Interpreter of Maladies
Friday, August 03, 2007
Airports and AirplanesSince I have had enough exposure of the two, I can qualify to be suitably accomplished to write this. Life in consulting is spend primarily in commuting. Whether it be commuting within cities or from the airport to the client site. I would have taken close to 25 flights in the last two months that I have been working. Here is a simple what works/what doesn't on the two major carriers:
Jet Airways
Nice staff - both the steward and stewardesses are sure of how to react to quirky enquiries of passengers. For example, if they run out of pillows and blankets, they will actually adjust the temperature of the AC to suit you !!
Food: I find the Jet food sumptious and healthy. Although it lacks variety !!
Comfort: Although the seats are no good at ergonomics, but the blanket and the pillow more than makes up for the poor seats. The blankets are worth a steal !!
Time: Jet has started faring poorly on this ever and ever again. They are hardly on time anytime. Baggage collection is a mess and check in counters are becoming less informative day by day.
Kingfisher
Big plus: On time !! The promise is lived up to the nth second. I have never sat on a Kingfisher flight that is more than 30 min late. The terminal arrangements and clearing on runways that they have ensured is quite awesome. Hats off, Vijay Mallya.
Food: Very innovative - giving a menu before serving the food. That's very nice. Makes you await the food.
Service: The airport luggage pickup service is quite impressive. They actually locate you, get your bags, make it run fast through screening and get you checked in, before you could count 10.
What does not work is poor blankets. Your airline is red but that does not really mean that you give red teddy bear felt blankets to someone who is traveling on business !! Some business sense is required there.
Airports are quite a different creature to talk about. So here is the lowdown:
1. Delhi: Messy, unorganized and too crowded for comfort. Is the government listening ?? Security check queues have been seen to extend out of the airport. Is this our national capital or what?
2. Mumbai: Ooh la la..what an airport. The new terminal rocks. I mean, it made me forget Frankfurt and Heathrow for a second. What they need to improve on the airport is the arrival section. Faster baggage collection and a little more maintenance on the arrival lounge will truly make it the best airport in the country.
3. Chennai: The less said the better it is. The loos hail from 19th century. The toilets leak. The place is so small that arrival and departure are arm's length away from each other. All airline counters are huddled like mom and pop stores on a narrow lane. The security is lip service..nothing more.
4. Kolkata: Would give it better points than Chennai and in some cases may be better than Delhi too. Why Kolkata scores is simple. The arrival lounge is big and spacious. It is also well maintained and airline counters are spread across the floor. Baggage collection could be improved a little and something could be done to make approach roads to the airport better and less congested.
I am sure, most of you would find this post a tiff boring but I don't blame you. It's my life that has become boring. Would try to spice up things real soon.
