I had an opportunity to fly Kingfisher 6 flights within a short period of 45 days. It was quite an experience.
The resourcefulness and flamboyance of Vijay Mallya shows and makes all the difference. To top it , Mr. Parvez Damania running the show adds value since he did splendid job earlier running Damania airlines which unfortunately went bust after the Khemkas took over.
In an atmosphere of “ indifferent and couldn’t care less “- type of service of Indian Airlines, “ me-too” type of sloppiness from Sahara, “ curt-but-stiff upper lip” service of Jet airways, …. Kingfisher is a welcome change.
To start with, booking of the ticket on the website is so easy and user friendly, even if one has to call the reservation centre, the treatment is efficient and courteous. I wish some more experienced agents were deployed who could be faster .The flexible fare structure is easy on the pocket and delivers good value for money.
The private air terminals 1-B at Delhi, Bombay & Bangalore have become like crowded bus stations with plethora of airlines mushrooming and sudden increase in number of air travelers buoyed by temptingly attractive airfares. Mallya has been clever enough to off-load ground handling services on to IA and avail of the much better IA terminals which are much less crowded. Even the mighty Goyal of Jet could not pull such a feat !
A gang of young boys in bright red overalls blazened with KF logo are right at the entrance of the terminal and they help you with your luggage right through the screening and upto check-in counters. Very thoughtful service which no other airline provides anywhere else.
The staff at the check-in counters is very courteous and efficient, same is the case with immaculately dressed cabin crew. Aircraft interiors are fine, food is excellent, additional benefit is the in-flight entertainment- audio as well as visual. In flight radio channels and video channels beaming canned programs could do well to improve the content, it starts boring from second flight onwards.
Overall, Kingfisher airlines is good and they have the potential of becoming a real serious threat to the market leader-Jet, very shortly.