India-based Airlines - A Kingfisher experience not to be repeated

I was travelling the 2nd january OSL-LHR-DEL-KTM

First leg was operated by BA and was completely ordinary BA.

But i was really excited about trying IT on the rest of the journey as the only other 5 star airline i have tried was QR, i was also very excited about wether they stay afloat financially until my flight. But got to LHR and boarded the 332 operating the leg. The FA's was amazing looking, but very sour. And you could clearly see that this used to be a great plane!

But it stopped there, as the ac was really worn down. The first seat i got was broken, and after that i had to change seat 4 times because the IFE was broken. Finally got a seat where it was partly functioning. Had to smash the the remote to make it work, and touch did not work either.

Rest of the plane also looked very worn, lots of details that normaly gets fixed quick was left broken.

On the DEL-KTM leg it was operated by A321 and was travelling Y, but upon checkin in online the rows from 3-8 was availble for me and it was in a 2-2 config. An noone seemed to care, and when i got onboard i got a buisness seat. But with Y service.

Had a good sleep, as the food they served was inedible and IFE not working, and in general this plane looked even more worn out and trashed than the A332.

What can i say about it? I have flown quite a lot, but never before have i actually felt unsafe in a plane until now, it was just not giving a impression that they kept their planes up to standard. And not feeling very welcome by the crew either. Understandable with the job security they have now.

But one thing that needs to go anyway is the 5 star marking, they did not come close to the service and standards of QR!

airline is deep financial mess,,,

What can i say about it? I have flown quite a lot, but never before have i actually felt unsafe in a plane until now, it was just not giving a impression that they kept their planes up to standard. And not feeling very welcome by the crew either. Understandable with the job security they have now.


While there is no doubt that Kingfisher isn't spending money to fix things which are not absolutely necessary, like seats and IFE, I'm not concerned about the maintenance of critical parts required to operate the plane. The worry that some people might have is that leaving too many of the "unimportant" maintenance issues unfixed might cause a bigger problem when the issues combine.

Personally, I would have no qualms about flying Kingfisher due to safety. I just stay away because it quite frankly isn't worth the money any more.

But one thing that needs to go anyway is the 5 star marking, they did not come close to the service and standards of QR!

i never thought they were worthy of a 5 star rating to begin with....they always had a lot of bling from the say they started....it was all good on the surface but was never destined to last....

While there is no doubt that Kingfisher isn't spending money to fix things which are not absolutely necessary, like seats and IFE, I'm not concerned about the maintenance of critical parts required to operate the plane. The worry that some people might have is that leaving too many of the "unimportant" maintenance issues unfixed might cause a bigger problem when the issues combine.

Personally, I would have no qualms about flying Kingfisher due to safety. I just stay away because it quite frankly isn't worth the money any more.

I can understand that the ac probably is fit to fly. But for a passenger, you normally want to feel safe onboard, and i guess the airline want to give the passengers a feeling of safety. And you do not get that feeling with, loose panels, broken stuff onboard and so on. It gives you the feeling that this airline is laxed about mx.

What is actually going on regarding the real safety and flight mx. a untrained passenger cannot know and see. Therefore to how it is percived by the pax, it is irrelevant.

Personally, I would have no qualms about flying Kingfisher due to safety. I just stay away because it quite frankly isn't worth the money any more.

I would respectfully disagree. The airline/promoter has no problems withholding TDS payments, salaries, airport charges, fuel charges, and God knows what else. Delaying safety checks or falsifying reports etc isn't out of bounds, as far as I am concerned.

At some point, they will be desperate enough to do anything (if not already there).

Reports like these is the exact reason I switched a LHR-DEL flight to 9W from IT and waiting for award space for the return from BOM-LHR to open up on 9W.

So many are concerned about the safety of the airplane you are flying. Why are you flying this airplane??

I would suggest you check this board for pictures of Kingfisher aircraft that have been grounded because Kingfisher is unwilling to spend small bucks on replacement parts.

So many are concerned about the safety of the airplane you are flying. Why are you flying this airplane??

I would suggest you check this board for pictures of Kingfisher aircraft that have been grounded because Kingfisher is unwilling to spend small bucks on replacement parts.

It's not that they are unwilling to fix the planes, they are unable to. They are in default...

nobody wants to give them any more money..


It's not that they are unwilling to fix the planes, they are unable to. They are in default...

It's not that they are unwilling to fix the planes, they are unable to. They are in default...

I think they are "unwilling" as they recently have decided not to use profits from the brewery business to support the airline.

I think they are "unwilling" as they recently have decided not to use profits from the brewery business to support the airline.

this is not recent....vjm has been claiming for years that he doesn't use the money from one business to support another business....

this is not recent....vjm has been claiming for years that he doesn't use the money from one business to support another business....
There are other creative ways though.

Do you know how much "advertising fees" IT charges the UB group for those two scotch posters on the bulkheads? ;)

There are other creative ways though.

Do you know how much "advertising fees" IT charges the UB group for those two scotch posters on the bulkheads? ;)

i don't doubt for a second that he uses money from one business to run another....that is why i used the word 'claiming' in my earlier post....

Whats the latest with VJM and KF now? Any more service tax defaults?

was 'forced' to take a couple of flight over the last couple of days on kingfisher....surprisingly there were no problems & all went well....both flights were on time, the aircraft looked to be in good condition, food was ok, service was good....

was 'forced' to take a couple of flight over the last couple of days on kingfisher....surprisingly there were no problems & all went well....both flights were on time, the aircraft looked to be in good condition, food was ok, service was good....

Glad to hear some positive news on IT.

Took the HKG-BOM on Jan 25. As the OP stated: you could see it used to be a great airline, BUT the maintenance is just not there. The seats are terribly worn on corners and edges. And the plane looks dirty. How did they do they? I mean compared to some SQ planes in service for 15+ years yet still look very refreshed, these IT planes in commission for a mere 5 years just look so stale..

Took the HKG-BOM on Jan 25. As the OP stated: you could see it used to be a great airline, BUT the maintenance is just not there. The seats are terribly worn on corners and edges. And the plane looks dirty. How did they do they? I mean compared to some SQ planes in service for 15+ years yet still look very refreshed, these IT planes in commission for a mere 5 years just look so stale..

How was the service, food, etc..??

How was the service, food, etc..??

Food was so so. I was in Biz class. I tread the Indian dishes. The Naan was hard and inedible. Basically all the elements, including the bread rolls gave you a sense of being very cheaply put together: it's almost like a Domestic First Class on a US carrier type of food.

Service: the only kick was the on board bar in between the first and second segment of the biz class. However it is just a bar to look fancy, there is nothing that impressed me service wise.

Last but not the least, the blanket and bedding for the lie flat bed smelled stale, even they were sealed in a clean looking plastic bag. It felt like they were not fresh.

Food was so so. I was in Biz class. I tread the Indian dishes. The Naan was hard and inedible. Basically all the elements, including the bread rolls gave you a sense of being very cheaply put together: it's almost like a Domestic First Class on a US carrier type of food.

Service: the only kick was the on board bar in between the first and second segment of the biz class. However it is just a bar to look fancy, there is nothing that impressed me service wise.

Last but not the least, the blanket and bedding for the lie flat bed smelled stale, even they were sealed in a clean looking plastic bag. It felt like they were not fresh.

Thanks. Not good.