Saturday, June 4, 2011

On Flying Royal Air Maroc



Royal Air Maroc is the national airline of Morocco run out of its hub in Casablanca. As an airline it is a microcosm of Morocco, what it values and honors is what Moroccans value and honor, what it regards as unimportant is what Moroccans feel to be unimportant.

The first thing that Royal Air Maroc considers to be unimportant is punctuality. Flights are frequently more then two hours behind schedule. This is not surprising to find in a society where time is considered to be flexible. In the larger scheme of things this de-emphasis on punctuality is only a problem if you have a connecting flight to catch.

Royal Air Maroc also considers general airline safety procedures, common throughout Europe and America, to be unimportant. Stewardesses will never ask you to put on your seatbelt, close your tray table or put your seat in the upright position for take off. In fact, they might not even ask you to be seated for take off. Moreover, luggage in the isles and overhead bins being open throughout the flight are par for the course. While this de-emphasis on safety measures which most other airlines regard as essential is worrying, Royal Air Maroc makes up for it in other ways.

What Royal Air Maroc values more then anything is food. No set of stewardesses anywhere else in the world can bring out more food more quickly. It is an impressive feat. The carts literally fly down the isles, their polite pushers willing to run over anything that tries to come in between them and their client’s full bellies.

The thought that there are airlines in the world that regularly commit the sacrilege of not including meals, or charging separately for them, or taking more then ten minuets to serve the entire plane is intolerable, incomprehensible to Royal Air Maroc.

All and all, Royal Air Maroc would be a much better airline if it were on time. The souk bus mentality of “O just catch the next one” doesn’t work so well when there is one flight a day. On the other hand, all other airlines would be much better if they focused on procedure a little less, and on food a little more.

Still, at the end of the day, if you don’t want to end up sleeping in an airport, chose a different airline.



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