When talking about aircraft types, particularly comparing Boeing to Airbus, we often only concentrate, rightfully, on passenger comfort. What is often although overlooked is what an aircraft is like to work on for cabin crew. So let’s talk about which aircraft manufacturer produces the most comfortable planes from a cabin crew’s perspective.
My Background Working On Boeing and Airbus Planes
For those new to the site I worked for 3 years of my life as a cabin crew for Emirates. During those three years I worked aboard what used to be referred at the time as the Emirates main fleet, which included the:
- Boeing 777s
- Airbus A330-200
- Airbus A340-300/500
So for full disclosure I haven’t worked on the Airbus A380. Therefore I’ll be comparing my own personal experience working on these aircraft types.
Are Boeing Or Airbus Planes Better For Cabin Crew?
Working as a cabin crew on wide body planes as these there are two aspects that change the quality of the time spent on duty:
- Working space in the airplane galleys
- Crew rest area comfort
As for the working space in the galleys out of my own personal experience, also serving as a galley operator, Boeing is much more comfortable than Airbus.
Boeing galley designated spaces seem to be designed keeping more in mind the necessities of cabin crew that will be working in them. Airbus galleys tend to be smaller and less comfortable to work in. Particularly on smaller wide body airplanes such as the A330-200 the aft galley used to get particularly crowded and messy when with all hands on deck. Therefore I used to always appreciated and enjoyed much more working on Boeing planes. The work environment was just more enjoyable.
When it comes to the crew rest areas I also used to enjoy Boeing much more than Airbus. Again with the crew rest areas Boeing seems to have the needs of the crew working on the plane more in mind than their European counterpart. Airbus crew compartments tends to be a bit more cramped and uncomfortable. The 777 crew rest area felt less claustrophobic and more relaxing overall.
So overall when it comes to comfort as a cabin crew working aboard these planes I would always go for a Boeing plane over Airbus. However as a passenger my opinion is totally different in many occasions.
