Copa Airlines

Steep service and quality decline - Copa Airlines. Until two years ago it was a pleasure to fly Copa between Brazil and Panama - new aircraft good food attentive service and most important clean planes (especially restrooms). In my four recent trips in the past two months food quality and cleaning of all planes have fallen miserably. One week ago my seat was wet when I boarded the plane. I insisted that the seat had to be changed but I was offered a blanket to be placed on top of the wet spot. Copa is increasing its routes and maybe not giving proper attention to the basics: Restrooms are filthy - even in flights departing from their hub in PTY. Staff are friendly but they have no means to react to situations like a wet seat - what should they have done? Not to mention the quality of the food aboard. Last night on flight CM 701 (Feb 23 2015) our plane had to land in Campinas (VCP) instead of GRU at 8.45pm (time of our supposed arrival to GRU) because the plane was short on fuel (GRU airport had traffic above normal). Think twice before buying your ticket.

I flew from Las Vegas to Panama City in business class and I must say the seats are a joke. It was a night flight and the sears almost don't recline and there is no leg rest. I almost didn't sleep. Flight entertainment was a couple of small screens hanging on the ceiling where they showed a movie.

Flex LAX-PTY-LIM and return with an infant on lap. Got a mix of older and newer planes for the different legs the newer planes were decent with individual entertainment system but when asking for the infant seat belt and life west we have on all other airlines we taken with our infant (KLM Norwegian SAS) we where told COPA does not supply these. Choose to purchase seat for the infant for the return trip using our FAA approved car seat. When installing the seat the seat belt was not long enough to buckle when asking for the extension seat belt the buckle of the extension seatbelt did not fit the one of the original seat belt had to fasten the carseat using the latch system of the car seat around the back of the seat luckily it was long enough to do this. Definitely not the safest airline to fly with infants or toddlers or for anyone else needing an extension seat belt. Service was frequent and staff was friendly both food quality was the poorest airplane food I have experienced. Would definitely not recommend this airline to anyone traveling with an infant or toddler.

The fleet is aged and well worn with perhaps only a dozen or so newer planes in service. Given the ratio of new vs. older equipment it is probable that you will be flying on one of their older planes. Such was the case on my recent journey to South America - LAX-GIG / GRU-LAX. The business class seats were old recliner types much like old first class seat of the 70's-80's. The IFE was past its prime with minimal choices and poor music options. Food service while good was not up to premium class standards. The inflight crew was top notch on all legs of my trip. In short the fare was cheapest business class for my itinerary and the minimal connection times in PTY did not require a sprint to the gate. All flights departed and arrived on time. Would I fly with them again? Possibly so but I might consider paying the extra bucks to fly a carrier that offers a more up-to-date comfortable business class.

Havana-Panama-Manaus. The check-in in Havana was friendly and easy. The flight in a newish B737 was comfortable (good seat pitch) and the service was efficient. A snack consisting of an empanada crisps and biscuits was served. The airport at Panama City is a pleasant place to transit though the signage to our remote gate lounge wasn't clear. Seating on the E190 is tighter than on the B737 and there is no in-flight entertainment. A pleasant meal service with drinks was provided but half-way through the flight the crew disappeared (even though the toilet could have done with a cleaning). Both flights operated on time and the luggage came quickly.

Flying from Panama City to Lima Peru on board of an older B737. Departure and arrival on time. Plane a little bit older but comfortable. Staff did a great job very polite offered a chifa meal (combination of South American and Chinese food very popular in Peru) that I enjoyed so much! Inflight entertainment nothing special. All in all I have no huge complaints. I recommend it.

Flew Business from Vegas to Panama Panama to Quito Quito to Panama and Panama to Toronto ( Business Class with Air Canada after that). Despite the COPA advertising that they have new planes in the fleet and a contemporary Business Class they were not part of our experience and when asked what route they might be flying we were told that they only have 10 in the total fleet! The planes we flew on were tired old planes which have been well used and show it with ill fitting lumpy seats and entertainment features that are 20 years out of date. My seat refused to stay upright and continuously slowly moved to the recline position. Meals were very bad and to top it off the menu choices on all our flights were the same! The staff were very friendly and affable and trying to do their best but the product let them down - but the flights were on time. Our conclusion is: that it is just not the quality of Business Class a customer is led to believe is available. For anyone used to flying on Air Canada for instance it is a considerable step down with the only recognizable Business Class feature being the size and colour of the seats. In the future if we have a choice COPA will not be our preference.

I flew from Boston to Panama and then from Panama to Iquitos - trip back was the same pattern in reverse. I had no problems with Copa even though I speak very little Spanish. They serve food on a 2 hour flight. Old school style! While the entertainment choices were lacking in terms of movies it wasn't so bad. The crew was really nice and accommodating. Everyone received pillows and blankets.

Flew two early morning flights in September: MEX-PTY and on to MIA two days later. This was my second time with this airline and I have to say I really enjoyed travelling with them: modern planes with new interiors and comfy seats professional friendly and smiling crew check-in easy and quick and on time arrivals. I would have rated 9/10 but the food is still a letdown (as it was for my first trip with them back in 2013) the price of my ticket was rather high (actually more expensive then my transatlantic flight with LH) and their hub in Panama City does need some improvement in terms of decent food stores with acceptable pricing. For sure they will see me again on board.

If you pick up the inflight magazine you will see the modern fleet that they fly. The only problem is that you will be sitting on an older plane that has antiquated seats and entertainment. I was on 3 different planes last month flying in their business class from Mexico to Colombia and from Colombia to the US. The movie offering on the two longer flights were Godzilla and the other one's name I can't even remember. Service and food were good but the seats also were lacking. I will not fly COPA again unless there is no other flight available.