I was flying Turkish Air from Istanbul to Budapest. I have already commented in a previous post that I find it odd that on this flight English and Turkish are used but no one on the Cabin Crew seems to speak Hungarian.
I was seated in the Emergency Exit aisle. Next to me in the middle and window seats were two gentlemen who spoke only Hungarian.
One of the flight attendants came down for a briefing. She says in Turkish followed by English: “You are aware that you are sitting in the Emergency Exit?”
Middle Seat guy beams at her. Window seat guy says: “No”. She tries again: Are you willing and able to assist the crew in an emergency?“.Middle seat guy continues to smile at her. Window seat guy: “No”.
“If we need to evacuate, you will need to operate this door. “. Clearly not understanding a word, window seat guy says loudly: “yes”. Flustered, she wishes us a good flight and moves on.
Acceptable Safety?
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They will serve 10 cocktails t someone seated in the exit row. Is that safe?
Good point Gene although these guys were fully sober!
I had a flight last year from HKG-IST on Turkish. The lack of even English fluency (in Business class) was pretty impressive. I am not surprised by your experience at all. Turkish now flys to 90 countries, I imagine there are quite a few destinations where they don’t have cabin crew that can communicate in the native language of some of those countries they fly in and out of. But, to not even have reasonable English fluency I thought was a problem!
I had 8 Turkish flights within 2 weeks a couple months back…each flight ended with a safe landing and scores of passengers clapping. After the announcements to remain seated were read in English and Turkish, more than half of the passengers got up and opened up the overhead compartments, as we were taxiing. No further announcements or concern from anyone. I don’t think safety is a concern at all to Turkish Airlines.
I commented in Turkish Delight -Great Trip + Best Economy Meal Ever! http://wildabouttravel.boardingarea.com/2012/11/06/turkish-delight-the-best-meal-ever-on-board/ that “The thing that astounded me, however was how many people left their seats on both flights, after the landings. They grabbed luggage, chatted to each other or on cell phones and went to the rest rooms. I have never seen this on any other airline.