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Theairplaneguy4ever

Hi everyone.

This time I'd like to just showcase a short hop on Alliance Air or Air India Regional as it's called now, between Kochi and Bengaluru.

Here's the video TR as usual :

http://youtu.be/eWGwqnR0Kpk

Booking

To be covered later in the next few TRs. But, this flight was the only evening flight to Bengaluru and would arrive at BLR just in time to make a connection, which will be revealed later as well. I was really excited when I learnt that this was an AI-R flight. I'd always thought it'd be a fun experience to fly on their ATR 42s, even though they are quite old!

D-day

So, the usual commute to the airport began at around 4:30pm. The trip took around an hour due to a lot of traffic at the time. The final stretch of the trip is among paddy fields. As the airport looms ahead, I guess the design of it sort of compliments the greenery of the paddies. But, the airport does look old and worn as compared to the modern glass terminals popping up all over India at the moment.

I make my way into the terminal after the initial passport/ticket check. Three counters have been opened today for Air India. Three for a 40-seater plane? Seems a bit excessive. Especially considering the fact that SpiceJet have opened the same number of counters for two flights, a 737 to BOM and a Q to MAA.

I head up and hand over my ticket and ask if I have a window seat allotted to me. You see, my travel agent had booked seat 9D for me, just behind the wing. Of course, some will say the best seats are the ones next to the props, but everybody has their own preferences. Coming back, she replies that she'll check and punches in something while I wait patiently. A few minutes later, I'm handed my boarding pass without even a confirmation if that was the seat I wanted. Thankfully, I see 9D printed on it and mutter a quick thank you before heading to security.

Security is quick, and I make my way into the departure hall, which is around half full at this time. I take my camera out to record a bit and what do you know, all the CISF agents in the immediate vicinity stare at me. I see some pointing at me and chatting amongst themselves. I fear a confrontation is about to happen, but thankfully no such thing.

You may know that last time I was at the domestic terminal, I was stopped abruptly, while shooting the apron. Reason? Photography of the apron is prohibited. I understand photography on the apron is illegal, but photography of the apron from the terminal? It's no use trying to bring logic into an argument with the CISF. So, the only option is to... be nice.

I head over to the front of the terminal, near the glass windows and ask a CISF agent, very politely, if I may click a few pictures. She smiles meekly and replies in Malayalam that they've been given instructions from the "control tower" not to allow people to do it and apologizes so sincerely, that I nearly convince myself that I am wrong here. Normally, you would just get a stern no and sometimes a 'get out of my face' type comment as well. So, at least this is an improvement!

Well, there are good days and bad days, but I certainly didn't want this to ruin my flight. So, I just stand there gazing at the tarmac where the new controversial "Jetihad" Kochi-Abu Dhabi-Kuwait flight is pushing back. The 737 looks gorgeous in the evening monsoon sky.

A bit longer and boarding is announced five min late. Our plane has been tugged in to a parking bay now. VT-ABB looks worn out and the old alliance air colors on her are tattered as well. The distance between the plane and the terminal is easily walk able, but we end up climbing on board a bus. Since, there are only 30 or so people on this flight, just one bus is used and we stop next to the old ATR 42.

The sun set in the background is mesmerizing. With orange hues painting the sky and mixing together with the dull grayness of the monsoon clouds moving towards the horizon. These moments are what makes aviation worth it for me. There's nothing like boarding a small noisy turboprop with some magnificent scenery in the background.

I queue up and hand over my boarding pass to the CISF agent for his checks. But, there is something peculiar about him. He is smiling. When he hands me back my boarding pass and I smile and say thank you, his reply is one I'd never have expected in a thousand years.

"Have a good flight!."

Wow. I was amazed. I stumbled as I quickly turned back and thanked him again. I've always seen the CISF agents as my arch enemies. I'd say that most people who've been through Indian airports would share my opinion as well. But, now I realize there are good people among the CISF. Good people, who enjoy their jobs and make a difference to others. And I've been fortunate enough to meet two on the same day!

The ATR's steps creak as I make my way up. Both the crew are standing at the doorway, but I hardly receive any greeting. They seem occupied in trying to get people with huge luggage to check them in. The cabin seems to be reminiscent of the 80s and 90s. The orange and red color scheme of the seats has a strange warmth to it. I know many of you hate it. But, I think it's much better than the usual dull gray or black.

The seat is fairly comfortable, and the view out of the window of seat 9D is as I expected, just behind the wing. The safety cards and such look worn out along with the newspaper in the seat pocket. I notice that most of the reading lights on this plane are not functioning, but thankfully mine is.

An interesting incident occurs as the cabin is being prepped for departure. As one of the crew makes her way to the front, a man seated 4 rows ahead of my whines loudly in Hindi that the plane's temperature is too hot for him. I'd noticed this as well, but didn't really mind as the terminal had been too cold for my liking. Now, as he says this, a lot of heads turn and the air hostess turns around as well. The icy silence makes the warm cabin freeze almost. I can tell that he said this intentionally, just to tick off the attendant.

The attendant puts on a big smile and says that she'll fix it as soon as the plane's in the air and apologizes as well and even goes on to give a reason why it is hot, which is inaudible for me. The man, who was clearly not expecting such a response, says a surprised thank you. Gosh, I wish I could have seen his face. I think that this incident was rather professionally handled and kudos to the crew for that. Unfortunately, that smile, from the crew, happened to be the only one I witnessed during the whole flight.

A manual safety demo was conducted followed by a welcome announcement, which you can listen to in the video. Then we pushed back, 15 min early facing west, which left me curious. BLR flights usually take off west and pushing back west facing meant we'd be taking off east ward which would mean I wouldn't be able to see the sunset or the terminal on the roll. I was then, surprised when we turned left on to the parallel taxiway, which meant we'd actually be taking off west ward as I originally thought, instead of taking off east ward on runway 09.

Now that I've thoroughly confused you, lets continue. We turned at the second last taxiway instead of going the full distance of the runway and our takeoff roll commenced. We took off pretty late, passing one of the touchdown zones for runway 09. Silly me thought we might run out of runway. The pilots of course know what they're doing. A right turn got us in the right direction and off we were headed.

After the seatbelt sign was switched off, I spent the next 15 minutes flipping through "Shubh Yatra", AI's In flight magazine. Though not nearly as colorful or vivid as Jet's magazine or so many others. It still is a pretty interesting read, at least for the month of may. A great feature is that it is written in Hindi too, perfect for India's national carrier or national carrier's regional subsidiary.

The crew came around with water bottles and as they distributed them, my heart sank. I was hoping to sample some of AI's legendary catering and had read about the cost cutting measures coming into effect soon, which meant meals would be downsized. My thoughts were dismal as I expected the same on this flight. But, thankfully there was going to be a snack service. Note that mainline AI used to fly on this same route and they served biscuits and a mango drink which pales in comparison to what was served on this flight. So, I have to say, though I kind of expected it, it is huge for an airline to give out a meal on this short sector.

The crew distributed these semi-meal trays again with no smiles as before. Perhaps it is the attitude of the passengers, as I notice, I am the only one in the whole plane who says thank you after I got my snack tray.

The snack consists of a vegetable puff pastry and a slice of chocolate cake, with some nuts in it. I notice that people in the row ahead of me have left their meals untouched and some have taken a bite and disposed the rest. I didn't believe it to be that bad and so gave it a try.

The cake was sweet and the nuts offered a bit of crunch with every bit. It was not overly chocolaty and was pretty good overall. Can't say the same about the pastry unfortunately. It was bland. Very bland. Similar to eating cardboard. It's filling was not the least bit seasoned and the pastry shell was completely bland as well. I know it's a one hour and flight and all, but go to any bakery and you can get epic vegetable puff pastries for around 6-8 INR. Unbeatable.

After the meal service, I spent my time reading the rest of the magazine. The sun had completely set by now and the exterior was void of any light. As we progressed through the darkness the seatbelt sign came on as our descent started.

Bengaluru slowly came into view and we made a few turns before landing on the runway. We taxied to our parking bay and engines were shut down and we deplaned. Again there was no, "Thank you for flying with us" and all by the crew. I mean , Jet do it! Why can't AI?

We passed an EK A332 during the ride on the bus to the terminal. The terminal looks pretty impressive I must say. Though I've been here before, the new expansion has left the airport completely different from my last trip.

I then exit the terminal and make my way to subway to catch a bite to eat before my 'connection' of which, is for another trip report.

Verdict

Well, AI-R has pretty much met my expectations for this flight. The seat was pretty good, the food was okay, the IFE was satisfactory. But, the crew.. Is it really that hard to smile nowadays? I know you might say that a smile is no big deal and all. But, if other airlines can do it, then I see no reason why AI cannot.

Seat 8
IFE 6
Meal 8
Crew 6.5

Overall experience rating : 7.1/10

So that's that. To the question if I'll fly AI-R again, I most certainly will. Hell, the CRJ 7's and the ATR's are a reason alone to fly them, but overall they're a pretty good airline and apart from a few kinks here and there, they're definitely one of the best regional carriers out there. I recommend.

Thank you for reading this TR.

Feedback and comments appreciated.
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India's first HD Video Trip Report Channel : www.youtube.com/Theairplaneguy4ever

jbalonso777 · Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:13 pm Post subject:

I didn't see the video yet, because it is anyways rude to not take part in conversations with the guests, while I read this. Rolling Eyes

Great written segment of the TR as usual.
Nice to see the CISF be cheerful for a change! Its quite rare to see people in these types of jobs take pride in doing so.

I loved the description of the skies! Brilliant stuff! Many aviation enthusiasts (most of us, actually) do not even look up to the the skies. Unless its raining, of course.

Lots of comparison with 9W, like I did in my CX TR. Also, that 'in partnership with 9W' thingie cracked me up!

Thanks for the picture of the cabin, I almost forgot what the CD ATR42 interior looked like, when I flew on them 5-6 years ago.

I too prefer sitting behind the wings, always. I'm not really a person who sees sitting in front as a time saver for connections. I always make sure there is ample of time before the connection, so I can enjoy the first flight.

Food well, cost cutting has hit everyone hard. That puff didn't sound too appetising. I remember getting a proper tray, 5-6 years ago.

As for Jet's crew attitude, no matter what criticisms they get, no matter how grumpy they are, they still make it a point to greet the passengers as they get off. They did so after my horrific 9W253 with them, July last year.

Looking forward to the mysterious flight which followed this!

Regards
Jish
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http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

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

Thanks for yet another lovely bi-media trip report, Adi! You are a great music composer, too. I have taken a few trips on ABB, the `Swedish Power' plane: VT-ABB, and some on BO, the `smelly plane': VT-ABO, and one more, which I did not note down - all in the old Alliance Air livery. My experiences were similar with respect to the condition of the plane, and the food - unlike Jishnu, since I have been on the AI-R ATR-42s since as recently as Jan 2010. In fact, if AI can maintain its old A320s so well, I find it surprising that CD/AI-R cannot keep the fabric fresh, and plastic surfaces a bit cleaner. Of course, they are hand-me-down old leased planes - with highly scratched windows, and rickety seats (though being Air India, the leg room is quite decent). the food - is quite standard (I doubt if they still have ovens on board) even on a 2 hour flight - the longest on an ATR-42 in India, I guess - DEL-JLR, but not too bad, even for a glutton like me. I have experienced some nice cockpit and cabin crew on the DEL legs, which compensated for planes with indifferently maintained interiors. The video brought back the lovely drone of the ATR-42 engines - I generally like seats right next to the engines, to see the props and hear the constant drone, but then, I am weird. I look forward to AI-R taking in new ATR-42s and ATR-72s, and serving destinations better, since there is very high demand on a few sectors, where AI-R will do well with the ATRs.
I have never been to Nedumbassery, but I seem to really like the construction style, and the spic-and-span interiors, and comfortable sofa seats, as opposed to some old blue cushioned AAI chairs, or new benches in the glass-and-steel structure. It is nice that you had two friendly CISF personnel this time! I find Shubh Yatra to be quite disappointing, as compared to the earlier Swagat, Namaskaar, and Darpan, which I always found to be a notch above the Jet Magazine, or Kingfisher's bling-bling offerings. No thanks for flying Air India? The crew missed something important here, and should be marked negatively for this, along with the general lack of smiles. Thanks for sharing this lovely piece of art with us!
We look forward to the other parts of the journey!
Cheers, Sumantra.

Nimish · Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:06 am Post subject:

Amazing video - just finished watching the whole thing. I'm always amazed at the ease at which you create these polished and highly detailed videos - right from the pictures to the music to the captions etc. Only thing I'd like to see change is to have the scrolling cations scroll slower, or have them appear and disappear a sentence at a time - the scrolling was fast enough that I was having difficulty reading the sentence while watching the video at the same time.

Look forward to your next hop - I'm guessing it's SQ503 heading out to SIN - in which case I really look forward to an SQ Video TR...
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We miss you Nalini!

Theairplaneguy4ever · Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 10:12 am Post subject:

Thanks a lot guys, I'm glad you guys enjoyed this one!

ameya · Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:17 am Post subject:

Thanks for the TR. Nice ones.

I like the IFE rating you have given to the flight Smile

Theairplaneguy4ever · Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:56 pm Post subject:

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Thank you for posting the trip report I am a great fan of your video reports. I have never flown a ATR so hoping one day I can fly as well. The closest to a trubo prop that I have done is a Beechcraft Airplane on a mountain ride in Kathmandu.

Sri_Bom

Theairplaneguy4ever · Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 2:37 pm Post subject:

stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: BLR, DXB

Thanks for the TR + video TR ... nice touch.
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