“Sawasdee kaa…” a warm **air hostesses’ greeting as you enter the aircraft lingers in the air as you enter any flight of Thai Airways till you disembark. Stepping into the aircraft, the traveler is introduced to the Thai style of humility, hospitality and service which is the first window to ‘The Land of Smiles’ and it is not difficult to fall in love with the Thai way of service with smile. The Thais adorned with their smiling demeanor makes them a natural host which aptly corroborates the title of Thailand being referred to as ‘The Land of Smiles’. Asians are typically known to be generous and gracious hosts which are clearly reflected in service capabilities of Asian airlines (though this sentence does not absolve Air India and Indian Airlines for its shoddy service rendering capabilities). The service capabilities of airlines in Asian aviation sector clearly surpass the robotic and cold service meted by European and American peers (not to mention racist, at times).
Apart from the service, the airline falters on a number of other aspects most notably the aircraft, comfort and entertainment. The airline definitely needs to upgrade its aircrafts. The planes are old and definitely not in sync with the superior quality aircrafts operated by its competitors in the Asian sectors of India, Singapore, Hongkong and Malaysia.The misery of the airline is compounded by the mediocre seating arrangements of the airline in both the Economy and Business class segments. Comparisons with other carriers would be suicidal to the airline as its main competitor in Asian segments notably Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Malaysian offer superior quality services and more desirable than itself. In fact, business class seating facilities are no where comparable to the sophisticated facilities provided by other airlines. The seating in Economy class segment needs immediate and rapid modernization.
The airline has not placed high priority on entertainment across its sectors. Travellers can well forget to be enthralled with the latest Hollywood or Bollywood movies or shows. Infact, the entertainment in economy class segment is highly mediocre. At the least, you can expect a six month Bollywood and Hollywood old movie being screened on sectors emanating from India.
In spite of these shortcomings, the variety of cuisine and refreshments provided in business class is quite appreciable. Range of cuisines in flights departing or arriving into Indian cities varies between Indian, Western and Thai. Though the airline does not offer ‘Dom Perignon’ variety of Champagnes in the skies, the existing range of wine, champagne, whisky and cocktails definitely parches the throats of discerning drinkers and teetotalers.
‘Change’ and re-discovering itself is the need of the hour for the airline in such turbulent times in aviation sector.
Theairline is recommended only if this is the only full service airline availablefrom the sector you are time/ schedule constraints but would be HIGHLY recommended over Air India.