avm2806

Once we arrived at the aircraft, there a few cabin crew milling about, waiting to escort Biz passengers to their seats and direct economy passengers to the correct aisle. I was very impressed overall with the welcome – it was very warm and very much like 9W in its hay days when they had a set of Singaporean crew (mostly EX SIA, some EX UA SIN) supervising international flights. I was greeted by inflight executive Rebecca, who walked me to my seat and was offered a sleeper suit, while I settled down. While no overnight kit was offered, the toilets were always stocked shaving kits, toothbrushes and combs and an excellent selection of Bvlgari toiletries. CX offer overnight kits, but no PJ’s in Biz, and no duvets as this a regional flight, and honestly I’d much rather have the sleeper suit to get comfortable than an amenity kit of which most of on FT have too many (I will do a comparison 9W vs CX on BOM-HKG on Airlines of India forum shortly and post link in this thread).

Cold towels were offered, along with a selection of refreshing beverages (9W doesn’t serve alcohol on ground due to various customs regulations, but it never bothers me – I always find the pre-poured champagne quite flat anyway by the time it gets to you). The options were Fresh Watermelon juice, Coconut Water, Fresh-Lime Water and Water. I opted for the watermelon which was perfectly chilled and served very graciously. Menu’s were distributed and I was disappointed to note that unlike Saad’s previous flights last year on the 77W, they had switched to a breakfast only service, with sandwiches before departure.

Shortly after, newspapers and magazines were distributed and I went in to change. Rebecca was waiting with a hangar and as soon as I was out of the toilet she rushed to hang up my clothes. All other crew were equally responsive. Order’s were being taken while I was in the washroom, and the cabin crew had passed my seat, but instead of waiting to be done with everyone, came rushing to me to enquire about my drink and meal choices. I opted for the Sauvignon Blanc after take off along with a chicken sandwich, and told her not to wake me for breakfast. She asked me for my preference of main if I was awake and she wanted to make sure she had reserved it for me (compared to the past when status meant nothing for meal choice on 9W, I was very impressed).
I opted for the scrambled eggs.

Pre-take off checks were fairly smooth, however with many passengers the crew had the unpleasant task of waking those who had fallen asleep to put their seats back upright. I have to say this was done with the utmost grace and ever so carefully. In the case of my neighbors, he was so fast asleep that Rebecca just quietly held the position preset on his seat till it was upright without disturbing him (and after take off when he didn’t wake for a while, she returned his seat to an almost flat position and covered him with a blanket, all without waking him up – now that’s what you call service!).

Just before take off I was welcomed back by the Inflight Supervisor and we had a brief chat. It’s evident she had been briefed by the ground team that I was a “prodigal son returned”, and she was very warm about making sure I was comfortable and making it known that Jet was happy to have me back. There was a time in 2007 I pretty much new every single IFS and most IFE’s that were flying long-haul for 9W, so I mentioned a few names and passed on regards. This was definitely a homecoming – and it was wonderful to see 9W service starting to look like what is used to (even with the cut back winelist etc etc – the one thing that slipped that shouldn’t have was the cabin crew service– I guess mainly because of morale at the time).

After take-off, I started watching some entertainment. I was offered by multiple crew to have my bed made up, but I politely declined since I was quite hopped up on caffeine given the cappuccino’s I had consumed in the BA lounge. My wine didn’t show up for a while. I was just about to press the call bell, when one of the crew noticed I hadn’t been served anything and rushed into the galley to check the order list. Two of them came back shortly after with nuts, a wine glass and an apology for the delay. I was offered a taste – it wasn’t bad, and I just wanted a glass or two to ware down the effects of the caffeine. My table was dressed chicken sandwich came out shortly thereafter which was a pretty large one with a side of coleslaw. I was offered more wine, and opted to switch to a diet coke (I know bad move given the caffeine already consumed)… Popcorn was offered to those of us awake and I obliged. After my meal, I was again offered to have my bed made up which I again politely declined. After a couple of episodes of lie to me I decided to try and sleep (probably an hour into the flight, somewhere over central India).

I reached into the overhead bin for my set of bedding and started to make my own bed and instantly a crew member appeared and took over making my bed. I settled in and tossed and turn a bit, but couldn’t sleep so went back to the Inflight entertainment and watched a few more TV episodes. Around 2.5 hours later the IFS came by noticed me awake and asked if I was hungry and offered to prepare my breakfast. I agreed and around 20 minutes later my table was being dressed and I was enjoying a wonderful Papaya smoothie and some fresh fruit. I was offered tea or coffee and opted for a cappuccino which came shortly. Service was a bit a spotty – I wasn’t offered any cereals or yogurt, which was fine since I just wanted my main – so even though the crew were very polite, service wasn’t the most efficient.

After breakfast, the caffeine started to ware off so I reclined and napped for a bit, and before I knew it we were descending into HK. I rushed to the Lav to freshen up and change back into civvies and returned to find my seat upright, bedding cleared away and a bottle of water waiting for me.

Overall – the inflight service was very solid, but a little rough around the edges when it came to serving meals and drinks. Would definitely recommend 9W without hesitation on this route.