Which Airlines Have The Best Flight Attendants?

Here’s a topic that I figured would be interesting to discuss — which airlines have the most consistently excellent flight attendants?

Of course the single most important thing an airline can do is transport you safely between two points, ideally in a timely fashion. However, beyond that, there’s huge variance in the quality of airlines, with service being a major differentiating factor. In this post I’d like to discuss what makes for great inflight service, and which airlines offer the best service. There are no right or wrong answers, but just opinions and experiences.

What makes for great inflight service

I’ve written in the past about how I don’t think there are any airlines that consistently offer good service on the ground. The reality is that there are just too many variables, there are a lot of contract workers, etc., so at least I haven’t found any airline where ground service is consistently stellar.

Inflight service is a different story, though. There are some airlines that offer better inflight service than others. If you ask me, there are several major factors that contribute to that:

• Consistency is key, and knowing that you’re going to have a great crew with each flight; some airlines have huge variance in terms of service levels (especially at Gulf carriers), and that’s not ideal
• Flight attendants have to be trained and given the tools to provide a great experience; some airlines invest a lot of money in service training and execution, while other airlines… well, don’t
• Some airlines just don’t really give their flight attendants the chance to shine due to service procedures (for example, I’m thinking of Cathay Pacific’s assembly line-esque approach to business class service)
• There’s no denying that culture also fits into all of this, and there are some countries that just have more customer service oriented cultures than others (in Japan you’ll get great service at a convenience store or at a Michelin-starred restaurant)
• Accountability is important as well, with airlines having a more structured hierarchy of crew generally offering better service than airlines without that, since you have a direct “manager” you’re reporting to
• For global airlines, service experiences can be very different depending on the language you speak, the culture you come from, etc.; awareness and sensitivity to that is important

The airlines with my favorite flight attendants

With the above out of the way, I wanted to share the airlines where I consistently find the flight attendants to be the best.

Let me frame it this way — when I board a flight on these airlines, I know with 99% certainty what level of service I’m going to receive in terms of friendliness, attentiveness, attention to detail, etc. Of course there’s going to be some variability, since we’re all individuals with our own personalities and ways of doing things. But at least I generally know what to expect.

With that in mind, below are my picks, starting with my absolute favorite (and yes, there’s quite a geographic bias here, but I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling this way).

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines is one of my favorite airline brands in the world. What makes the airline so special isn’t the seats or the planes, but rather the staff. In my experience, Singapore Airlines flight attendants just operate on a completely different level.

They have such an incredible eye for detail, so that premium cabin service on the airline almost feels more like a synchronized performance than service. Most impressive of all, Singapore Airlines crews consistently operate at such a high level, all while making it seem completely effortless.

There’s not an airline where I’ve found service to be as consistently great as on Singapore Airlines, and that’s what makes the airline such a pleasure to fly.

EVA Air

Taiwan is a competitive aviation market, and I’d argue that EVA Air is the best of the airlines there in terms of service. I’ve found EVA Air flight attendants to consistently be very detail oriented, friendly, and professional.

While China Airlines and Starlux Airlines also often have great service, it seems to me like EVA Air is a bit more consistent in terms of service delivery. When you add in EVA Air’s excellent soft product (the airline has one of my favorite business class products), flying with the airline is a treat.

Garuda Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia has received many awards over the years for having the world’s best cabin crew, and I’d largely agree. While the carrier’s product has otherwise slipped quite a bit, I’ve found Garuda Indonesia flight attendants to consistently be very friendly and professional. Admittedly that probably largely reflects that Indonesia has a great service culture.

All Nippon Airways & Japan Airlines

Japan has two global airlines — All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines — and I’ve found both airlines to offer perfect Japanese service inflight. I get a bit less excited about service on Japanese airlines for the simple reason that the service level is perhaps less reflective of something special about the airlines, and rather just reflects what’s special about Japan as a country.

Airlines that deserve an honorable mention

I wish I could make a longer list, though the above are probably the only airlines where I’ve consistently had service that I’d consider to be very good. Now, I do want to give a shout out to some other airlines as well:

• Among the “big three” US carriers, Delta has marginally better service than American and United, but the difference isn’t as noticeable as in the past; that’s because the airline also has a ton of new employees since the start of the pandemic
• JetBlue has dedicated flight attendants who work in Mint business class, and I find them to be excellent; however, that’s a subset of flight attendants, rather than all flight attendants at the airline
• Alaska also has above average service in the United States, and I find their crews are a cut above even Delta
• I’ve had some of the best service of my life on Gulf carriers, as airlines like Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar, have some exceptional flight attendants; the issue is that there’s huge variability, and there are also some subpar crews who do a poor job
• In Europe, I’ve found Virgin Atlantic to have the most consistently friendly service, as the flight attendants really do care; they’re not always the most polished, but they try
• Among the major European global carriers, I think Air France flight attendants are probably the best, on balance

Bottom line

Not all airlines are created equal when it comes to service. Admittedly we all have different perceptions of service on various airlines, though personally I’ve consistently had the best experiences on Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, Garuda Indonesia, All Nippon Airways, and Japan Airlines.

I’ve had amazing service on other airlines as well, ranging from Alaska, to Emirates, to Virgin Atlantic, but the issue has been consistency. Of course let me acknowledge the heavy bias toward Asia with my list, and that’s why I’ve added some honorable mentions.

Which airlines do you think have the best flight attendants?