Anything but Easyjet (Airline)

Member Name: NikkiH

Product:	Airline
Date:	26/10/03 (5184 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amusing fly on the wall look at the runnings of the airline

Disadvantages: A bit stale now

January 1999 saw the first programme in a series of ITV programmes which would follow Easyjet staff based in various airports around the UK, giving a warts and all account of their day to day working, and sometimes personal lives. Homes around the country with the theme tune to the show...'Come fly with me, let's fly. let's fly away', and soon many were hooked, as this was first shown when reality shows and fly on the wall documentaries were few and far between. At first, the attention was on the staff and passengers in Luton airport, but when the base in Liverpool airport opened in February 1999, many new characters were introduced. The second series started in September of the same year, and claims were made that it attracted a very healthy 9-10 million viewers each thirty minute episode, and by the start of the 4th series in June 2000, figures showed that the programme was attracting nearly half of the viewers at that time, and the website claimed that this was double the viewers who watched the new series of 'Friends'. At first I started to wonder why owner, entrepreneur Stelios and Easyjet had agreed to this series, as it was not always a flattering portrayal of the service on offer or of the staff that were employed by the company, but then this must be the cheapest form of publicity for any company, and it certainly has not suffered in anyway as they have bought out rivals and expanded the places they fly from and to.

Some of the members of the staff were chosen to have more of a starring role in each series, and I am sure that these people were not chosen at random as they all had an angle for the programme to follow them. Most memorable was check in clerk Katrina. When we first met Katrina, we saw a very attractive young woman with lovely long blonde hair, but what we did not know was that Katrina was a survivor of cancer, and that the disease had returned. It was quite harrowing at times, watching her fight the disease and
coping with losing her hair, which had always been her pride and joy. We watched her eagerly plan her wedding, only be struck down with the illness weeks before, and I know the viewers willed her to get better. She did get married, and looked fabulous, but she spent her wedding night back in hospital, getting ready to fight the disease again. Katrina has now left Easyjet and is carving a career elsewhere, but I read a recent interview with her and she is still in remission, and I was also shocked to find out that when people discovered her fight against cancer, some of the less friendly passengers used to taunt her about it.

Supervisor Leo Jones seems to be the man of the moment in the current series. Leo is young, ambitious and very amusing to watch. He has such a babyface, and you can tell when customers ask for a manager they think someone is having a laugh when he turns up. He does try to help customers though, which is more than can be said for his opposite number at Liverpool, the horrendous Leanne Chung. This girl needs to get a grip or I think a customer will knock her out! Her whiney voice coupled with her lack of customer skills, and downright rudeness must make the management of Easyjet cringe, but she still works there so they must not care too much, and to be honest this behaviour seems to be commonplace amongst the staff in Liverpool, as I am yet to see one who I thought looked like they enjoyed their job or wanted to help their customers, and they seem to make and break rules depending on how they are feeling that day, and they very rarely resolve complaints there and then, but tell the customer to write in which is hardly any help when you are expecting to board a flight that day.

The service offered by Easyjet has been slated by many after the regularity of overbooked planes, delayed flights which are eventually cancelled, poor communication and lack of customer service, and I have to say that it has put me off flying with them, al
though in their defence, I do know people who use them regularly and are happy with the service they get, and I think it all depends on your own expectations. A lot of the problems are created by the passengers themselves, and sometimes I am gobsmacked at their ignorance and stupidity.

I would say that for the first 2 or 3 series this was compulsive viewing for me, but as time has gone on, I have less time to watch TV, and coupled with the glut of reality TV shows that are showing now, I find that I do not look out for this, but if it is on I will watch it, and thoroughly enjoy it.

Summary: