oneworld member and American Airlines joint venture partner Finnair, the flag carrier of Finland, cancelled dozens of flights after cleaning their fleet of Airbus A320s. They washed the seat covers with water, triggering safety concerns.
The seat manufacturer alerted Finnair that water-based cleaning of the removable seat covers had not been properly vetted for fire resistance. Scrubbing the seats sparkling clean may have unknowingly weakened their flame-retardant properties.
Finnair responded by temporarily suspending operation of eight Airbus A321 aircraft to conduct additional inspections – and also admitted that this cleaning method had been used for some time before the manufacturer’s warning.
The aircraft in question are registrations:
- OH-LZM
- OH-LZN
- OH-LZO
- OH-LZP
- OH-LZR
- OH-LZS
- OH-LZT
- OH-LZU
This seat cover snafu forced Finnair to cancel roughly 40 flights between Monday evening and Tuesday. The affected aircraft are workhorses for Finnair’s European and domestic routes, with about 20 flights per day were cut from the schedule impacting about 5,000 passengers headed to major European capitals like Rome, Paris, and Brussels.
This comes after the airline has had to deal with labor disruptions over spring and early summer, with repeated ground staff walkouts cancelling thousands of flights, and having seen its ability to operate as a convenient connection point between Europe and Asia hobbled by Russian airspace closure.
When this fleet of jets returns to service, though, passengers can at least be assured that their next Finnair flight will have meticulously clean seats – with the flameproofing fully intact.
(HT: FlightRadar24)
Have to say Finn is so much better then BA
No, Tomri, Finnair is not better than British Airways, sadly. If anything goes wrong, you’re gonna be left stranded in HEL (and there are not enough Moomin to make it better). With BA, you’re likely to be stuck at Heathrow, which has far more options and alternatives, if needed. So, not all oneworld members are equal. Finnair acts extremely cheap, and is under real financial strain due to having to take longer routes to Asia since February 2022 (added fuel, labor costs.) Also, their flight attendants are too strict (if literally anything is out at your seat, if you have your earbuds in, while taxiing, and basically until 10,000 feet, they will badger you, ‘for safety.’ I get it. I like ‘safety.’ But, they take it too far; it’s actually unreasonable.) Also, also, their ‘fixed’ seats on some of the a330 and a359, are not a good ‘lie-fat’ (very uncomfortable, actually.) I’ll admit, I got suckered into a ‘good deal’ on Business Class tickets with AY, but, in the end, I paid the price. Too good to be true. Please learn from my mistake. Don’t trust Finnair. Ever.
Safety first. When you want to smoke or vape during your next flight, for fire safety, choose an unwashed vomit-covered seat available on most United Airlines flights.
Finnair is all washed up
@1990
Why do you feel the need to always try and correct or comment on other people’s comments.
You are no one special. But you try and dominate. Generally I ignore everything you say. But,
Tomri had a comment and you feel the need to be the bully on the block and correct their comment.
As if you are smarter than everyone else. You’re not. You are single handedly destroying the comment board. If you have a comment, just state YOUR opinion and move on.
(I know you won’t be able to resist and chime in again)
Just like, some people read and strictly adhere to care labels on clothing, saying DRY CLEAN ONLY, and some people have the illiterate maid toss all their clothes into the home washing machine with the selector dial set at SANITIZE.
Another aircraft snafu. Like watercraft. System Normal AFU.
@Alan — I happen to think you’re quite ‘special.’ All are welcome here. Ignore or engage. You do you.
@1990, you do you too. Don’t change, i enjoy your points of view and perspective.
You actually are ‘special’ on this travel blog.
@1990, you do you too.
Don’t change!
I enjoy your point of view and comments.
And yes, i think your special on this blog.
@Norita — Likewise. We’re all ‘special’ here, aren’t we? Bah!
@Norita:
From Malta I can see 1990 blushing.
@1990:
Personnaly, I’ve only flown them once. We booked Rhine River Xmas trip with a Finnish travel company. It included our tickets from HEL-FRA. Smooth flight with OK snacks in steer age.
But they take safety seriously. Finnish wife booked us exit row. Smart lady. FA stopped at my row and asked me to explain emergency row procedure thinking I couldn’t understand what she said. I didn’t, but caught what she was doing, and rattled it off. She gave me dirty look and walked away.
At one point my wife had job in Stockholm, and weekly flew for same day trip to Helsinki. She always flew the one hour flight on SAS because served a full breakfast on one hour flight. Finnair served tepid tea.
So, I will take your word.
@1990:
Personally, I’ve only flown them once. We booked Rhine River Xmas trip with a Finnish travel company. It included our tickets from HEL-FRA. Smooth flight with OK snacks in steer age.
But they take safety seriously. Finnish wife booked us exit row. Smart lady. FA stopped at my row and asked me to explain emergency row procedure thinking I couldn’t understand what she said. I didn’t, but caught what she was doing, and rattled it off. She gave me dirty look and walked away.
At one point my wife had job in Stockholm, and weekly flew for same day trip to Helsinki. She always flew the one hour flight on SAS because served a full breakfast on one hour flight. Finnair served tepid tea.
So, I will take your word.