Kingfisher.When I hear this name. In my mind I go to Rajasthan where there were Kings, Palaces, and all sorts of Luxury. I usually board KF flight with this image in my mind.
The Airlines is Class Apart and far ahead from its competitors. Needless to say I expect nothing but perfection in everything associated with Kingfisher.
Though I have not travelled many times in Kingfisher Flight yet it has been around 3 years since I have been travelling on it.
The following is my latest experience with KF:-
Airport:- Kolkata.
Baggage Screening:- I had a small electric Kettle for checkin. There were heavy suitcases of many people around me. Subsequent to screening & before certification these suitcases kept on falling on my "small Kettle which was Fragile". I noticed it & protected it, but KF staff didnt notice it. It also took more than 5 min to get it certified after screening. At that moment One Officer of KF noticed it and asked me for what was inside the box. I told him and he believed. I deliberately opened the box & showed the thing to him.
Point I want to make:- Never believe when it is related to security, re scan & always cross verify.
Checkin Counter:- The lady at counter was cheerful & respectful. She checked all the details & promptly issued boarding card. Just at this moment when pass was being printed I asked her for an aisle seat, She cancelled the boarding card & issued me another one. That too with a big smile. Hats off to her & KF.
Inside Aircraft:-
All Airhostess were polite & greeted all Guests promptly.I took my seat and saw that there was a used tissue inserted in the front pocket/magazine pocket. Apparantly aircraft was not cleaned.
The TV picture quality was very poor and reminded me of old good days when I was not having Tata SKY.
Infact the quality was so poor that the security demo was also hazy.(Mr.Mallya, you need to focus on this as there can be some first timers in your airlines.)
Food Service:- Some stuff with chinese name was brought for food as no other veg item was available.
Apart from food I ordered Apple juice. The Airhostess came back with Orange Juice and forgot the person who gave the order. As a result she kept asking people around me but didnt ask me. So I also stayed silent for 10 min. After 10 min I reminded her for the Juice and viola she was back with Orange Juice. At this moment I told her about my original choice of juice. She asked me to have Orange Juice till the time she was back with Apple Juice. I refused the offer and held my stand. By the way Juice was good.
Interestingly, I saw her taking out KF pens, however they were not distributed. May be the stock was less or some other reason beyond my comprehension.
Landing Experience:- Delhi is known to have Deep Fog in DEC/JAN, however I was lucky that the flight landed just 10-15 min late. We all were Jovial and thanked God for Grace. I dont mean to take credit of a Good landing from Pilot. The pilot was one of the best & it was demonstrated the way the entire flight process was handled.
Baggage Counter:- My luggage also came on time, untampered & safe.
Overall Experience was OK, however if I compare my this year experience with Previous year experience then last years GOOD became this year OK. Hope somone is listening.
I will keep travelling by KF and will form an opinion after 3-4 more flights of KF.
Regards
Manan Gupta