unlike their A330s the 767 only has a few LCD screens across the cabin and you have to bring your own headphones. Throughout the entire flight the PA system was set to such a low volume that it was impossible to understand anything (even in Spanish as the crew's English was traditionally abysmal). Meals were also lacking - a dash after takeoff 7.5 hours of nothing and a small dry ciabatta just before arrival. Perhaps the worst experience came some 50 minutes into the flight: a girl sitting in front threw up in the aisle and the crew took more than 5 minutes to react making everyone extremely uncomfortable. Their solution was to rinse the carpet with cola cover it with a blanket and spray it with aerosol deodorant. Needless to say this method didn't work for long but nobody else seemed to bother (some hours later a second FA saw the blanket on the floor and assumed the girl's father dropped his so she pick it up and promptly covered him with it). Quite simply Air Europa creates a perfect impression of a Latin American low cost carrier and the passenger structure seemed to correspond. If you're looking for a decent flight to Cuba try someone else.

I have never had a worse experience with an airline. Due to lack of personnel on the airport the line to check in took at least 3 hrs in London Gatwick. Due to the above we lost our connecting flight in Madrid although we were told by the personnel from the aircraft that it would wait for all of us. They weren't able to find a flight to Cancun from Madrid the same day so we were sent with Mexicana de next day but not without losing one of my bags first. The bag arrived almost 5 days after to my hotel with contents missing. I have filed official claims and sent several emails and I have had no response from Air Europa.