The latest crash seems to convince me to never ever board one of their planes.
A family friend of ours who works for the UN says there is a specific directive prohibiting UN personnel from flying on Aeroflot for any reason whatsoever, apparently…
Not to make light of accidents, but it was their first crash in 14 years. Not that bad.
I have, several times, and I have never noticed any faults, incidents or oddities that have made me feel particularly insecure. All of my flights have been international, so that might make a difference. Perhaps they keep their dodgy old held-together-with-string planes for internal transportation for all I know.
I used to live in Novosibirsk and my job required me to travel around Siberia. I have flown them many, many times. I’ve never noticed a big difference between them and US carriers, the international flights are a notch above the domestic, but I think that’s true in the states. I have also flown some small regional carriers in Siberia that were very, very scary.
I did once, from London to Moscow and back, but it was 20 years ago and the only thing I can remember about it is that we got caviar as part of the inflight meal.
Does anyone have a link to a tally of fatalities per passenger mile sorted by air carrier?
Aeroflot had serious problems after the Soviet Union collapsed, as did most of the institutions of the former USSR, and its reputation as an unsafe carrier comes from that period.
As Tapioca Dextrin noted, Aeroflot’s last major crash was over a decade ago - and that was not due to unsafe equipment, but due to an idiot of a captain deciding to let his teenage children pretend to fly the plane :smack: Like most of Russia, Aeroflot is recovering and modernizing, and I would not fear for my safety if I flew with them. As it happens, I never have.
My husband and father-in-law flew with them on separate occasions back in the Soviet days. Both have some stories, but they don’t have to do with safety, they have to do with things like grouchy flight attendants and long layovers in weird places.
Fly Afghan Air. 
But was the paper bag really on your knee all the way? That’s what I want to know.
Is this what you’re looking for?
I flew Aeroflot back when Russia was still the USSR. My main memory was the flight attendent shouting at some poor Russian guy because he couldn’t get his bag under the seat. He was in tears, probably thinking he would be kicked off the plane and thrown into prison.
I flew Aeroflot numerous times in the summer of 1990. There are a few things that stand out–
-
The low ceilings in the main cabin. I’m 5’ 10" and I had to duck down to walk to my seat (this was an Ilyushin IL-62).
-
Same plane, same flight–getting hit by water coming through the poorly sealed emergency door as we landed in Moscow.
-
Flying the Ilyushin IL-86. Without a doubt it was the smoothest flight I have ever had. Either the plane was superbly built or the pilot really knew what he was doing.
-
The meal of ham-free fat and stale bread.
-
If your plane was scheduled to take off at 7:00 AM you could set your watch to it. I’m not talking about getting pushed away from the gate at 7:00–I’m talking about the wheels leaving the ground at 7:00.
I understand that things have changed since the Soviet days and that Aeroflot is a pretty decent airline. They hired a British firm a few years ago to redo their image and it seems to have worked. The new livery looks nice, but I still miss the old white and blue scheme.
Only on BOAC.
(“Flew in from Miami Beach BOAC
didn’t get to sleep last night…”)
I’ve done that, too.
Excellent. Thanks.
Aeroflot’s motto: At Least We’re Better Than Air Afrique
I flew Aeroflot once, in the spring of 2001. It was a domestic flight on, I think, a Tupolev something or other. The inside of the jet was not as nice as what you’d find on a North American airline, and the person in front of me reclined his seat rather forcefully into my knees, but other than that it was fine.
I flew Aeroflot twice. The thing that struck me about the planes were the open racks for overhead storage - kind of like a Greyhound bus.
Just after the first plane left the ground, something happened to me and I got struck with an acute case of horizontal vertigo. I was white knuckled on the armrests and wondering why nobody on the plane was screaming as we started doing barrel rolls. Then the pressure equalized and the spinning stopped, much to my relief.
I think I probably still have the safety card from that plane.
Frequently over the last 13 years or so.
First time back in the early 90s was a little scary - seats flapping back and forward on take-off and general wobbliness of the aircraft.
In the last 7 years or so - I would choose them over British Airways anytime. Aeroflot has not, so far, lost my luggage, unlike BA, which has lost it four times in the last year and half.