I can only call it misfortune- bad luck perhaps earned in my previous births. I experienced MID AIR torture today(30th Nov’14) on Air Asia flight I5-1824 from Bengaluru- Chandigarh.
The flight which was supposed to depart from KIAL at 9.40 am was initially rescheduled to 11.15 am. After checking in and waiting at boarding gate No.8 awaiting boarding which was to commence at 10.30am- the wait got longer and longer. Worse still, there was no staff member from the airline or any SMS/announcement giving information. Finally, a staff member came over and announced a further delay of 30 minutes.
The Airline Manager ducked responsibility and tried his best to evade the now restless crowd. The executive manning the counter did not have a clue about the extent of the delay. Senior citizens, women and children waited endlessly & even a drop of water was not offered by the shameless staff. The Manager cited his helplessness and told us that the airline did not have a tie up with any F & B store in the airport. For a moment, it looked as if AIR ASIA had done us a charity and had offered to fly us FREE.
After such a long & agonizing wait, the aircraft finally arrived from Chennai. The boarding was completely chaotic and the plane took off at 12.40 noon.
The torture continued- the ill trained cabin crew did not realize that it was lunch time. They did not load enough food and beverages into the plane. Therefore, they intentionally prolonged the cabin service. Even until 2.30, they did not approach the mid rows in which I was seated(row 17) & finally when they did, I got an answer that all their food stocks were over.
The cabin was dirty & I found the cabin crew to be ultra arrogant and were on board with ZERO TRAINING. They had arguments with so many passengers- a phenomenon that I have never witnessed being a’very frequent’ flyer!
I asked for a feedback form and after 2 repeated requests, I got a dirty looking feedback form- which was an A4 sheet with a few columns to give a’feedback’.
After a torturous journey, the aircraft landed at 3.30 noon at Chandigarh.
I think that I have committed the greatest SIN by flying in AIR ASIA INDIA, when I had a choice of other airlines. I did not expect this PUNISHMENT from a so called International Group.I can safely conclude one thing- the motto of AIR ASIA INDIA is to make money and LOOT!
My sincere advise and appeal to all flyers- particularly people on business travel like me- please think 10 TIMES before you book and fly in AIR ASIA.AIR ASIA is a DISGRACE to the INDIAN skies. Indian aviation is better off without this terrible, irresponsible and unprofessional airline.
I flown in my FIRST & the LAST flight of AIR ASIA and I do not hope to do so ever. I am also confident that the airline will NEVER improve. As long as the company has Glamorous people from the fashion industry who know NOTHING about Airline business managing it- passengers will only get the worst of things.
WAKE UP- MANAGEMENT of AIR ASIA INDIA. Sad that a respectable group like the TATAS are associated with this sick airline.
AIR ASIA- The real definition of CATTLE CLASS!