No rest till we're the best
No, this is not the slogan of my project team, nor is it the new slogan of my company. This is Air Deccan's latest mantra for operating its low cost airline. The slogan seems to be fuelled by the statistics that Air Deccan has become India's second largest airline and enjoys a 21.2% market share, only second to Jet. They claim they are on the way to become Number 1.
First encounter
I first flew with Air Deccan in July last year. I was warned by a lot of people regarding their late service, old airplanes, tired looking air hostesses, no-free-stuff (A non-Indian concept since we always look for freebies and discounts even when buying 10 rupees worth of vegetables) etc. But since I did not have a choice then, I decided to take a chance. And somehow it met my expectations. The flight was delayed by over 6 hours. I finished a whole novel sitting at Bangalore airport. Then, when we finally boarded the plane, it did not take off until another half an hour due to some "technical" problem. I cannot comment on the quality of the airplanes as I'm not an expert, but the air hostesses were not as bad as people said. Offcourse they cannot be compared with their counterparts at Kingfisher airlines, but thinking of the motherly treatment Indian Airlines provides, I was satisfied. So after an eventful day the plane took off and almost brought me to Bombay. They did not get landing permission and kept circling the airport till about 20 mins. Finally I made it to Bombay. But I did not write Air Deccan off after this journey as I was willing to give it a second chance on account of the fact that the reason for the delay were the floods in Bombay, last year in July.
Second chance
The second chance came last week when I again decided to fly by Air Deccan. Why? because they offered the lowest fares :) So there I was once again at Bangalore airport. The plane was scheduled to take off at 9:40PM. After the checkin, I waited patiently watching the hands of the clock. I noticed that the boarding pass did not have any seat number. I saw a man argue at the Air Deccan checkin counter. He had some ticket problems I guess. In a short while the argument turned into a brawl and the man would have exchanged some fists with the Air Deccan employee if the airport security hadn't intervened. I was engrossed in this battle when they finally announced the departure of the flight at around 9PM and I proceeded towards the bus which was to take us till the plane. Instead of occupying the seats, I saw a crowd of people standing near the door, clinging on to the overhead handles. I realized that there is going to be a stampede as soon as the bus stops near the plane. As the bus neared the plane people started crowding the door. I was experienced in this sort of shuffle as I had used the Bombay local trains for years. I was ready. The bus stopped, the door opened, half of the people ran towards the front door and the other half ran towards the rear door of the plane. The rest of the confused lot, who were probably traveling for the first time by Air Deccan, watched the stampede in bewilderment.
On the plane
I decided to take the rear entry to the plane as I find rear entries to be more convenient. I ran up the steps more easily as I did not have any hand baggage with me. As I entered the plane, I was greeted by a dude who smiled and welcomed me. I wondered whether these guys have cut costs and sacked all the air hostesses. Anyway my first aim was to find myself a seat. I saw that most of the window seats were already taken (We have a fetish for window seats even though we may not look outside. Somehow its not paisa vasool until you get a window seat). I found one window seat and hurriedly paced towards it. There was a gentleman sitting in the aisle seat and I asked him to let me in. He gave me a stare as if asking me, "Why do you want to get in here when the entire plane is empty. Cant you go anywhere else?" Anyway, I stared back and finally he let me pass. The first ordeal was over. Shortly it was announced that the plane was ready for takeoff. I looked at my watch. It was only 9:20PM. Surely my watch couldn't be showing the wrong time. In the meantime, the dudes on the plane gave us the security drill. No one bothered to check whether everyone had buckled their seat belts etc. Just a short announcement was made regarding this in a bored voice. The plane took off at 9:30PM, 10 mins before the scheduled departure time. I wondered about those people who believed in Air Deccans track record and who would have turned up a bit late. We were all air borne. I could see a long golden line of lights which I concluded to be hosur road and I even managed to spot forum.
In the skies
Once we were flying, I started to read the Air Deccan inflight magazine to kill time. It was a pretty interesting read. After a short while I decided to take a short nap. I was woken by the loud conversation that my neighbor was having with the people around him. This was a typical middle class crowd, where people enjoy talking to one another on the journey. I have noticed this on all my train journeys. My neighbor asserted himself to be a wise guy of sorts. I found out that he had some contract work with the Siddhi Vinayaka temple in Bombay. He was saying, "Kingfisher chi air hostess masst astaat. Eka vedi mee Indian Airlines madhe zaat hota, tyanchi airhostess baghun maajhi jevan karaaychi iccha samplee" meaning "Kingfisher airlines has good air hostesses. Once when I was travelling by Indian airlines, I lost my appetite after seeing their air hostesses". Everyone around rolled into laughter and nodded their heads in agreement. I closed my eyes and kept my ears open to this wonderful conversation. It was going in an interesting direction. I was glad I learnt marathi in school. After 1.5 hours the plane started descending. I watched the Queens necklace (marine drive) gleaming in the night. We reached Bombay just 10 mins late. This was great by Air Deccan standards. Either they are taking their slogan seriously or I was just plain lucky.
On my way
After waiting in the baggage collection point for about 15 mins, I picked up my small bag and rushed to get home. It was already 12:30AM and I had to cover around 40 kms. Its strange but your baggage always takes time to come while other people get their baggage faster. The journey home was also gr8. But that can be covered in another post I guess. now I am willing to give Air Deccan a third chance as well.
First encounter
I first flew with Air Deccan in July last year. I was warned by a lot of people regarding their late service, old airplanes, tired looking air hostesses, no-free-stuff (A non-Indian concept since we always look for freebies and discounts even when buying 10 rupees worth of vegetables) etc. But since I did not have a choice then, I decided to take a chance. And somehow it met my expectations. The flight was delayed by over 6 hours. I finished a whole novel sitting at Bangalore airport. Then, when we finally boarded the plane, it did not take off until another half an hour due to some "technical" problem. I cannot comment on the quality of the airplanes as I'm not an expert, but the air hostesses were not as bad as people said. Offcourse they cannot be compared with their counterparts at Kingfisher airlines, but thinking of the motherly treatment Indian Airlines provides, I was satisfied. So after an eventful day the plane took off and almost brought me to Bombay. They did not get landing permission and kept circling the airport till about 20 mins. Finally I made it to Bombay. But I did not write Air Deccan off after this journey as I was willing to give it a second chance on account of the fact that the reason for the delay were the floods in Bombay, last year in July.
Second chance
The second chance came last week when I again decided to fly by Air Deccan. Why? because they offered the lowest fares :) So there I was once again at Bangalore airport. The plane was scheduled to take off at 9:40PM. After the checkin, I waited patiently watching the hands of the clock. I noticed that the boarding pass did not have any seat number. I saw a man argue at the Air Deccan checkin counter. He had some ticket problems I guess. In a short while the argument turned into a brawl and the man would have exchanged some fists with the Air Deccan employee if the airport security hadn't intervened. I was engrossed in this battle when they finally announced the departure of the flight at around 9PM and I proceeded towards the bus which was to take us till the plane. Instead of occupying the seats, I saw a crowd of people standing near the door, clinging on to the overhead handles. I realized that there is going to be a stampede as soon as the bus stops near the plane. As the bus neared the plane people started crowding the door. I was experienced in this sort of shuffle as I had used the Bombay local trains for years. I was ready. The bus stopped, the door opened, half of the people ran towards the front door and the other half ran towards the rear door of the plane. The rest of the confused lot, who were probably traveling for the first time by Air Deccan, watched the stampede in bewilderment.
On the plane
I decided to take the rear entry to the plane as I find rear entries to be more convenient. I ran up the steps more easily as I did not have any hand baggage with me. As I entered the plane, I was greeted by a dude who smiled and welcomed me. I wondered whether these guys have cut costs and sacked all the air hostesses. Anyway my first aim was to find myself a seat. I saw that most of the window seats were already taken (We have a fetish for window seats even though we may not look outside. Somehow its not paisa vasool until you get a window seat). I found one window seat and hurriedly paced towards it. There was a gentleman sitting in the aisle seat and I asked him to let me in. He gave me a stare as if asking me, "Why do you want to get in here when the entire plane is empty. Cant you go anywhere else?" Anyway, I stared back and finally he let me pass. The first ordeal was over. Shortly it was announced that the plane was ready for takeoff. I looked at my watch. It was only 9:20PM. Surely my watch couldn't be showing the wrong time. In the meantime, the dudes on the plane gave us the security drill. No one bothered to check whether everyone had buckled their seat belts etc. Just a short announcement was made regarding this in a bored voice. The plane took off at 9:30PM, 10 mins before the scheduled departure time. I wondered about those people who believed in Air Deccans track record and who would have turned up a bit late. We were all air borne. I could see a long golden line of lights which I concluded to be hosur road and I even managed to spot forum.
In the skies
Once we were flying, I started to read the Air Deccan inflight magazine to kill time. It was a pretty interesting read. After a short while I decided to take a short nap. I was woken by the loud conversation that my neighbor was having with the people around him. This was a typical middle class crowd, where people enjoy talking to one another on the journey. I have noticed this on all my train journeys. My neighbor asserted himself to be a wise guy of sorts. I found out that he had some contract work with the Siddhi Vinayaka temple in Bombay. He was saying, "Kingfisher chi air hostess masst astaat. Eka vedi mee Indian Airlines madhe zaat hota, tyanchi airhostess baghun maajhi jevan karaaychi iccha samplee" meaning "Kingfisher airlines has good air hostesses. Once when I was travelling by Indian airlines, I lost my appetite after seeing their air hostesses". Everyone around rolled into laughter and nodded their heads in agreement. I closed my eyes and kept my ears open to this wonderful conversation. It was going in an interesting direction. I was glad I learnt marathi in school. After 1.5 hours the plane started descending. I watched the Queens necklace (marine drive) gleaming in the night. We reached Bombay just 10 mins late. This was great by Air Deccan standards. Either they are taking their slogan seriously or I was just plain lucky.
On my way
After waiting in the baggage collection point for about 15 mins, I picked up my small bag and rushed to get home. It was already 12:30AM and I had to cover around 40 kms. Its strange but your baggage always takes time to come while other people get their baggage faster. The journey home was also gr8. But that can be covered in another post I guess. now I am willing to give Air Deccan a third chance as well.
posted by Bambaiya @ Tuesday, October 17, 2006
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