'Un' Royal Jordanian

Thursday 21st February

The check-in at Montreal seemed to have gone without a hitch. For most, it was our first time flying Royal Jordanian, and we were expecting some sort of decent service. Of course, nothing like Emirates. After the security check point is when we learnt that the flight was delayed for approximately ½ hour, which wasn’t too bad since we had enough time for our connection to Damascus from Amman.

Friday 22nd February – Only they can do it!

Shortly after midnight, our flight took off and we settled in for what was quite the unexpected trip. Here’s why (from the start):

1. The RJ website stated flight 270 did not exist for the 21st. That was strange considering our itinerary and tickets had both the date and flight number. Nor did the route (YUL-AMM) appear! The ADM website however stated the flight was scheduled to depart 15 minutes earlier.

2. Our flight was scheduled to land at 515 pm. It may have been the wind direction or the surprising push of the old engines on either side underneath the wings that made it arrive almost an hour earlier. What was scheduled to be an 11 hour flight ended up as a 9 ½ hour journey which actually turned out to be a quite a surprise.

3. There was much left to be desired in the overall service. The cabin crew started off with being quite unpleasant and loud. One of them went so far as to almost yell at a couple of passengers from our group. As the night wore on, they seemed to have adjusted to their passengers and became friendlier, to a degree. The long flight did not have individual screens and so it felt like we were enclosed in some sort of time capsule, the only hint of the modern day era was evident with the cameras, phones, and digital gadgets that provide a hint of security of it being 2008. For an 11 hour flight, RJ would need to ensure that they are up to par with their competitors; or rather, respected peers.

4. The meal was bland, but considering the flight originated from Montreal, Canadian meals for airline flights are pathetic. There is no sense of taste balance, the food is very dry, and most of all, reminded us of the good old days where airline meals had lower standards than cafeterias.

5. Our arrival into Amman was smooth, though Queen Alia airport needs to upgrade their cosmetic approach to reflect not only the next century, but define the noun ‘Queen’ to its befitting status. We now had 4 hours, and were thankful Popeyes was available to satiate our appetite.

6. Our next flight to Damascus was scheduled to depart, according to the itinerary, at 2045 hours on RJ 437, via Aleppo. The flight was revised to an earlier departure of, you guessed it, 15 minutes. The flight number changed to RJ 435. All the monitors stated RJ 435 to Damascus via Aleppo. So that meant another landing and takeoff as fatigue built in all of us. After the modern fleet took off (and yes, there were individual TV screens, a brighter cabin with newer seats on this aircraft), we had a surprise of our lives: they revised the route and decided to land at Damascus first. It was another pleasant, erratic, yet totally unexpected surprise.

I'll post more on our return flight - but hopefully, it was the last on Royal Jordanian ever - the conclusion of RJ? Only they can do it while still smiling! At least I get my BA miles for the journey.

Never again.