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MAXJET
I learned about MAXjet when they launched their service from JFK to London Stansted (STN) in November, 2005. Shortly after, I took a flight on their competitor, Eos Airlines and found their 48-seat 757 equipped with flat beds simply amazing. When I got the MAXjet invite a couple of months ago, to travel on their inaugural LAX-STN flight, I jumped on it. I then did some research and learned that MAXjet offers a completely different product than Eos. Eos is more of a first-class airline (that's why they charge more), while MAXjet is a low-fare, business class carrier. It was a good thing I found out this bit of info because now I had more realistic expectations.

CHECK-IN
With my new bag in tow, I arrived at LAX’s International Terminal two hours in advance of my flight time. I was shocked when I saw how long the check-in line was, especially after being told it would take just two minutes to check-in and that I didn’t need to be there until 90 minutes prior. Thirty-five minutes later, I reached the counter but no one, not the other passengers, nor myself, were upset. MAXjet’s representatives were very apologetic and informed us from the moment we arrived that this was their first day of operations and that the computer system had crashed. Therefore, everything had to be done by hand including issuing handwritten boarding passes, something I haven’t seen in a long time.

PARTY AT THE GATE
It took all of four minutes to clear security and I was able to bring both my carry-ons through. My backpack was stuffed to the gills so it was way over the size limit but to get by, I didn’t draw any attention to it. Besides, I wasn’t worried since I had MAXjet’s approval to bring them both on the plane ... not that the TSA would have cared, but if worse had come to worst, I planned to just go back and check it. Because of the delay to get my boarding pass, I missed the MAXjet press conference but did make it to the party at the gate, which made passing passengers from other airlines jealous. MAXjet’s CEO Bill Stockbridge made a quick champagne toast, cut the cake for everyone to share and then wished everyone a pleasant flight. As each passenger boarded, we were handed a small MAXjet gift bag stocked with a stuffed dog (similar to one the airline is named after), a mug, a baseball cap, anti-aging cream, chocolate and a pen.

BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE
If there hadn’t been a party at the gate, I would have been passing time (or snacking on the free food and drink) in the International Terminal’s new business class lounge, shared by 34 airlines including MAXjet. It’s on the second floor and is a long walk but it’s quite nice, particularly since it’s just undergone a multi-million dollar renovation.

BON VOYAGE
Because this was an inaugural flight, two trucks from the Los Angeles Fire Department were there to bid us farewell with a water cannon salute as we taxied down the runway. This was the second time I’ve witnessed this special occasion; the first was when I arrived on the inaugural flight of the world’s longest commercial flight from Singapore to Newark. NOTE: Since I was on the plane, obviously I couldn't snap any shots; these photos are courtesy of Brett Snyder from Crankyflier.com.

MAXJET PLANES
MAXjet has four Boeing 767-200 series planes that serve four US cities, all of which are either to or from London’s Stansted airport. New York (6), Washington D.C.(4), Las Vegas (4) and now Los Angeles (4). They don’t offer daily flights so the above numbers in parentheses indicate how many days a week they offer the service. Beginning October 20, there will be daily JFK-STN service and there is also speculation that they might open up a Miami route soon. The planes are not brand spanking new like I was hoping but they have 102 blue leather business class seats and 17 rows configured two by two by two. The usual same sized plane has 38 rows and 245 seats so there was plenty of legroom. However, when everyone has their seats reclined in its full, 160-degree position, it’s difficult to grab your belongings from the floor. Though the seats are not state-of-the-art, they are fairly comfortable and I was able to sleep for a good three of the 10-hour flight. My biggest disappointment was that there were no outlets to plug in your computer or whatever else you need to charge.



SAFETY
My first impression of the plane was that it was old and needed a deep cleaning, kind of like my sister’s car after a week of driving her kids around. There were crumbs in between the seats and the bathrooms needed some help. I looked up the tail number of the plane (N250my) to learn that it was built in 1985. That seems pretty old but I’ve been told that the age of an aircraft doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s properly maintained. When our pilot came out for his rest and to post a hand-drawn map of our flight route (unfortunately, they don’t have those cool GPS air shows), I spoke to him for about 30 minutes. He was an interesting guy who had tens of thousands of flight hours under his belt. I asked about the aircraft’s check-ups and he said they have an amazing maintenance program and that he is never worried, not for a second. Of course, that was coming from a tough, former military pilot so I asked the more down-to-earth flight attendants; they all concurred with him. Big sigh of relief.

MAXJET SERVICE
The MAXjet’s flight attendants were very friendly and hailed from all over the world. Their names tags listed the countries where they were born and I spotted places like Barbados, Philippines, Poland, Guatemala, Ecuador and the US. Naturally, the service was going to be good since the CEO was sitting a few rows away from me, but I found the same solid service on my flight home ... and all the MAXjet frequent fliers I interviewed had the same experience. Maybe that’s why Travel and Leisure Magazine rated MAXjet #2 (between Singapore Airlines and Emirates) in their 2007 reader poll for top international airlines.

ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM
MAXjet uses the digEplayer entertainment system that is loaded with over 100 hours of movies, TV shows, music and games. What’s nice is that they’re all on-demand but I hear the batteries tend to run out quickly. One problem using these instead of screens built into the seats is that they take up eight of the already small overhead compartments. When the flight is full, it’s actually difficult to find space. Also, the movies that were pre-loaded were dated and I ended up watching The Queen, in honor of this trip to England. Note: These digEplayers do NOT play DVDs, so leave yours at home.

MAXJET FOOD
The food on MAXjet was fair. It wasn’t bad but their presentation and service need some help. They started off with an assortment of canapés that I had no palate for: crab rillette and a blue cheese mousse on pumpernickel bread. I guess it’s not their fault that I like white-trash food. The nuts are served cold and meal service took a while for them to begin then complete. I was starving so it only made things seem worse. In most business class cabins, flight attendants don’t use carts to carry the trays for the meal service but on MAXjet they do; that makes it feel more like you’re in coach. The dinner service began with a mesclun green salad with feta cheese. It was good but they should’ve taken the tasty lemon vinaigrette salad dressing out of the small plastic containers and used a proper serving container. Gosh – maybe watching The Queen made me notice all these details. Also, MAXjet needs to find a new caterer because the bread was so hard, I almost played catch with it in the aisle. When the flight attendants dragged the cart through the aisle for a second time, it seemed to be an hour later and my body wasn’t sure if it wanted to sleep or eat. But the pig that I am, I couldn’t turn down any one of the main entrees: Maine lobster tail, lemongrass chicken or Hawaiian short ribs. The flight attendants were slow in picking up the trays and serving dessert; they used that damned cart again, going row by row instead of roaming the aisles looking for empty trays. In my section of the plane, I witnessed four passengers take their own trays to the galley. If they get rid of the carts, they would alleviate most of these problems.

BREAKFAST
Another big complaint is that on MAXjet, breakfast is served way too early. The cabin lights were turned on and woke everyone up a good two hours and 20 minutes before touchdown. What were they thinking? In economy on most major carriers, they usually begin the morning service two hours out. Eos Airlines began their service 40 minutes prior to touchdown, giving passengers the maximum amount of time to sleep. I know this isn’t possible for MAXjet because they service twice the passengers, but they could at least wait until 90 minutes prior to touchdown.

STANSTED AIRPORT
The most important part of any flight is landing; ours was smooth. Stansted airport makes it a bit of a nuisance for passengers because they have to use the plane stairs to both board and deplane. But for those who are not UK or European passport holders, the passport control line is a breeze; as usual I cleared in less than 4 minutes. Baggage came out minutes later. I agree with the pilot who said that Stansted airport is Chicago’s Midway and Heathrow is O’Hare. This airport makes traveling to London a joy, as a train whisks passengers to and from Central London in 45 minutes and trains depart every 15 minutes, so no waiting around.

OVERALL MAXJET EXPERIENCE
Practically everything I complained about on MAXjet can be easily fixed. They could deep clean the plane interiors, get rid of the food carts and move a little quicker, but otherwise, I found their product to be impressive. And all of this is before I even get around to telling you the best part – the cost. I interviewed a dozen passengers and they all agreed that this is a great deal. The person sitting across the aisle from me, paid $1,600 for her roundtrip ticket (introductory fare) which is an unbelievable fare; with other major carriers, business class fares begin around $5,000. Even MAXjet’s published fares are usually lower than major carriers’ "full-fare economy" seats and MAXjet is five times better than that. I just did a search for a flight from LAX to STN in a week’s time on MAXjet and found one-way fares beginning at $1,099! For those same dates, United wanted $4,300 for business class and American Airlines was $3,300. Heck, their regular economy seats were more expensive. This is insane, no?

If I were watching my budget but still wanted the luxury of business class travel to London or, for that matter, to Europe (Stansted Airport is a great springboard; the airport offers routes to practically every major European destination with Europe’s top budget carriers), then I would seriously consider flying MAXjet. Also, MAXjet’s prices now give executives, whose companies forbid them from flying business class, a new hope.

VIDEO
Here's a short Johnny Jet video of my flight on MAXjet. It's also on YouTube, so it only takes a few seconds to load (though the quality is not as crisp). We also have all the Johnny Jet videos ever made on their servers.

NEXT WEEK
Next week we tour London with a very special guest!

Happy Travels,
Johnny Jet

*PLEASE tell us what you think of this week's newsletter!

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All information presented here is accurate at the time of publication but prices, dates and other details are all subject to change. Please confirm all information before making any travel arrangements.

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Note: This trip was sponsored by MAXjet.




Copyright 2007 JohnnyJet, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.