Could sale of Alcohol in the skies help IBAs?
Dec 19, 2014, 10:28 am
#16
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May be on flights 2 hours or longer (with an exception for the most travelled DEL-BOM sector to be included) with a maximum of one per person might work for flights departing after 12 noon. I am sure they can control the drinks to a large extent. Recently travelled AI on a long haul flight and did not see any issues.
Dec 19, 2014, 10:36 am
#17
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Given what I've seen some passengers get away with in terms of drunk and disorderly behavior on flights to and from India, I can't say I welcome more alcohol being consumed on more flights within India -- especially not when crew members of Indian airlines are not necessarily reliable or all that eager in detecting or interdicting drunk/borderline drunk passengers before the drunken disorderly behavior ends up taking place.
Dec 19, 2014, 12:08 pm
#18
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my concern is not how well trained the crew is but with the way people in india treat the crew....i have seen enough instances of people thinking they are far superior & treating crew as if their sole purpose is to serve them just because they have bought a ticket....they don't listen to the crew & a prime example is the chaos while boarding a flight or getting up & trying to rush out of the flight the moment it lands....
last week on a bbi-del flight i saw a passenger yell at the stewardess because they ran out of non-veg options by the time the food cart reached his seat....a couple of months ago on a bom-del flight a passenger was giving the flight attendant a piece of his mind because he was having a headache & his preferred pain killer was not on board....what do you think people like this will do if they are denied alcohol????
a friend of mine is an air hostess with ai & she has told me countless horror stories of indian passengers being drunk on her flights....i have personally seen many instances of these passengers who have no control over their alcohol....
i'm not saying stuff like this does not happen outside india....it certainly does....but i have seen enough instances of indian passengers to convince myself that it would be a bad idea to serve alcohol on domestic flights....
try explaining that to yatindalvi....
the chances of it getting ugly in a small confined space are much more....
last week on a bbi-del flight i saw a passenger yell at the stewardess because they ran out of non-veg options by the time the food cart reached his seat....a couple of months ago on a bom-del flight a passenger was giving the flight attendant a piece of his mind because he was having a headache & his preferred pain killer was not on board....what do you think people like this will do if they are denied alcohol????
a friend of mine is an air hostess with ai & she has told me countless horror stories of indian passengers being drunk on her flights....i have personally seen many instances of these passengers who have no control over their alcohol....
i'm not saying stuff like this does not happen outside india....it certainly does....but i have seen enough instances of indian passengers to convince myself that it would be a bad idea to serve alcohol on domestic flights....
try explaining that to yatindalvi....
the chances of it getting ugly in a small confined space are much more....
The reason I thought of it is, it's a little frustrating to see domestic carriers going out of business while most carriers world wide are making record profit.
Off track, another thing missing in Indian aviation is connecting flights. A hub or 2 across the country could allow airlines to provide more effective connections (yes, the flying time may increase but pricing can be controlled and probably higher load factors)
Dec 19, 2014, 12:49 pm
#19
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Selling booze inflight will not pull an airline into profits, filling seats with high yield passengers is the only solution. Yield per passenger is one of the lowest in India, and its not getting better. Indigo taught people to only pay a bit above railway fares and getting that out of the system will take a bankruptcy of two. 9W will not go away, AI neither. Spicejet may have gone belly up this year, but Air Asia and Vistara just started.
Dec 19, 2014, 1:35 pm
#20
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Selling booze inflight will not pull an airline into profits, filling seats with high yield passengers is the only solution. Yield per passenger is one of the lowest in India, and its not getting better. Indigo taught people to only pay a bit above railway fares and getting that out of the system will take a bankruptcy of two. 9W will not go away, AI neither. Spicejet may have gone belly up this year, but Air Asia and Vistara just started.
I think having a more complex infrastructure of hubs with feeder flights in smaller planes so that you can fill up the larger jets flying to metros, though it may take time for people to understand that they either pay INR 12,000 to go DEL-BOM non stop or change planes in say Indore.
On a side note, I will say it was Deccan which taught people to only pay a bit above train ticket cost (at times even less than train).
Dec 19, 2014, 2:15 pm
#21
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True, the load factors are way too low (and ofcourse the prices are low too).
I think having a more complex infrastructure of hubs with feeder flights in smaller planes so that you can fill up the larger jets flying to metros, though it may take time for people to understand that they either pay INR 12,000 to go DEL-BOM non stop or change planes in say Indore.
On a side note, I will say it was Deccan which taught people to only pay a bit above train ticket cost (at times even less than train).
I think having a more complex infrastructure of hubs with feeder flights in smaller planes so that you can fill up the larger jets flying to metros, though it may take time for people to understand that they either pay INR 12,000 to go DEL-BOM non stop or change planes in say Indore.
On a side note, I will say it was Deccan which taught people to only pay a bit above train ticket cost (at times even less than train).
Dec 19, 2014, 4:20 pm
#22
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When private airlines were first introduced in India, they tried to distinguish themselves by serving free liquor. I seem to recall there were a number of problems with passengers until the govt banned alcohol on flights. That may be what Keyser is remembering
But paid alcohol is a different matter altogether (need I say more about national characteristics). It should not be an unusual problem. For the same reason, it will not be a significant source of profit for the airlines
But paid alcohol is a different matter altogether (need I say more about national characteristics). It should not be an unusual problem. For the same reason, it will not be a significant source of profit for the airlines
Jan 13, 2015, 5:57 am
#23
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Paid alcohol could make a difference
As against free alcohol which we Indians love to consume in plenty as it is phreeee...paid alcohol could make a difference. Charge high for it like a downtown restaurant in a metro city; people who can afford will pay and drink; and they may not drink beyond a certain point. It is not that problems will completely disappear, but not as much as when it is free booze.
Jan 15, 2015, 3:56 am
#24
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I just wish we could get pre-departure drinks on international flights. There's just something fundamentally wrong about not getting that glass of champers! LOL
Seriously, though, there doesn't seem to me to be any sensible reason for the ban, when alcohol is allowed on international flights departing from India (once they have left the ground, anyway).
Seriously, though, there doesn't seem to me to be any sensible reason for the ban, when alcohol is allowed on international flights departing from India (once they have left the ground, anyway).
Jan 15, 2015, 10:29 am
#25
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Well, for sparkling wine to be served pre departure, they have to cater duty paid stuff additionally, which adds to the costs. Once doors are closed, the duty unpaid stuff can be served (on international flights).
Jan 15, 2015, 3:32 pm
#26
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I just wish we could get pre-departure drinks on international flights. There's just something fundamentally wrong about not getting that glass of champers! LOL
Seriously, though, there doesn't seem to me to be any sensible reason for the ban, when alcohol is allowed on international flights departing from India (once they have left the ground, anyway).
Seriously, though, there doesn't seem to me to be any sensible reason for the ban, when alcohol is allowed on international flights departing from India (once they have left the ground, anyway).
For domestic segments, I really don't understand why NOT paid Alcohol?
I find not selling Alcohol as silly as forcing people to have security checked tags on their hand baggage.
I have totally failed to understand why all airports in India make u put those small tags on your handbags (and stamp them at security)
Jan 15, 2015, 9:05 pm
#27
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The DGCA rules banning alcohol on domestic had nothing to do with any incident on Damania, though they were the first to start alcohol service on domestic. IC did introduce beer on some domestic runs (AB3 flights) as a test.
It changed after an ugly episode on a late night IC flight on DEL-BOM which was operated by an all-woman crew. For some time after that, crew scheduling was required to place atleast 1 male cabin crew on every flight which was difficult to do in IC. This incident caused a rethink and prompted DGCA to put an end to inflight liquor on domestic.
Agree with @Keyser that Indians cannot handle liquor. Passengers from a certain western state where prohibition is in effect are the worst in this regard! Have seen passengers ask attendants for booze immediately on boarding while aircraft is still on ground and make a scene when they are refused!
It changed after an ugly episode on a late night IC flight on DEL-BOM which was operated by an all-woman crew. For some time after that, crew scheduling was required to place atleast 1 male cabin crew on every flight which was difficult to do in IC. This incident caused a rethink and prompted DGCA to put an end to inflight liquor on domestic.
Agree with @Keyser that Indians cannot handle liquor. Passengers from a certain western state where prohibition is in effect are the worst in this regard! Have seen passengers ask attendants for booze immediately on boarding while aircraft is still on ground and make a scene when they are refused!
Jan 22, 2015, 7:38 am
#28
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I disagree. AI serves liquor (and that too free) on many short international flights to Middle East and they are able to control the passengers who are largely workers going back and forth.
In domestic flights for routes which are 2 hours or longer, if they charge something like Rs. 500 for a beer or wine and to be competitive with the airport beer/wine charges (no liquor to begin with), only a limited number of passengers will take it up and should not cause a problem with the airlines getting some extra money. Liquor could be introduced based on beer/wine sales and behavior of passengers.
In domestic flights for routes which are 2 hours or longer, if they charge something like Rs. 500 for a beer or wine and to be competitive with the airport beer/wine charges (no liquor to begin with), only a limited number of passengers will take it up and should not cause a problem with the airlines getting some extra money. Liquor could be introduced based on beer/wine sales and behavior of passengers.
Jan 22, 2015, 8:47 am
#29
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The DGCA rules banning alcohol on domestic had nothing to do with any incident on Damania, though they were the first to start alcohol service on domestic. IC did introduce beer on some domestic runs (AB3 flights) as a test.
It changed after an ugly episode on a late night IC flight on DEL-BOM which was operated by an all-woman crew. For some time after that, crew scheduling was required to place atleast 1 male cabin crew on every flight which was difficult to do in IC. This incident caused a rethink and prompted DGCA to put an end to inflight liquor on domestic.
Agree with @Keyser that Indians cannot handle liquor. Passengers from a certain western state where prohibition is in effect are the worst in this regard! Have seen passengers ask attendants for booze immediately on boarding while aircraft is still on ground and make a scene when they are refused!
It changed after an ugly episode on a late night IC flight on DEL-BOM which was operated by an all-woman crew. For some time after that, crew scheduling was required to place atleast 1 male cabin crew on every flight which was difficult to do in IC. This incident caused a rethink and prompted DGCA to put an end to inflight liquor on domestic.
Agree with @Keyser that Indians cannot handle liquor. Passengers from a certain western state where prohibition is in effect are the worst in this regard! Have seen passengers ask attendants for booze immediately on boarding while aircraft is still on ground and make a scene when they are refused!
As of drunk passengers making a scene, how is it different to handle passengers on a say BOM-DXB flight compared to a BOM-DEL flight?
Jan 24, 2015, 5:10 pm
#30
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As alcohol is legal in most of India (is Gujarat still the only dry state?), I am not sure why airlines should be baned from SELLING (and not giving for free!) booze on domestic flights? On a separate note, I think I have never seen drunken people in India...