I was rather shocked to read a recent report from Business Insider. It included a ranking of the “world’s best airlines”, and also the “world’s worst”, based on cases where airline passengers filed claims for compensation through AirHelp.

I don’t have any major dispute with the list of the worst, but I certainly do disagree with the so-called best, which includes:

• British Airways, who left me stranded in New Zealand in 2007 (here), and who I consider to be so bad (due to many many incidents) that I vowed never to fly with them again,
• Qatar Airways who, when the passenger sitting one seat away from me died on a flight back from Jakarta, left him lying on the floor in the galley corridor covered by a blanket, did not divert to get the poor man medical assistance when he was first taken ill, and refused to administer him oxygen,
• Air France, notorious for cramped seats and smelly co-passengers.

Some of the airlines on the list of the best are, to my knowledge, good (in these days of ever decreasing airline service) including :

• KLM (although they serve Heineken beer),
• Lufthansa,
• Emirates (although it is a long time since I flew with them).

I was also disappointed to note that Cathay Pacific, who got Sheryl and me home from New Zealand after British Airways washed their hands of us, did not make it onto the list of the best airlines.