THE HIDDEN & UNSEEN GIFT OF JET FOR INDIAN FLIERS:
I flew 6 sectors on Jet Airways during a recent business trip to India. I also flew two sectors by Indian Airlines. This was my first extensive travel around the country in a long time, and I was delighted with more than the professional services of Jet Airways.
To me the most significant impact of Jet Airways has been the way Indian Airlines has been forced to straightening its act. About 10 years back, I remember flying IA’s cramped and filthy flights and dealing with the couldn’t-care-less attitude of ground staff and flight attendants. Well, friends had told me that thanks to competition by Jet Airways, IA has reduced their fares on many sectors. And while the clean, comfortable and pleasant flights of Jet Airways made it a delight to fly, what shocked me was that IA was trying hard to do better. Nothing like a kick in your you-know-what by a good competitor.
TIMELINESS:
All my Jet flights took off and landed on time. One landed even ahead of schedule. These guys have learned from the American carriers who schedule extra air time for their flights (more than the plane needs to get to destination), so they can still claim to be on time even when there are delays in taking off.
IN-FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:
Very clean. The blankets didn’t smell (I know, nasty thought, but have you flown Indian Airlines back in late 1980s?). Meals were delicious (there’s one thing we Indians do right, yeah)?
My only qualm was all flight attendants who spoke Hindi seemed to have LOST their nasal sounds of the Hindi langauge. ’’hub mummai pahochay gay’’ instead of Hum Mumbai PahuNcheNgay. Well I figured, may be with the many changes in our country, we were doing away with nasal sounds. If the french should ever decide to do that, millions of American students will breath in relief and through their nose again!
PRICE:
Jet is a tad more expensive compared to IA. I don’t know the exact difference since I bought Jet tickets from the US and IA tickets for cash in New Delhi. The BABU at the IA ticket counter refused to accept my American Express unless he could charge me USD-180 for it. Somehow that translated to a lot more rupees than the INR-5185 advertised for the ticket. Instead of fighting a moron, I gave him a huge wad of hundred rupee bills. Three days later, at a different counter, another Babu accepted the same credit card and charged INR-5185 for my Mumbai-Delhi flight. IA hasn’t lost its touch - each jamadar and moron at each level sets their own policy. Jet on the other hand seems to be run a lot more professionally.