Airliners-India.com

ameya

I am treating DEL-PNQ trips as same as DEL-BOM, since they are of same duration and same area.
Total trips – 10
Not counting my 2 trips for holiday to Goa.
Airlines Flown – 6E – 3, 9W/AI/KF – 2 each, AI – 1
Web check-in on all flights to there is comparable experience
I have rated the experience on the below. I might have missed something, or I might have added something, so please feel free to correct me.
1. On time flight
2. Web checking
3. Website friendly ness
4. Flight information
5. Check-in at airport
6. Ground staff/ boarding process
7. Cleanliness of the aircraft
8. Inflight service
9. Food – consumed on all flights
10. Pilot announcements
11. Comfort and lighting
12. Deplaning
13. Baggage Claim
I had prepared this after my first flight, since I knew that I would be making a lot of trips this month. What was important is that I don’t overlook the initial flights only to remember the last few ones.
As for flight information, few things were amiss – Go Air doesn’t know flights for the previous day. i.e. if flight departs at 22:30 from BOM-DEL, you cant check its arrival status post 00:01 hrs, that’s plain stupid !
Few questions that remain to be answered

1. What / which is the mystery blue plane at T2 ?
Just Solved !
2. Why did SG use rwy 28 and in a minute 6E use rwy 10 at PNQ, assuming the wind did not change in less than a minute
3. Are all airlines charging 100INR extra for web booking ? in that case how do they intend to attract pax from traditional formats and save on commissions?
4. Why are even peak time flights on S2/9W-K for Jet airways. Which essentially means pax are left with no choice but to take buy on board flights.

ameya · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:09 am Post subject:

Airline G8 IT IT G8 9W 6E 6E 9W 6E AI
Sector BOM-DEL DEL-BOM BOM-DEL DEL-BOM BOM-DEL DEL-BOM BOM-DEL DEL-PNQ PNQ-DEL DEL-BOM
On Time 5 5 5 3 5 5 5 5 5 5
Web check in 3 5 5 3 4 5 5 4 5 5
Website friendlyness 3 4 4 3 4 5 5 4 5 4
Flight Information on web 3 2 2 3 3 5 5 3 5 5
Checkin 3 4 4 3 3 3 2 3 5 4
Ground staff / boarding 3 4 4 3 2 4 3 4 4 5
cleanliness of plane 4 3 4 4 2 4 4 3 5 5
Inflight service 3 4 4 3 3 4 3 2 4 4
Food 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 4 3 5
Pilot anouncements 3 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 2
Comfort & lighting 4 3 3 4 3 4 4 3 4 4
Deplaning 3 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 3 4
Baggage claim 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
average 3.46 3.69 3.85 3.31 3.23 4.08 3.85 3.62 4.31 4.31

ameya · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:14 am Post subject:

The format above has messed up a little, so let me take you thru the rankings
I have averaged it out to not have any undue advantage to anybody

Overall -
AI - 4.31
6E - 4.08
IT - 3.77
9W - 3.44
G8 - 3.32

All were on time except for 1 G8 flight where they royally messed up, so they get a thumbs down.

Web check in - IT and 6E were the best
G8 was the worst

Flight info on the web
Best - 6E
Worst - IT ( You just have to know the flight number else they wont tell you)

Checkin - Best and worst experience has come on 6E, so its differing as per airport.

Ground staff - Best IT, worst - 9W

Cleanliness of Plane
Best - 6E & AI
Worst - IT

Inflight food - Best - AI, Worst - 6E

Pilot announcements - Best 6E, Worst AI ( no announcements )

Baggage claim - everybody was same

Hope my experience helps in everybodys future travel bookings

Nimish · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:32 am Post subject:

Reformatting Ameya's post with the individual columns:

Nimish · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:35 am Post subject:

aeroblogger · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:40 am Post subject:

I've been saying it for ages - AI has the best product domestically.

Glad to see that it's not just my AI colored glasses which make me feel this way...
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Editor of AeroBlogger

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Ameya - thanks a lot for all this in-depth analysis! Since you are in the know about many actual details, this has much more credibilty as compared to some of us armchair enthusiasts. It is nice to see AI's score on top - something at least I have experienced consistently, over the years. Many of AI's troubles will possibly remain for years to come - a Government-controlled airline, a continuous drain on the taxpayer's money and the like, but the route planning (and the hub structure at DEL T3), and the passenger experience - seem to be quite spot-on, and that is something that is really encouraging, in an ocean of troubled times.
Cheers, Sumantra.

ameya · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:47 pm Post subject:

I am mighty impressed by the new Air India, and already thinking of writing a small note to Rohit Nandan saying you are doing a great job as an airline, but there needs to be some marketing efforts

Why cant AI go to the market and say they have the best leg space
maximum frequencies
great and healthy food

Go in for barter deals, so that cash outflow is not there. A lot can be done to get it back to its past glory.

I hope the people are mature enough to not fly as per how the airhostess looks but look at service and on time departures.

ameya · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:50 pm Post subject:

aeroblogger · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:35 pm Post subject:

ameya · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 2:08 pm Post subject: