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AI strike(,) PAT in the back: Patna, Jan'12

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

PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:54 pm    Post subject: AI strike(,) PAT in the back: Patna, Jan'12 Reply with quote

AI strike(,) PAT in the back: Patna, Jan'12
-------------------------------------------
No, Air India did not give me (or strike) a pat in the back.
The somewhat runny pun in the title refers to a trip to an exotic
locale, Patna (whose airport code is `PAT'),
on the day of the Air India strike.
14 January (Saturday), 2012.

This may sound somewhat like two puns, which I had heard about
from my friends. Both have a political flavour to them, but yes,
I do not mean any disrespect to any person, or any language.
The first is one which I heard from a Kannadiga friend.
`Why is Deve Gowda called the Nelson Mandela of India?'
The reason was, as he transliterated the name, was `Nalla son', a
good son/son-of-the-soil, with `manda' (head, literally) `illa'
(a negation).
The other was something I heard from a Bong acquaintance, a
headline of the Ananda Bazar Patrika, a newspaper, which had
carried the news of the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi's
trip from the erstwhile capital of West Germany (Bonn), to the
International Court of Justice at the Hague, Netherlands.
`Indira Bonn theke Hague-e aashlen'
While this ostensibly means that Indira reached Hague from Bonn,
this also is phonetically homologous to another meaning, (when the
sentence is read out, aloud),
`Indira is back (`aashlen') after
cr*pping (`hege') in the woods (`bonn'/`van')

This trip report can be found at the following URL:
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12781.html

Back to Patna: the destination,
and the day of the Air India strike.
Does this sound mysterious, or even exciting?
No, it wasn't quite like that for me, at least.
My scheduled itinerary for the trip was as follows:

Set out 14 Jan (Sat) for Patna from New Delhi
AI 409: Air India (A320) [Seat: 10F; PNR: J7R2P]
IGIA T3, New Delhi - Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Airport, Patna
New Delhi (DEL) - Patna (PAT)
[10:20 am - 11:45 am]

Set out 15 Jan (Sun) for New Delhi from Patna
AI 416: Air India (A320) [Seat: 10F; PNR: JQJGF]
Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Airport, Patna - IGIA T3, New Delhi
Patna (PAT) - New Delhi (DEL)
[04:45 pm - 06:30 pm]

On the 13th (the day when the harvest festival Lohri is
celebrated in part of North India), one got the news that there
may be an impending strike on Air India the next day. I kept my
fingers crossed. The newspapers on the 14th had this as a news
item. I called up the Air India call centre before departing for
the airport. Yes, all was on schedule - as of then. On arriving
at the airport, there were long lines at the Air India counters.
And frayed tempers.
I had done a web check-in for the flight.
The lady at the counter told me that there may be a possible
aircraft change, and I should go to the Admin counter.
There was a long line there.
The frayed tempers were even greater.
To cut a long story short, yes, the pilots' strike was on.
AI 409 had been cancelled.
We were to have our tickets endorsed on a Kingfisher flight.
After about 15 minutes of waiting, an Air India official guided
us to the Kingfisher Admin desk, where there was a very long line.
The frayed tempers seems to show a monotonic increase to every line
I stood in. Or rather, what remained of the line. There was
complete chaos all around, and I admired the calmness with which
the Air India officials dealt with the situation. That is, as
compared to the Kingfisher staff, some of whom were shouting at
irate passengers, adding fuel to the (f)ire. Tickets had been taken
in, lists created, but the boarding passes were not handed over -
in time. I was lucky to be off with a boarding pass (somewhat
surprisingly), and made good my exit to the security check, and
the relative comfort and solitude of the waiting area at Gate 41
(which was relatively empty - most passengers had still not got
their boarding passes by the scheduled boarding time, 12:50 pm).
The reason turned out to be a no-brainer, as the scheduled
boarding time came, and went.
The flight was delayed!
The new scheduled departure time was 03:00 pm, according to the
time tables. There was no announcement of this, however.

Before this, I had taken my usual round of the terminal.
First on my agenda was, like the Noble Duke of York, going up the
mountain, and coming down again, making a mountain out of
a...escalator. Here is the view on the international side. There
were three B777s: two of Air India, one of Singapore Airlines,
and one of Air India's two A332s.



The domestic side however, presented a sad sight. There were many
planes, without passengers.



And one more picture, this time from the other side.
All work, and no PAY, makes Jack...have all trades,
and become, a master of pun(s).



A Fedex B777F taxied along, to take off on the new runway 29.



A lone Air India plane was pushed back. Oddly enough,
Tagore's line went around in my head, `ekla chalo re'



Around the place I was seated, I had a dekko at the other side. A
Jet airways bird was being prepared for departure.



...as was a lighter version, of the same. JetLite.



My updated itinerary was as follows:

IT 3341: Kingfisher (Red) Airlines (A320) [Seat 29D; PNR: ]
IGIA T3, New Delhi - Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi -
Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Airport, Patna
New Delhi (DEL) - Ranchi (IXR) - Patna (PAT)
[01:20 pm - 03:00 pm; 03:35 pm - 04:25 pm]

While seated here, I cancelled my Air India return ticket on the
Internet, and booked a ticket on the corresponding Kingfisher
(Red) airlines return flight. (Actually, the above two events
occurred in the reverse order - but of course.)

IT 3341: Kingfisher (Red) Airlines (A320) [Seat 08F; PNR: DCNLIH]
Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Airport, Patna - IGIA T3, New Delhi
Patna (PAT) - New Delhi (DEL)
[04:55 pm - 06:35 pm]

Kingfisher Red means...no food.
But of course.
I took care to pre-book a meal on the return trip.
What if hunger pangs struck me suddenly?
They were, actually.
A round of the food and beverage options close around Gate 41 did
not elicit promising results.
I then took a very difficult decision - to patronise the
buy-on-board on the airline.
It took a lot of thought, to the extent that I may have actually
lost some weight in weighing the pros and the cons.
I had pre-booked the `meal' for my return flight, so I looked
forward to buying a similar offering on board this flight.
I was the second `guest' to board the plane.

Our steed for the day was the `burp plane', VT-DKR.
The plane filled up. And up. And up.
Only one seat remained empty - the one beside me (29E).
The load factor was fantastic - the only thing that took the
sheen away from it was the fact that a large chunk of the load
consisted of the Air India flight to Patna. There were many who
were connecting from Dubai. In fact, when the Air India official
came to the Kingfisher counter to request for transfer of
passengers (read, transition from `passengers' to `guests'), the
lady at the Kingfisher counter smiled, and told her that `many'
seats were empty. The seat covers were maroon - the plane itself
looked a bit old. The seats were reclinable - not the old
non-reclinable ones of the Air Deccan era.
The legroom was nothing to write home about.
Home, or anywhere, for that matter.



There was no announcement of who were on the flight deck -
something I usually take note of. We took off from the new runway
29, rotating in line with the Kingfisher and Jet gates.
The seat belt sign went off after quite some time.
Much to my disappointment, the `meal' option was not there.
The lady asked me if I wanted a sandwich, which I politely
refused. Ah, let me brace for a few hours more...
No, I could not.
I gave in to temptation.
And regretted it, thoroughly.
I had not heard very complementary reports of the buy-on-board on
Kingfisher, and this flight was no exception.
The Panini (Rs.150/-) had its meagre contents hidden inside its
middle, and the intricacies of seeking out some goodies inside the
Panini, made me relive the intricacies of Paninian grammar, as I
meandered through Sanskrit, in school.
I read the sticker on the pack, `store in a cool and dry place'.
It sure had been.
Just that it wasn't cool - literally, as well as figuratively.
It was a cold welcome to the Gourmet `Sky Delights' aboard
Kingfisher Red.
I was hungry, as well as extremely sleepy.
I fell asleep as the cabin was being readied for landing.
The captain made a very soft landing at the Birsa Munda Airport
in Ranchi. The runway looks freshly carpeted, but this was a bit
bumpy. There is a new terminal building being constructed - this
has two aero-bridges, as I could see. The current terminal
building would be a very small one, which I could not see or
photograph - no, not because I was half-asleep, it was because
the plane had parked itself in line with the terminal.
A few passengers disembarked at Ranchi, and a few climbed up.
I was in luck - now, both the seats next to me were empty.
There were two more empty seats on the aircraft, as the captain
began the push-back sequence.
I quickly clambered on to the window seat.
We took runway 31-13 from 31 end, at the Birsa Munda Airport at
Ranchi (IXR) once again, and had a bumpy take-off.
The 45 minute trip was quite uneventful, except for some choppy
weather, which was there for some part of the Delhi-Ranchi
segment as well. The Captain made a feather-touch landing at
Patna's Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan airport. As we took a tight
turn and flew low over the settlements, I remembered that this
airport required a very careful approach by a skilled crew. The
runway is quite short! The brakes came on almost immediately, and
by the time we had slowed down, we were already turning at the
end of the runway, to go to the old terminal building, which has
an interesting `arched' architecture. The building itself is old
and small, and clearly shows its age. We walked on the tarmac to
the terminal, and I notice an Indigo bus there. What about the
full-service carriers? There were two conveyor belts, on which
the luggage took quite some time to come in. Mine came in with
the fourth consignment of bags on the tractor-trolley.
I headed into a pleasant 12 degrees Celcius climate outside.
It was an interesting experience driving through the city, where
many streets have not ever had street-lights.

I was through with my work the next day, and I was to catch the
afternoon flight. I got an email, and an SMS, all in the morning
- to the effect that the flight would be delayed by over an hour
and a half. And then, three irritating phone calls (when I was in
the midst of my work) - pre-recorded messages, driving home the
same point. Hmm...I had read the new in the papers in the
morning, that the Air India pilots' strike had been called off,
and flights were to operate normally. I had not expected things
to be resolved that quickly...and had cancelled my Air India
ticket in haste, the previous day. Oh - I had pre-booked a meal,
but would miss some nice Air India food. I reached the airport
well in time, checked in, and proceeded to the waiting hall
(spelt as `hell') , where I noticed an Air India A320 in the new
colours, making a powerful take-off. There were two A320s on the
apron - Go Air and Indigo. There have to be very few small
airports as run-down in appearance, as the Loknayak Jaiprakash
Narayan International airport in Patna. Housed in a small
building and low on maintenance, this is an extremely congested
place with old and worn-out seats with dull brown seat covers.
The signs on the airport buildings say, `Jaiprakash Narayan
International Airport', Patna: An ISO 9001: 2008 Certified
airport. Hmm...it must be all prim and proper as far as
operations go, and the outwardly appearances for a finicky
passenger like me - must be deceptive. This must have had some
international flights at some point in time, or possibly
seasonally, to warrant an `International airport' tag, as opposed
to `customs airports', and the like. I did not see any separate
`International' area in the small structure, or any customs and
immigration counters, though.

As I waited in the boarding area with my laptop, the expected
time of departure of IT 3341 was listed at 06:45 pm now.
Food.
The waiting area was packed with passengers.
Those on the GoAir and Indigo flight left, there were passengers
on my flight, and for that of a Jet Airways Konnect flight to
Kolkata, after us. There were two small snack counters air-side,
which did not seem to be patronised much.
Or have been patronised much, in the recent past, either.
A few passengers took a hot beverage, but most stayed put.
I was hungry.
Boarding was announced at 06:35pm, and as soon as Gate 2 (of the
two gates in the terminal) opened, many non-linear parallel lines
formed outside. As soon as permission was granted, everyone
rushed towards the aircraft. Yes, moi included.
VT-ADW was to be our plane this evening, with Captain Pravin
Sharma in command. Captain Sharma made a round of the aircraft as
I was boarding. The loads were quite good - about 75% or so.
The captain made an extremely powerful take-off (the IAE V2500
engines whined loudly) on the short runway, into the skies over
Patna. We took a right turn, and were off on our one hour and
twenty five minute journey to Delhi.

Food.
The `Sky Treats' announcement was made.
As the ladies with the food cart came beside my seat, I handed
over my ticket, which listed me paying Rs.175 for a meal. I had
asked at the check-in counter, as to what I should do about it. I
had done a web check-in, and it had put an `(O)' on my online
boarding pass. The lady at the counter had told me that they had
received no such request. I was handed over an ordinary boarding
pass, which had neither hair nor hide (pun intended) of a meal
request. I decided to be persistent. The lady went and talked
with her supervisor, came back, and did not give me any other
information. I asked if I would be given a separate coupon, or
something of the sort (Remember my experience on the
Jet-converted-to-Konnect flight, DEL-BHO in 2011?)
Hmm...back on board.
The ticket worked some magic on the stewardess, and I saw her
getting me a tray with a plastic case wrapped in Aluminium, a
dessert container, and a bottle of water.
I had noticed her handing over two trays to a couple three seats
in front, so it was not as if they did not have meal options.
And they had not run out of it, either.
Ah...for a filling meal, I thought, and eagerly opened the
Aluminium cover, which said `Captain'.
So this is what the Captain would partake of, I mused.
Out popped at very dry and biscuit-like tiny parantha/barota,
which was oval shaped, and hardly two inches in width, and four,
in length (please do not ask me about the girth - that of the
parantha, or mine, for that matter).
The above bread in question pleadingly eyed me to partake of it.
I had my reservations, but also my hunger to take care of.
I opened the main part, greedily looking inside.
The middle had a bed of rice, which was a bit under-cooked.
The left side had a peas-in-cream preparation, and the right,
some chicken curry. The food was disappointing, and I looked
forward to going home and having a nice dinner with The Wife and
Junior. But wait - there was the dessert.
The dessert was superb - it was a fresh and soft slide of
chocolate cake, embellished with shredded dry fruits, much like
the dessert on Kingfisher of yore - till around 2008 or so.

Captain Sharma made a nice landing on the new runway 11-29: we
had come in from the Dwarka side, and got a gate not too far away
from the `Mudras' arrival hall.
---
Links to my previous trip reports:

30. Regressive TR: Shuttling between Delhi and Mumbai
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12742.html

29. No Eyesore in Mysore; Part II: Mysore Memories; HAL Museum
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12730.html

28. No Eyesore in Mysore; Part I: Mysore
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12686.html

27. Hampi Hamper, Part 2: Hampi!
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12661.html

26. Hampi Hamper, Part I: Banashankari, Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12623.html

25. JAI Ho! Jaipur, Sep'12, My Double Standards?
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12592.html
(This is out of sequence, only to report on something that is
very recent, circa Sep'12)

24. PNQ: PeNning Queued Reports, Dec 2011
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12557.html

23. Little BHO-Peep, Nov 2011
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12496.html

22. The Call of the Vaigai! Madurai, Oct 2011
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12465.html

21. Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: Beijing, 2011 Part 3
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12452.html

20. No Panda-monium: Beijing, 2011 Part 2
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12389.html

19. North By Northwest...er, AI and CA: Beijing, 2011 Part 1
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12348.html

18. Going Bananas over Oranges: Nagpur, Aug'11
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12333.html

17. To the City of Joy and back, on Air India: Aug'11
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12238.html

16. To Chennai, Mar'12 with a Celebrity Captain!
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12196.html
(This is out of sequence owing to sheer excitement, and nothing
else!)

15. Marble Rocks, Marbles Rock; Jul 2011
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12157.html

14. The Fish-Eye Beckons! Madurai, on Air India. Jul 2011
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12136.html

13. To Russia, with Awe: Moscow, 2011, Part 3: Monino!
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12091.html

12. To Russia, with Awe: Moscow, 2011, Part 2: The Central Museum
of the Armed Forces
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12016.html

11. To Russia, with Awe: Moscow, 2011, Part 1: The Overall Trip
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11717.html

10. The City of Lakes: Mother's Heart, Heart of the Motherland
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11556.html

9. Mostly Indoors, in Indore:
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11533.html

8. Inter-metro Shuttling on AI: DEL-BOM on AI810, BOM-DEL on AI888
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11449.html

7. On the cusp: DEL-BOM on IC863, BOM-DEL on AI660
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11160.html

6. DEL-BOM on IT308, BOM-DEL on IC166
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10986.html

5. DEL-MAA on IC439, MAA-DEL on IC802
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10809.html

4. DEL-PNQ on IC849, PNQ-DEL on IC850
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10510.html

3. DEL-MAA on IC429 (A321), MAA-DEL on IC7602 (CRJ7)
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10401.html

2. DEL-NAG-NDC, NDC-BOM-DEL on G8
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10169.html

1. IGI T3, AI 314 DEL-HKG and AI 311 HKG-DEL
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10018.html


Last edited by sumantra on Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ameya
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Location: Pune,Maharashtra

PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is cheating !
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ameya wrote:
This is cheating!

Sorry, Sir. I just realised that there was some matter to be put in, before I posted it, hence the delay. I hope you will not bash me now, but give me a pat Smile
Cheers, Sumantra.
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shivendrashukla
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice TR Sumantra. Obviously you were disappointed by food. Also Patna airport. A question. Do we need it?
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

shivendrashukla wrote:
Nice TR Sumantra. Obviously you were disappointed by food. Also Patna airport. A question. Do we need it?

Thank you, Shivendra!
We need what?
- The food? Yes, I do need it Razz
Else, what will I write about in my trip reports? What will happen if I get hunger pangs at FL35? Flying will lose its raison d'etre!Very Happy
- Patna airport? Yes, but probably with smaller aircraft. It is an important gateway in the east. Of course, I know what you meant by the above question, but I guess I had a bit too much on Diwali night - food? Of course. Something else? wink-wink.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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shivendrashukla
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 10:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sumantra wrote:
shivendrashukla wrote:
Nice TR Sumantra. Obviously you were disappointed by food. Also Patna airport. A question. Do we need it?

Thank you, Shivendra!
We need what?
- The food? Yes, I do need it Razz
Else, what will I write about in my trip reports? What will happen if I get hunger pangs at FL35? Flying will lose its raison d'etre!Very Happy
- Patna airport? Yes, but probably with smaller aircraft. It is an important gateway in the east. Of course, I know what you meant by the above question, but I guess I had a bit too much on Diwali night - food? Of course. Something else? wink-wink.
Cheers, Sumantra.


Ha ha.. Yes I meant the airport. Food, of course we all need it, don't we. Smile
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ameya
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very Happy
Excellent TR. I guess this is one of the first times when somebody got prediction on AI strike wrong ! 1 day--- impossible to end !
Surprised to know that DKR had reclining seats. I am not sure if DKR is with KF or not !

I think the routing then and now is DEL PAT CCU PAT DEL for the AI flight.

Amazing desc of food Smile
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Nimish
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 12:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great TR - and shows the mess that IT was in even prior to the end. Squeezing in pax from a cancelled AI flight, 3 hours delayed, and yet plenty of empty seats - probably one of those IT routes that lost money day in and day out!

Given how horrible the food on board these flights is (the BOB option), I wonder why airlines can't do anything to improve the quality? I mean we have one of the tastiest food in the world (well - at least to our tastes Smile), and why it gets so messed up on board a flight's BOB option beats me.
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ameya
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One upon a time, IT had this as the most profitable flight. DEL IXR PAT DEL - I think it wsa IT 3347 and another one BOM PAT IXR BOM which was IT 3751
Then came IndiGo which launched direct flights to PAT from DEL. IT still felt it could do their triangular and get pax, which slowly eroded.

Then they launched two triangular flights, IT 3341 in the morning 6:30 dep from DEL and the afternoon one IT 3347.

This was Winter 2011. How foolish they were, after operating to PAT for so long, still coudlnt figure out that PAT has bad weather till mid day and that the aircraft is standing in IXR for weather to clear.

Ultimately, 3347 was scrapped and 3341 started operating at revised mid day timings
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PAL@YWG
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 3:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
`Indira Bonn theke Hague-e aashlen'


Hahahahahahaha....
as if Indira Gandhi specifically chose to fly between these two cities to give the bong journalist a rare chance to create a funny headline!

Do you have more Sumantra?
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Karan69
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excelent Report Sir,

A PAT on the back from me as well Laughing

I marvel at your writing skills and really enjoy reading them

Sad to see KF Red being such a letdown in terms of catering

Karan
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 10:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks a lot for all the kind words, Ameya, Nimish, Karan, and Mr. Pal!

ameya wrote:
I guess this is one of the first times when somebody got prediction on AI strike wrong ! 1 day--- impossible to end !

Ha ha, good one! This is one decision I was to regret after seeing a nice AI 319 take off at PAT, prior to our flight! At least the food would have been nice.

ameya wrote:
Surprised to know that DKR had reclining seats. I am not sure if DKR is with KF or not !

Reclining seats, declining standards...

Ameya, thanks for the routing, and the history of the routing between these cities. You are amazing, Sir.

Nimish wrote:
Given how horrible the food on board these flights is (the BOB option), I wonder why airlines can't do anything to improve the quality? I mean we have one of the tastiest food in the world (well - at least to our tastes Smile), and why it gets so messed up on board a flight's BOB option beats me.


Nimish, my brother tells me that the Spicejet BoB is quite good. He took a flight recently (September, 2012), and was quite impressed, both in terms of quality, as well as quantity. I wnoder if any other AI.netter has taken a Spicejet flight with the improved menus. He did the BLR-DEL segment on Spicejet.

PAL@WYG wrote:
as if Indira Gandhi specifically chose to fly between these two cities to give the bong journalist a rare chance to create a funny headline! Do you have more Sumantra?


Mr. Pal, I think some of my Bong friends have been big fans of Bong newspapers, and have a few more. Now that you have said it, I will ask them, and put them in at some place - either in this thread, or some other one.

Karan69 wrote:
A PAT on the back from me as well

Thanks a lot, Karan - I guess I need some Iodex. Remember the ad, and its modification? Puts you(r) back into action Smile

Cheers, Sumantra.
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jbalonso777
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Joined: 05 Jul 2012
Posts: 1501
Location: Never, never land

PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 11:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sometimes, technology really gets on your nerves. 3 times I tried posting a reply on this TR, but the damn iPad wouldn't let me do so!

But anyways, back to the TR.
DKR. I am known for all the disgusting statements I make in school, yes, but if DKR popped in my mind, I would have thought Dakar, Senegal, instead of Dakar, as in burrrrp. Razz

Pity about the food, the Gordon Ramsay of Indian Aviation is surely not impressed by IT Red's food! Same with the delay, no one likes delays at all, that is for sure!

Nice descriptions all round as well..!

I could have flown a similar route, on S2, BOM-PAT-IXR. But that didn't happen because the flight was withdrawn. Oh well.

Regards
Jishnu.
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sumantra
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Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 1:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jbalonso777 wrote:
Pity about the food, the Gordon Ramsay of Indian Aviation is surely not impressed by IT Red's food!

Ha ha! Gordon Ramsay...I would say I am more like the Ramsay brothers, who deliver the horror-comedy serials for Indian TV! Thanks a lot for going through the report, in detail!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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