Oh, Ethiopian Airlines, why you gotta do me like that?!
Ethiopian Airlines is notorious for plane swaps
There’s not a global airline in the world that more frequently swaps planes than Ethiopian Airlines. That’s to say that that when you book, your flight will show as being scheduled to be operated by one type of aircraft, and then when you actually travel, it could be a completely different type of aircraft.
There are of course all kinds of legitimate reasons airlines need to swap the aircraft type on a flight — sometimes there are irregular operations, sometimes demand has shifted significantly, etc. However, the frequency with which Ethiopian swaps planes is on a completely different level. And that says nothing of the inconsistent business class product even within each fleet type.
A couple of days ago, I shared how I’m headed to Africa, in my quest to fly Ethiopian Airlines’ brand new Airbus A350-1000. I booked an itinerary where the first segment was supposed to be operated by a Boeing 787-9, and the second segment was supposed to be operated by an Airbus A350-1000.
Now I received my online check-in invitation, and my seats on both flights have changed. Of course we know what that means — there were aircraft swaps! Now both of my flights are scheduled to be operated by Airbus A350-900s, both in the old configuration.
Grrrr! Okay, admittedly I care way more about aircraft types than the average person, since I’m reviewing these flights. Heck, I might be the only person onboard who actually cares about which plane operates these routes.
If there’s any silver lining, it’s that my flights haven’t departed yet. For all I know, there might be another plane swap — maybe I’ll get a Boeing 737 MAX on one flight, and maybe Ethiopian Airlines will bring a Boeing 707 out of my retirement for my second flight. Who knows. 😉
I don’t understand why this is so common, though?!
Does anyone understand why Ethiopian Airlines swaps planes so often, while virtually no other airline in the world does it to this level? Like I said, plane swaps happen every so often for legitimate reasons, but I just don’t get what Ethiopian has to gain with this. A few theories and questions:
- Is Ethiopian Airlines just literally the best airline in the world at matching capacity to demand, by constantly optimizing the aircraft it schedules on flights?
- Does Ethiopian Airlines have the world’s least or most complex fleet planning software? Fleet planning is a puzzle under the best of circumstances, let alone when you’re switching around your flights constantly
- I assume flight attendants are trained on all aircraft, but isn’t it logistically complicated for pilots, who are typically only rated on one type of aircraft? I know a lot of Ethiopian pilots are ex-pats and they work a certain number of days and then go home, so do they just sit around in Addis Ababa and find out on short notice where they’ll fly, or…?
- Doesn’t this ever cause operational issues at airports, like if a 737 is initially scheduled, and then a much larger plane is swapped in? Or is the airline really good at taking those factors into account?
The fact that Ethiopian is in a league of its own when it comes to plane swaps makes me wonder if the carrier’s strategy is completely illogical, or if the Star Alliance airline has figured out an optimization strategy that no other airline has.
Bottom line
Ethiopian Airlines is notorious for plane swaps, and unfortunately I’ve been ETed for my upcoming itinerary. I booked just a couple of days ago, in hopes of flying the 787-9 and A350-1000. Instead I’m now scheduled to fly two segments on the A350-900, both with the old configuration.
I’ve known this is a common issue, I’m just not sure I understand why this is such a common problem with the airline, when virtually every other airline on earth doesn’t take this approach.
Can anyone provide any insights as to why Ethiopian Airlines so frequently has plane swaps? Is the airline ahead of its peers with its strategy, or just a mess?
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