I had some superb experiences with Air India - the erstwhile Indian Airlines part of it - during my recent trip to India. Readers of this blog would remember that I have been scathing in criticizing Air India here. But praise must be given where its due. So here goes.
I flew Air India on two extremely short haul domestic sectors last week. Had a brilliant experience on both flights.
Fares were the lowest amongst all airlines flying that sector. Check in took 2 minutes. Both flights were far from full; so had empty seats next to me. The aircraft on this route was one used for international sectors – spotlessly clean, brightly coloured seats with individual TV screens even in economy. Both flights took off 15 minutes before time (now that’s a first. I have never ever experienced flights departing before time). The cabin crew were smartly dressed and very courteous. Even on the very short haul, there were nice snacks. Courteous enquiries as to whether they could get anything else. The smiles were genuine. Smooth flights with not a single bump. The planes landed like a feather. 15 minutes early of course. Disembarking was fluid and quick. Baggage came in 5 minutes.
Not an once off experience, but twice.
Well done Air India. It just shows, you can run a world class airline when you want to. Forget bailouts. Forget sops. If you run flights like this, you’ll beat anybody.
BTW - I'm back into the waiting arms of the Net Nanny. Back to the pain of dodging this invisible monster. Hopefully more regular posts from now on.
I flew Air India on two extremely short haul domestic sectors last week. Had a brilliant experience on both flights.
Fares were the lowest amongst all airlines flying that sector. Check in took 2 minutes. Both flights were far from full; so had empty seats next to me. The aircraft on this route was one used for international sectors – spotlessly clean, brightly coloured seats with individual TV screens even in economy. Both flights took off 15 minutes before time (now that’s a first. I have never ever experienced flights departing before time). The cabin crew were smartly dressed and very courteous. Even on the very short haul, there were nice snacks. Courteous enquiries as to whether they could get anything else. The smiles were genuine. Smooth flights with not a single bump. The planes landed like a feather. 15 minutes early of course. Disembarking was fluid and quick. Baggage came in 5 minutes.
Not an once off experience, but twice.
Well done Air India. It just shows, you can run a world class airline when you want to. Forget bailouts. Forget sops. If you run flights like this, you’ll beat anybody.
BTW - I'm back into the waiting arms of the Net Nanny. Back to the pain of dodging this invisible monster. Hopefully more regular posts from now on.
