I have only, flown Jet Airways in India, so I don?t quite know how to compare it to the rest of the domestic carriers. Every time I visit India for business, I end up spending just about same time in the stratosphere, as on land.
In a space of 10 days my usual itinerary goes as following
Bombay ------ Indore
Indore ----------- Bombay
Bombay-------- Bangalore
Bangalore------ Bombay
Bombay -------- Delhi
Delhi--------------- Bangalore
Bangalore-------- Chennai
Let me start of with the fact that, Jet Airways is in sync with most Domestic Airline services in the west. I will go out on a limb, and say that pound-to-pound, Jet Air has a slight edge, as compared to its international rivals.
When it comes to Ticketing, Billing, Pre-boarding services, and Disembarkation, Jet is at par, with all domestic airlines(as in the west), The one factor, that throws the light on Jet, is its In-cabin service. Most Asian carriers always have a edge when it comes to personal attention of the passengers as, we are a service oriented people by nature, in stark contrast to the all business attitude in the west
I will now give you a breakdown of some of the experiences I?ve had,
I have mostly Flown Jets club premier class, which is its Business-First Class service. Except the Indore-delhi leg, (only economy class available)
The Club Premier lounges are upto par with domestic lounges of other countries. Jet ties in with Taj club level catering and the service is impeccable, the food is indicative of the state you are in, the attention to detail is on point. With club level seats you are directed to wait in the lounges till boarding.
I will Rank the cities according to the level of the lounges
Delhi
Bombay ( I thought Bombay would be better)
Bangalore
Chennai ( was the worst)
Indore ( no lounge here)
Seating: Premiere seats are fitted with armrest tables, arranged in a two-by-two configuration so that every passenger has a window or aisle seat. The seat pitch is 38 inches to give you enough legroom. Economy Class, the seat pitch is a 31 inches with a three-by-three configuration.( I little too tight for my liking, but I am 6feet 5inches)
The club class seats are also wide enough, keeping in mind their international clientele.
In flight Service: I was pleasantly surprised by the level of attention they pay to your needs, and ever since my first flight with them, they have only exceeded my expectation.
They always address you by your name, I prefer being called Sid and like to dispense with all the Sir?s and mr;?s, and I had to say it only once and every one on board kept that in mind. They removed my Jacket promptly and even removed the lint before handing it back to me. Drinks are served promptly, and food follows rather quickly. The food is catered by Taj, I have no comment as I never eat on board domestic flights. I prefer to get some much hated paper work done. Infact they have always gotten my laptop for me once we are at cruising altitude, and put it away, when approaching landing. One peculiarity I must point out is the fact that some of the flight attendants (I am talking strictly about the women) are borderline flirtatious) One such lovely, who I was chatting with during the service, quite brazenly asked me if I will be frequenting this particular leg, later on during
de-boarding she said she will look out for me... pity I never ran into her... again...
Even my only economy level leg from Indore to Delhi was pleasant, the space was a bit cramped but the short journey was bearable. Only thing that comes to mind were some profusely sweating foul smelling, pan chewing patrons, our cud chewing chaps spoke rather loudly, spewing bits of pan in the cabin, one such offending projectile made its way on my starchy white shirt, leaving a tell tale spot to reminisce about.
Expect one instance the flight crew seems to be right on top of the ball?. You could always judge the crew by the initial landing, the quality of the Pilots depends on how he lands the plane? Jets pilots were excellent expect one buckckaroo, on the Delhi Bangalore leg, Captain Kangaroo, had a spine chilling landing and then pretty much bounced his way to the terminal?
I rate this Airlines - A