In this era of competition among the low cost airlines, it is very difficult for any airline to carve a niche out for itself. Yet that is the only way any airline could survive, if it could successfully generate repeat business. Spicejet has been doing that by blowing the "convenience" trumpet. Indigo has been doing that by chanting the "timeliness" mantra. We Indians are so price conscious that we research 6 different sites and compare everything before buying an air ticket, so it is necessary for any airline to create a proper positioning in our mind.
I have flown in all the domestic airlines except Paramount and Kingfisher/Kingfisher Red, so I can fairly judge them. I am not a regular business traveler but someone who travels for leisure and necessity. And I had my first chance to fly Indigo last week. I must say I was pleasantly surprised.
The plane:
It was a brand new Airbus A 320. I have always liked an Airbus over a Boeing 737. This one was even better because it was new. That is one of the reasons I like flying Spicejet over Air India/ Jet, as the new airlines have new carriers. So many times have I encountered old carriers that have stinky cushions or almost broken Chair Trays. I also feel that an Airbus has a better leg space than Boeing for a tall person like me.
The crew:
Very young and courteous females. They seemed well groomed and prepared to face all kinds of reasonable situations. Although All the airlines can claim to have a "well trained" staff, my real experiences tell a different story. I have found Jet and Spicejet crews to be the best and Air India and Go to be the worst at simple courtesies.
The "Food":
Although I didn’t order any, I could see that they didn’t have many options. This is something where I think they can improve. Spicejet is probably the only low cost airline that serves good quality food. Go, Indigo and Jet Lite have a typical packed snacks and sandwiches fair. Full service airlines anyways charge about 1000 rupees more than their counterparts so they have to serve good meals, but for low cost airlines I think they could look up to Spicejet for quality and variety. Spicejet offers meals at 150 rs (and 125 rs if you book online). So to sum it up the food was a disappointment. Thankfully it was a short flight so I didn’t really need to order any.
The "water":
This is one of the make or break factors for me. An airline that doesn’t even serve free water for passengers is killing itself in the name of "cost cutting". And I liked the fact that Indigo did provide us with a free glass of water (of course you can buy a bottle). This is where my previous experiences with Go were so bad, that they didn’t even offer water. Considering the fact that a passenger will feel thirsty if it is a 2 hour plus flight, especially if it is delayed before taking off (Not the airlines fault really, as everything from the point of boarding is controlled by the Air Traffic Control), saving money on water is something that the passengers will always have bad memories of.
The ground "process":
Everything was smooth, as expected from any airline. The check in was hassle free and without delays. The ground crew were helpful in handling the luggage and answering passengers’ queries politely. Some airlines wait till the last moment before a flight departure is announced and don’t open all the counters resulting in a lot of frustrating wait time for passengers but thankfully things are improving nowadays.
The "transport":
The quality of buses operated from the gate to the airline is largely a function of the airport, but even then I have experienced differences in some airlines and the way they pack the buses. E.g. Jet strictly puts the business class passengers first, and in more comfortable buses. Then they pack economy class passengers like Sardines. This is very bad from the point of view of the customer, but then Jet also has to "differentiate" a.k.a. justify its high charges for Business travellers. My experience with Indigo was a smooth one. They didn’t push passengers to fill the bus when they saw the reluctance of the passengers to go standing and immediately asked the bus to move.
The "entertainment":
Full service airlines have a range of entertainment options from In Flight movies to personal TV to in flight radio. Low cost airlines can’t offer much apart from the Magazine. This area is again something where I think Indigo should improve. Their magazine was called, in a very catchy way, Hello 6-e. It was a nice play of words on the initials of the airline (Jet is 9W, Indian is IC etc), sounding similar to "sexy". But apart from the clever name and the photo of a beautiful woman, that is where it ended. It was nothing but a product catalogue. Again it can look up to SpiceJet where the magazine is a high standard travel magazine, with destinations near to the airports that SpiceJet covers (obviously). Go magazine is also better than Indigo’s, though it feels more of an advertisement for the Wadia Group’s other businesses. One good thing about Spicejet was that it offered magazines for each passenger.
I guess the low cost domestic passenger has to travel with his or her own source of entertainment for now, like a book or a laptop.
The booking experience:
It really ticks me off if an airline has a payment mode limited only to Credit Cards. It is against my principle to own a credit card and it feels like the airline is sending a message that you need to be a privileged one to book a ticket from us. Thankfully Indigo had many banks’ net banking and Debit Cards option as well. The booking experience was good, with options clearly enlisted. The most important options while booking for a low cost airline according to me are the places where we can choose the meals, the prior seat selection and the insurance. In fact, the default selections should be "None" for these 3 and it should be allowed clearly to be chosen (of course for a nominal fee, like is the case with Spicejet and Indigo). There is an option for web check in and you can print your boarding passes conveniently much before you go to the airport. Not all airlines can boast of web check in. I remember calling up Go air once and being informed that there is no Web Check in available.
So to sum it up, if you are not a fussy traveller, and would like a no frills but fundamentally good service, do fly Indigo.