NEW YORK — Aeroflot is retraining flight attendants, hiring stylists and updating its menu regularly as it borrows a page from Singapore Airlines in an effort to attract more passengers.
"It goes without saying that Asian companies, including Singapore Airlines, feature top service," Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev said in an interview. "We consider them to be a benchmark for our work."
The airline sent 50 flight attendants to Mil-Com Aerospace Group in Singapore for training last year. Eight of those cabin-crew members now serve as trainers for Aeroflot workers with the goal of instructing the entire staff of more than 2,000 attendants.
Before training Aeroflot attendants, Mil-Com instructors flew as observers on Aeroflot routes, where they found a lack of communication between flight attendants and passengers, said Savelyev, who took the reins from long-serving Aeroflot CEO Valery Okulov in March 2009.
"They were not too attentive," Savelyev said. "We are rectifying this."
Aeroflot retained stylists to advise male and female attendants on grooming and appearance, he said. They offered tips on makeup, skin care and hairstyles, he said.
"This does cost a lot of money," Savelyev said. "But we do believe this investment will pay back."
Aeroflot alternates its menu every four months and has offered items from oat and pumpernickel rolls to braised short ribs and smoked salmon.
The average plane in Aeroflot's fleet is three to four years old, Savelyev said. The company plans to implement cell phone check-ins by the end of the year and has an automated telephone-response system that answers queries in several languages.
"A name is something that you inherit from your parents," Savelyev said. "And we would like to make this name really bright."
Aeroflot was founded in the 1920s and was the world's largest airline during the Soviet era, flying only Soviet-built aircraft. The airline's fleet today consists mostly of Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
The company continues to fight a Western media image of surly flight attendants and ragged aircraft, analysts said.
Foreign customers choosing between Lufthansa and Aeroflot would tend to choose Lufthansa, said Yelena Sakhnova, an analyst with VTB Capital. She considers the negative perception unfair.
"Aeroflot itself has very good quality of service," said Sakhnova, who has a "buy" rating on the stock. "As a frequent-flier traveler, I can say that business class of Aeroflot to Europe is definitely the best in Europe."
Service has improved substantially since the collapse of the Soviet Union almost 20 years ago, when cabin crews spoke few languages other than Russian, offered mediocre food and rarely smiled at passengers, said Alex Kazbegi, an analyst with Renaissance Capital.
Kazbegi said he now prefers Aeroflot's business class to British Airways and Lufthansa.
"Business-class service and the seats in Aeroflot are much better, especially on the European routes," he said.