The Nastiest Aircraft We’ve Ever Flown On

Over the years, we’ve been on plenty of planes. I can say that in my memory, I can’t remember being on a worse-looking plane. Even the Eastern Airlines plane we flew to Cuba was way better than this one.

I was actually looking forward to flying on a Lao Airlines A320 after having such a great experience on their ATR 72-600.  Due to some flight schedule changes, the only way our tour group could get to Siem Reap from Luang Prabang was a three-flight journey, LPQ-VTE-HAN-REP.  Our first leg was on a Lao Airlines ATR to Vientiane. Then we were to take one of Lao Airlines’ four A320s to Hanoi.

The airport in Laos capital was much nicer than the one at Luang Prabang, complete with a knockoff Starbucks coffee shop.

According to Airfleets.net, our A321 was 12 years old.

We boarded through the forward door and walked through the empty first-class cabin of 8 seats, 2 rows of 2-2 seating. The seats looked nice, except for the green pleather upholstery.

However, we weren’t sitting in first class, so we headed toward the back of the plane, to our seats in row 17. Once again, Sharon and I were forced to sit on different sides of the plane.

I put my bag in the overhead and my backpack under the seat. Legroom was decent.

The next thing I noticed was an IFE screen, which was unexpected.

Unfortunately, it never turned on for our flight.

There was a coat pull next to the IFE screen, but I don’t know what that is or what it’s for. I can’t imagine hanging a coat where it would be 1/2 way into the next seat’s legroom.

There was also an unexplained hook on the other side of the screen.

I was excited to see a USB plug to charge my phone.

I found out that this was only the top of a USB connector, as it had fallen into the seat. Even after I pulled it up and plugged in my phone, nothing happened. Other people in our group confirmed that the USB plug did nothing.

OK, I understand if you’re saying I’m a grump because a Southeast Asian carrier didn’t have a working IFE or USB for a 1+ hour flight. But wait, it gets better.

Apparently, the seat pocket is where you doodle while bored on the flight.

Sharon’s seat was a bit better than mine because they only used the seat to test a pen.

Instead, they used the back of the seat to draw on.

I tried to forget about how bad the inside of the plane looked and spent my time looking out the window. At least that was a nice view.

As it turned out, Sharon’s seat was way worse than mine. She made the mistake of looking into the seat pocket, which was partially detached.

And had a cracked armrest.

And a broken coat pull, whatever that’s for.

This stain was on the back of the armrest from the row in front of me (and the person next to me wearing sandals, who needed a pedicure).

They offered a meal service. I had my sandwich from the airport so I passed. Sharon accepted the “Luangprabang Burger” catered from the Crowne Plaza.

I wasn’t willing to try the meal or a drink in a paper cup and stuck to my bottled water.

I never thought I’d be happy to see Hanoi Airport again but all I wanted was to get off this plane.

I appreciate since the airline only has four planes, it would be a huge disruption to remove 1/4 of the fleet to repair the interior, even if it’s badly in need of a refresh.

However, that doesn’t make it any better for a passenger who has to fly on a plane with broken armrests, filthy seats and who knows what in the seat pockets.

Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.

Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.

Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.

Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary