Terrible experience on AI (IC)
 

I had to fly to CCU on AI last week due to an emergency and that was the only convenient flight (you think I'd have flown them any other way?). This has got to be my worst ever flight on AI, and not just because of the "service" that I was subjected to, but the entire experience was truly horrible. Here goes...

First, the one (and only) thing they got right - timing - flight left and reached on schedule.

Horrors:

1. Terrible crew. The crew was predominantly male, and did not exude one bit of professionalism...in fact, they looked so dopey eyed, I think they had a soporific effect of people ! The only 2 women FAs on board were scary. I'm not expecting supermodels on AI (or any airline for that matter), but medusas are completely out in my book.

2. Captain (Bengali chap) couldn't speak for nuts. I don't want flight updates at all, rather than have to listen to the kind of trash he dished out.

3. I don't think any row of three seats could EVER come to the same position - either they wouldn't recline fully, or wouldn't come up fully, or could not be held in position in partial recline.

4. Chaotic noise from outside when the ground staff tried to close the cargo door. Would have roused Rip Van Winkle...

5. Ridiculous service: The crew was going down the aisle distributing small bottles of lemon juice. My colleague who was with me, had a terrible headache and had me ask the crew for a bottle of water. Classic AI response: We can't serve you water now because we need to serve LJ to all. Fine in principle, but not when you've got a cardboard crate of 24 bottles on the trolley...

6. Flagrant safety violation / stupid crew: [detailed explanation follows]
Family of 5 (including 3 kids) were sitting in two rows - 10 and the emergency exit row. Kids were in the exit row. Crew told the father to get the kids out of exit row for safety reasons. Good so far. Father asks if kids can move back to exit row after takeoff, FA happily agrees. I mean...where's the safety issue? I'd rather not have kids in the exit row in case there's an emergency in flight !

7. And finally - not to blame the crew for this - pathetic bunch of co-passengers (as usual, so what's new). The kids (see item 6 above) kept moving all over the place (and they were sitting in window and middle seats, with aisle occupied by a solo traveller not linked to that family - he wasn't amused one bit). And I think somehow, the fact that one's flying AI seems to induce different behaviour. Two of my co-passengers are regular 9W fliers (have seen them before enough times), and they were acting like boors...

I only wish 9W brought back their early morning service on MAA-CCU...sigh

I've seen people on long hauls help them selves to business class seats and the crew didnt even care.

Granted I was not on the flight, but I think OP's criticism is a bit over the top.
1. Complaining about crew not being good-looking .. seriously?

2. Many pilots give out flight info. Some passengers like, some don't. If you happen to be on a flight when the pilot is especially verbose, well, tough luck.

3. When the FAs were making the lemon juice run, he said he couldn't get water right away. What's the big deal?!

4. Allowing kids in exit row outside of take-off and landing does not a safety violation make, I think. I have seen this being allowed on US-based airlines as well.

5. Spoilt brats running around the plane - I don't like that one bit either. I wish their parents would say something / take care of them.

so what you're saying is that it was exactly what you expected? ;)

sorry to hear that.

This is a violation. I was travelling with wife and child on AI recently, and requested for a seat on the emergency exit row. At check-in, staff reminded me that the child must not sit at that row. Before take-off, one of the crew (indeed, Medusa-like as described by OP :D) came by and said that the emergency exit was unmanned and instructed what I must act in times of emergency.

Emergencies can happen anytime, not only during take-off and landing - hence if I was a passenger witnessing children fussing about the emergency exit, I would highlight to the purser. Crew that allow this are simply irresponsible.

I had to book an emergency flight home from India on AI once too; also a terrible experience. All of the controls on my seat were broken--the light, the TV/music, the recline button--for the whole 17 hour flight!

Sorry you had a bad experience. If you want to complain to AI, though, watch out. When I called them up they brushed me off and gave me a dud email address to send the complaint to.

Also, why were they giving out bottle of lemon juice? Never heard of that.

Me too wishing 9W bring back their early morning service to CCU...

Lime juice / lemon juice bottles are common enough on Indian flights with various airlines, and a great way to rehydrate.

From what I remember, it is more like lemon flavored water.

Emergency exits can only be used on take-off and landing. They are of not much use (and indeed are physically impossible to open) at other times of the flight. Therefore some airlines do allow kids to sit there during cruise only, though I agree the reasoning may not be obvious to most passengers.

To respond to the several points made by other posters, particularly WASBLR (!), here goes:

1. Like I said in the original post, am not expecting beauty queens to crew the flight. It was just a comment on how the FAs are not unlike the airline - old, irresponsible, often uncouth and totally unprofessional.

2. Flight info: Agree that if you don't want to listen, don't. But why be given the choice in the case of rubbish? I'd be surprised if the pilot could even read basic English, forget flight manuals, that's how bad. Again, refer point 1 above - unprofessional. I don't pay for cr@p.

3. Water when LJ was served: Not right away is fine, but not when (a) i tell the FA that water is required for medication, and (b) it is right in front of the FA on the trolley.

4. To the many points on exit row seating: In the case of an emergency, are the crew really going to re-seat passengers on their exit row first before commencing other duties? I think not. It isn't called "Emergency" exit for no reason. Thanks carrotjuice for making my point, but in this case, what do you do when the airline itself is irresponsible???

I don't plan to complain to AI - what's the point anyways. Oh and btw, here was the ONE thing I really wanted to put up on the OP but completely forgot. The FA serving the forward section of Y was actually digging for gold up his nose, when the food service was going on. Needless to say, I didn't have any of the food served, just the lime juice / lemon flavoured water / whatever you call it.

I am not sure if your experience was as bad or you made it sound bad... sounds like you got there safe and sound and all you're complaining about is bad looking FA and lemon juice?

For FA's where you expecting some one out of http://tinyurl.com/yf44oby ?

Try flying some of the locos in EU or US. Service is at par with what you've experienced.

If getting to the destination safe and sound is the only consideration, half of FT wouldn't exist !

Thanks for that link to the book.

Certainly, I hold no brief for sloppy service.
But come on, if the pilot couldn't read basic English / flight manuals, would he be flying the plane? All I am saying is that let us be a little fair.

Regarding exit row, Sankaps's note has explained what I implied. Unless the emergency is of the Kanishka-type, the crew has time to instruct / prepare passengers during the cruise segment. It's not like the plane can land instantly anyway!

Have you heard some of the pilots on Singapre Airlines, JAL, Alitalia, Aeromexico, Aeroflot, etc? They have strong accents and can be hard to understand. But does not mean they do not know English or are less qualified in any way. Your reaction strikes me as being very elitist.

And regarding the water, it suggests somewhat poor planning / arrogance on your part if you need it right away for medication and cannot wait a few minutes to get it. On most airlines, you would have been told to wait a bit unless it was an emergency. Even if you were travelling in the front.

:confused:

I've never been refused water when flying up front (on AA, CO, and AC mostly). Please let me know which these "most airlines" are so I can avoid them in the future.

Sounds like a typical AI experience ;)

Maybe the children would decide to play with the door?

I too would like to avoid these airlines.

:rolleyes:
Among all recent incidents of opening the emergency exit to 'get some fresh air' or such, it's been adults.

The official FAR (US): http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory...ergency%20exit

I don't know what (if?) the policy is in India. When I flew in AI this past summer, I was seated in an exit row and the FA came over and explained what would be expected of us and asked if we agree to that, etc.

Yes - perhaps because children are prohibited from the exit rows on civilized airways? @:-) In an emergency FAs have much better things to do than shuffle brats about. Jet Airways also prohibits children from exit rows:
http://www.jetairways.com/EN/US/Term...skCheckin.aspx
Of course god forbid anyone suggest Air India conform with standard procedures and behavior.

The door cannot be played with at cruise -- it will simply not budge. The pressurization of the aircraft keeps the door firmly "plugged" into the wall. Even the door opening lever cannot be moved at higher altitudes.

Regarding water: I does not appear AI refused to serve water. They said they would serve it after the complete the juice service. Have seen it happen quite commonly on many airlines... "can I have coffee please?" "I'm sorry sir, we do not have coffee on the cart, we will bring it for you after we finish the drinks service". Had this happen on BA, AA, LH, etc etc. I see no problem with it.

But if you are they type that wants it, and wants it NOW!, then I guess you will be disappointed (or will continue to fly airlines where you can just order the crew around).

I have seen many comments of the OP on AI/IC & its obvious that he hate AI/IC. I feel during the entire flight time, he had focussed only on the negative points of the airlines. I have also flown with AI/IC & agree they need to improve a lot in terms of customer service & operating an airline but they do have some good features. His points on the Captain accent, Seats recline, noise outside, crew service etc is just blown out of proportion. Please dont criticise an airline for the sake of it. Moreover the airline can not be responsible for the co- passengers on the flight. You are also one among them.

Here we are criticizing the pilot's English skills, or lack thereof. And we have FT'ers misinterpreting remarks written in English. Ironic, isn't it?!

Mr. Bean, cj001f: we know that kids are not allowed in the exit row during takeoff or landing. This is true for pretty much every airline. The question was regarding the cruise portion of flight, when emergency exits are moot. Unless airlines allow you to strap on parachutes and jump off the plane mid-flight, how does it matter who sits in the exit row?

It matters who sits in the exit row as if the Aircraft has to make a rapid descent and emerg landing the person in the exit row should be qualified to do the needful.

Are you seriously proposing that its ok for kids to sit in exit row and in case of an emergency landing when they're freaking out the kids should move out of the exit row and allow some one else to move in so they can do the needful ?

No descent is so rapid unless the aircraft is breaking up in mid-air (in which case the exits are moot). In all other cases, there are emergency landing preps that take place, and more than enough time for people to get back in their seats. This includes people in bathrooms, standing around, sitting at the inflight bars on some airlines, etc.

So while no one is recommending kids to sit in the exit row in general, some airlines relax this constraint during cruise, especially for long flights, as long as kids are back in their non-exit row seats prior to descent.

A lot of posters on this thread are just shooting from the hip. I have been in and around the airline industy for over 15 years, and actually know what I am talking about. I suspect WASBLR also knows what he is talking about.

Which airlines?

Seems like this has been discussed elsewhere and 15 seems to be age when one can sit in an exit row.

In any case I don't believe what you're saying is official airline policy but at the discretion of the FAs.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ng-w-kids.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-exit-row.html

i guess you have been lucky.

I have been asked to wait for a few mts as the flight attendant finishes serving whatever she was at the time MULTIPLE times on AA, BA and LH. All within the last 12 months and each time in their Business class cabin.

There are plenty of things that we can fairly blame AI for .... why make up things?

Isn't there any positive news about Indian carriers or airports? :)

Yes, 100% of flights that took off this month have also landed, except those currently in the air.

Seriously, I am familiar with the feeling of getting off the plane and being so unhappy that I want to complain about everything. It is necessary to filter out the petty complaints and focus on what is important, which I don't always manage to do, and which the OP clearly has not done.

No where in any of the regulatory or airline policies are there any exceptions or qualifications for underage passengers to sit in exit row. This means they may not sit there at any time.

Now, whether this policy is entirely sound... I think that is another question.

Again, to put this back in context of the OP's situation, I have never been refused water by the FA when she had it readily available on her cart. In any class.

If the FAs are busy serving meals and do not have the drink readily available, it is a different story, and yes you may have to wait.

I don't think aniruddh77 is making up anything... he is simply sharing his latest experience on IC and, based on his account, it's clear that there were problems and maybe violations of govt and/or airline policy.

You make good points and I appreciate the perspective.

AI issues, not entirely undeserved, are well known. Still, people use the carrier for a reason. In my case it has covered the whole range: low fare, some specially convenient schedule, psychological comfort of an elderly relative traveling alone (food, language), etc. We didn't get but also didn't pay for SQ-class service. However, we always got what made us choose AI; in that sense it has been fine to us.

Going in, I know what AI offices and ground staff are like and I minimize my dealings with them. I never had a particularly bad experience with an AI flight itself. I realize that it could have happened, and I don't discount the discomforts that others may have endured; just saying I didn't experience it. (It may have helped that I tend to sleep through the flights and don't much notice the quality of cabin furnishings or blankets, who is sitting in Exit Rows, precise timing of beverage service, and the pilot's accent.)

In fact I just returned from a convoluted trip that involved American Airlines, Japan Airlines, Air India, Indian Airlines, Indigo, Kingfisher, and Singapore Airlines. Were AI and IC the best of the bunch, leaving all others miles behind in elegance and service? Not really, but they were a part of my itinerary for specific reasons, price as well as schedule, and provided adequate service.

I have travelled on the IC portion of the AI several times, and had average to good service.

My idea of bad service would be, getting to the destination late by more than 2 hours, cancelling the flight or poor food/refreshment service on board.

AI/IC service is still better than many US carriers.

My last IC flight was like a week back, and we'd got seats in an exit row due to some screwup from the checkin agent. The FA at once reseated us in an empty row away from the exit, once boarding was completed.

Service was mechanical and slow - but not particularly grumpy, sloppy etc. The food was quite tasty, and plentiful (as it usually is on IC). Evening flight so a couple of cutlets, a mango tart etc. Flight duration? 45 minutes HYD-MAA .. with 9W flying only Jet konnect ATRs on the route.

Lemon juice? No other airline in the world serves lemon juice. :D
I can imagine how distraught the passengers would be if the captain keep calling lemon juice lemon water. ;)

Positive about Indian airports
 

. Yup! :D just got back from India - DBX to Kochin and then Bangalore to DBX. Airports in both segments were fine. Airport in Bangalore very nice and the staff at the info desk were very helpful. A person in the lobby was having trouble with the wi-fi and the woman at the desk called up their IT support and had someone come to the desk in person to help resolve the problem. Now that -is- service. The facilities were top notch. Boarding in Bangalore there was some sort of tiff between the security personnel and the Emirates gate agent. Was more amusing than trying.:)

As an aside no need to get defensive - aniruddh77 had a bad day and was specific about it. His wasn't a generic rant.

The OP mentioned that there was a carton of water already on the trolley. Not sure why the FA refused to pass it out.

Also, it's amazing to me that there are apologists for AI...just simply Amazing. Oh well, to each his own. Happy flying with them!