I’m just finishing up a really enjoyable journey, and instead of creating preview posts for each segment of my experience, I’ll be putting together a comprehensive trip report soon. Well, kind of. I just completed a nine-hour overnight flight with Royal Jordanian on a Boeing 787-8 from Bangkok (BKK) to Amman (AMM), and I can’t resist sharing some thoughts.
Naturally, there are larger issues at play globally, and my grievance isn’t that Royal Jordanian is lacking in treating influencers well. 😉 Nevertheless, Royal Jordanian is in the midst of a significant overhaul, including fleet modernization, and I can’t help but feel that the soft product needs significant improvement.
In this post:
Positive aspects of Royal Jordanian business class
Royal Jordanian’s Boeing 787-8 business class features Collins Aerospace Diamond seats, which are decent, but not particularly competitive these days (to be fair, the airline is rolling out new reverse herringbone seats on its Dreamliner fleet, inclusive of both new and existing aircraft). I was fortunate to have an empty seat beside me, making it quite comfortable, and I have no complaints on that front.
Additionally, since my last experience flying Royal Jordanian business class, they’ve introduced very thick mattress pads, which is a nice touch and made it much easier to relax while the seat was reclined.
There are even individual air nozzles, which theoretically should enhance the overall experience!
The Dreamliner I was on had Viasat Wi-Fi, available for free to all passengers (I believe it’s intended to be complimentary only for business class passengers and select elite members, but there was no log-in requirement for some reason).
Royal Jordanian business class falls short in many respects
It’s truly unfortunate how minor details can undermine the overall experience, and this is where detail-oriented airlines differentiate themselves from the competition. Individually, I could overlook any one of these issues, but when combined, they collectively left me disappointed.
Firstly, Royal Jordanian has a single lavatory for business class passengers, which was in a disgusting state. Toward the end of the flight, it was dirtier than most public restrooms I’ve encountered, and the crew made no effort to clean it, despite entering several times.
I understand that policies vary between airlines, and not every carrier is like Qatar Airways or Singapore Airlines, where the lavatory is pristine after a long-haul flight, complete with the toilet paper arranged in a perfect triangle. However, the lack of cleaning stands out negatively in my experience. I found the restroom so unpleasant that I chose to “hold it” until I reached the terminal.
Furthermore, the crew just… wasn’t ideal. The older flight attendant was delightful and attentive, being the only one to check on me proactively. The problem was that she was assigned to the galley, so my interactions with her were limited.
On the other hand, the two younger flight attendants working the business class left much to be desired. I was mainly attended to by a female flight attendant who seemed utterly disinterested. She wasn’t rude, just seemed to lack any motivation.
If we exchanged 10 words during the flight, I’d say that was a lot. When meal orders were taken, she didn’t say a word, simply stood there until I prompted her with, “are you taking meal orders?” When she came to collect the used warm towels she had distributed, she gestured with her finger for me to place it on her tray (by pointing to it and then at the tray), without uttering a single word.
The male flight attendant was well-meaning and the nicer of the two, but throughout the entire flight, he repeated one phrase to me—”enjoy it.” I’m not sure if those were the only two words he knew in English, but whether it was distributing the amenity kit, handing me a bottle of water, or bringing the mattress pad, that was his go-to phrase.
And the food… underwhelming. On ultra long-haul flights, Royal Jordanian typically serves fantastic meals, but on this trip, there was a single tray service after takeoff, which was mediocre at best. There were no pre-dinner drinks despite the long wait for service. Moreover, while Royal Jordanian does serve alcohol, there was no menu to inform passengers of the options, and the crew seemed clueless about what was available.
I was also never offered a drink refill, and during breakfast, I wasn’t even asked if I wanted a drink aside from the orange juice that was placed on the tray without my request (which I didn’t want).
Speaking of which, on a flight of this duration, here’s what the sole breakfast option looked like. Come on! Four pieces of bread, seriously?
While I’m expressing my frustrations, this was an overnight flight, and since Wi-Fi was complimentary, the woman in front