[govindremesh]

Hi All,

As an aviation enthusiast, social media platforms keep feeding me with articles related to commercial aviation. Since LinkedIn has become the new customer complaints platform in many countries, a series of articles about IndiGo's service keep popping up every now and then. While there are posts that appreciate the airlines for it's services, a majority of them however are customer complaints.

Every organisation will have deficiencies in service delivery- that's a given and good organisations fix those and keep improving. However, what can an organisation do if making customers happy would involve changing the foundation of their operational structure?

I recently came across this post by a gentleman who has very well summarised the major pet-peeves people have with IndiGo:

LinkedIn Post

Here's the screenshot


He shares some good insights, which is echoed by many people. IndiGo's PR team swung into action promising that the feedback has been noted. However, I couldn't help lamenting if most of these were us Indians feeling entitled while being served by a low cost airline, forgetting the fact that "you get what you pay for".

Direct to the question: Looking at the negative comments on the airline, Is IndiGo an airline that's greedy with bad service; a victim of Indian entitlement or is it a combination of both/other factors?

While I like to hear the perspectives of other BHPians, including people who have worked in the Industry (kind attn: Bhpian's V.Narayan , searchingheaven and AirbusCapt ) , I'd like to present my perspectives on some of the points.

It might help to know that I'm a IndiGo fan, so I'll be defending the airline in my stance. I'm the type of guy who spends a few thousands extra to fly specifically on IndiGo when I'm in India, and the reasons are simple:

• Any of my close family members or I have never been left stranded by IndiGo. Any changes to the schedule have been communicated well in advance via email and SMS.
• IndiGo's T&Cs are clear, if you take the time to read them. Rescheduling/cancelling has never been a problem for me. The customer care does get time to connect to, but I've always got a satisfactory reply
• Well maintained aircrafts, that always keep time. Thanks to the buffer they add, they always arrive on time even if the departure is delayed
• Staff are courteous and have been surprisingly flexible in events where my baggage was a little over the allowed weight limit.
• One of the rare airlines where the crew is happy to give you a flight deck tour and answer your tech questions, if you ask nicely!

Having studied and working in operations, I admire the way IndiGo has stayed true to their promise and has scaled up to become the largest domestic airline in India.

However, IndiGo has messed up at times. The one that comes to my memory is the staff beating up an aged man on the tarmac for some dispute, IndiGo assigning same seat to multiple passengers (have never seen that happen myself, but I know it happens in aviation) and lately, DGCA fining IndiGo for operational deficiencies after multiple A321 tail strikes . So agreed that they're no saint- but are they that bad ?

Now to some points from the LinkedIn post:

[govindremesh]

Now to some points from the LinkedIn post:

Now there's always a premium on your flights. On some sectors, your tickets cost more than full-fare airlines. And what am I getting in return?

That's a strategy used by many companies- offer cheap entry into ecosystem to gain market share, often resulting in a loss, then jack up the prices once marketshare ambitions and customer goodwill is won. A business is not a social service, and if one has a problem with rising prices, they're happy to switch to another provider.
Sure, sometimes IndiGo does greedy by hiking prices to an unimaginable levels, but with the Civil aviation ministry putting caps on fare per sector, IndiGo can legally charge the maximum if they want to.

Your check-in counters are a chaotic mess. There are never enough counters open as you’ve probably scaled down ground staff. The ones who remain are super-stressed, even downright rude.

The "chaotic mess" part is something I've experienced- but also got out of. Reason is simple-Cost cutting, as it's a low cost airline after all!
I had a situation where I would have missed the flight I had waited to reach the check in counter. All I did is to walk up to a staff and politely request them to expedite me through , explaining the long wait and the flight that was going to depart shortly. I wasn't asked any questions- just moved to a new counter, followed by an announcement for other passengers who were in the same situation as I was.
Incredibly- I saw a line of not less than 15 people form behind me- all for the same flight. None of us missed the flight that day.

I think the problem is people not speaking up, but expecting IndiGo to magically know they're in trouble. As for rude staff- I've never experienced any. While I won't deny they exist, most of the times I've observed that the staff mostly reciprocates the way you behave with them in the first place.

You used to treat us like valued passengers. But now we’re animals being herded everywhere. I have to say it Indigo. It seems you’re hell bent on flying us like cattle in your cattle class hell.
Clearly, this person has not flown on Ryanair! I'm 6 feet tall, and I agree that the leg space is a at a premium, it's not to the point of being a "cattle class hell". For a 3 hour long flight at max on a low cost airline, what do you expect - 34" seat pitch?

Finally:

Your boarding experience at the gate is pathetic. You line us up in long queues when the incoming aircraft passengers haven’t even deplaned. All so that you can push back before scheduled time?

That's a result of our own doing. IST - Indian Stretchable Time - which is well documented as a "culture trait" in Erin Meyer's book "The Culture Map" conflicts with IndiGo Standard time. I think this "queue up before aircraft has deplaned" was done after a lot of people accused IndiGo of leaving them behind. So they devised a simpler solution- start forming the queue- as we Indians absolutely love to get served first, hence jump into a queue when we see it forming! However, I've never seen an IndiGo employee asking or threaten me to queue up. I can always board last- but then I risk losing not getting space for my cabin bag. Or so would be the though of most.

The food situation is laughable; it's barely edible, and even when it's miraculously available, it costs an arm and a leg. Seriously, I could buy a decent meal at a nice restaurant at your prices!

This would be a valid argument if IndiGo forced you to buy food. Nobody is asking you to eat on an airplane- feel free to have food before you board- or better- bring your own dabba- which I usually do and eat before I board! (I'm not a foodie- so perhaps foodies can comment about the underlying emotion of overpriced food at airports/onboard).

Now that the fanboy talk has ended- I'd like to hear your perspectives. Looking forward to some experiences and insights!

PS: My family or I are in no way associated with IndiGo or even the aviation sector for that matter. The closest link I have with aviation is the Microsoft Flight simulator that I use on my Xbox!

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Roy.S]

Overall I've had no complaints about Indigo. The whole process from check-in to picking up luggage at the destination has always been fuss free.
On an average I fly Indigo twice a month and haven't faced any of the problems listed in that rambling litany of a LinkedIn post.
My opinion? Entitlement

[ghodlur]

Unfortunately I have to agreed to all the points raised in the rant. I fly with Indigo for all domestic business flights and even though its a corporate fare, the services one gets is the basic one. I have to struggle to find non chargeable seats during checkin. I am unable to checkin using the app for some weird reasons and Indigo confirmed this is the case with many. The inflight meals which was a part of corporate fare was removed by Indigo, earlier a Bangalore Mangalore flight used to be treated with a sandwich and beverage now downgraded to a box of cashews or cookies or some nuts. The Boarding process at the terminal, the bus transport, the boarding checks at flight are a big joke in itself. I dont know about the baggage collection but have heard some bad reviews of the same too. Once a blue eyed boy of the aviation sector, they have taken things and customers for granted now.

I simply love Vistara for all the above reason as I havent found any points to complain about. I will be trying Akasa now soon lets see if it goes the Indigo way.

[shankar.balan]

Im just recapping my own experiences with Indigo as a normal full fare paying passenger and lay person consumer.

I like Indigo. Am quite happy to pay the regular fare and pay extra for QuickBoard, Fast Forward baggage, Sports equipment, light food like that Upma and Pomegranate juice and for my XL emergency exit seats like 13D.
If I do travel to Mumbai or Delhi (as I used to quite frequently), I fly Indigo. I also like their service for International trips. Singapore and Dubai in particular.
I like their firm, slim seats because I get adequate support (I also like a firmer than normal mattress because it supports the back better.)
I like the fact that they are on time. I like their branding - it is really a well thought through, consistent and well executed exercise right to the smallest detail. Their staff are friendly. I have not experienced a bumpy landing on Indigo hence the Pilots must be well skilled.

Of course, I do tend to plan my Travel reasonably in advance and I always leave plenty of time for the whole Airport commute, security, check in rigmarole.

Long and short of it, I am happy with Indigo and will continue to use them.

[ninjatalli]

Honestly for domestic (/short) travel, my key USP for a flight over other modes is reliability and efficiency. Do I have flight options at the time of the day I want to? Is the airline / flight start on time and reaches on time? Can I get done with the travel without any unnecessary delays (airport and in flight).

To me Indigo does this very well. I don't care if they add minutes to their flight duration in advance; I'm aware of the total time when I choose a flight. Their flight time slots are generally at ideal times (for me).

Rest all (thin seats, jacked up food prices, etc.) are unimportant for me. If I wanted to leisurely enjoy the trip, I'll take my own car or take a train.

P.s. On a side note, I would never consider Indigo as an option for international / long flights.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Unfortunately The inflight meals which was a part of corporate fare was removed by Indigo, earlier a Bangalore Mangalore flight used to be treated with a sandwich and beverage now downgraded to a box of cashews or cookies or some nuts.

I think they are doing this deliberately. For a company that keeps blowing its horn about its process focus, I am having trouble ascribing incompetence as the cause, and suspect malice towards customers

I had a similar experience when I pre booked meals sometimes in 2015 but was told during the flight that they could not be provided as its a short flight. When i asked for a refund, everyone from the flight crew to the customer care were adamant that there is no such mechanism.
Fast forward to 2022, i thought they had improved things, but had the exact same experience. Money gone, and no resolution "Sir that's our policy"
I think indigo has a near monopoly on a lot of routes (at least they do on the domestic routes I fly), so they are really not worried about customer service, and becoming more like a government organization. I am sure they have the operational visibility to fix such issues, but why throw away revenue because of ethics eh?

[ABHI_1512]

Everything aside, Indigo is not a low cost airline. May be it was earlier but certainly not now. The way they charge for almost everything in the garb of being low cost is plain wrong. Their fares are at par or more than the full service carriers in almost every sector they fly in. I understand they have achieved their success on a certain strategy that they maintain but charging obnoxious prices is certainly not on. But yes, service wise, they are still the ones to beat in the Indian skies in terms of on time performances despite the buffer time that every airlines keep.

[aadya]

We are in India. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. Our culture is to be late. Our tendency is to rush even if our seat is reserved. We like to push around the poor servant at our home and at airport. We travel heavy with one kg extra pickle in our luggage. We want to eat through out our travel even if it is for 30 minutes. We like jumping queue as always we are in emergency or urgency , whatever. We are the best motivators in the world as we want cheap to be the best.

I am a less privileged Indian. I am okay with an affordable, safe, clean, ontime, reliable transport for any travel less than 2-3 hours, which is most of India. And Indigo serves that purpose well.

[overtaker]

Originally Posted by govindremesh

As an aviation enthusiast, social media platforms keep feeding me with articles related to commercial aviation. Since LinkedIn has become the new customer complaints platform in many countries, a series of articles about IndiGo's service keep popping up every now and then.

I would like to differ on the last 2 points.
4. It depends on the ground staff at the airport as far as allowing baggage over allowance is concerned. At many places, they stick to the weight no matter what. Even a half kg extra isn't allowed.

5. Again it depends on the crew whether to offer a flight deck tour. Some have out rightly denied it with a big NO despite being polite.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by govindremesh

[*]Staff are courteous and have been surprisingly flexible in events where my baggage was a little over the allowed weight limit.
:

You have been lucky to get this privilege. I have always found them to be very strict with baggage allowance (same case with other ppl I know). They have even raised eyebrow for going 500gm over limit and almost asked me to pay for it many times. In fact, at some airports I have seen their staff weighing hand baggage after the security check/before the boarding.

Other than that, I am happy with their on time performance and the fact that they have the best connectivity with in India.

[G-One]

I flew Indigo international twice, march 2023 return trip and july 2023 return trip. Ho Chi Minh City - Kolkata - Bangalore

Likes:
No time wasted on transit, only 1 hr 55 mts transit, Fast Forward luggage service, your luggage comes first no problems,
Luggage transfer from Kolkata to Bangalore, there is a team waiting outside who will whisk away the luggage from you and straight transfer on to B'lore aircraft, Check in counter for 6E fast forward is smooth and trouble free ( except for the stupid questions like "where is your return flight ticket sir?" " well i work there and have a resident card, so not sure when i will return." sir you have resident card, where you working in Vietnam?" " I am still working there.") if you can suffer those well and good. Food - Upma was great, kebab was good.

Dislikes:
Food - Cold chicken samosa was the worst, Ideally i should've gotten 8 meals, but got only 3, not that i was hungry, but atleast ask! Their XL seats are probably the worst of any airline that i have sat in, budget airlines like Vietjet Airasia have better ergonomic seats. Boarding - I never saw any priority boarding line in Kolkata and Bangalore, but they did in Ho Chi Minh City. Boarding Staff - even though immigration has cleared you, the staff will stop and check passport, visa / Resident Card etc. They still email you some outdated covid protocol. They also email you a passenger manifesto where you have to declare if you have taken a covid test.

My message to Indigo, if you promise then deliver, if you cannot deliver then don't promise.

[revsperminute]

Indigo is the Innova of the Indian aviation sector. It’s not the best in any one field but when compared to other airlines which may trump in any one field, it’s a good all-round package with stellar reliability.

Moreover for people like me who travel with only carry-ons, it’s the quickest way to get from point A to B with the least instances of operational delays and the sheer number of flights available to take on any route. I always book the XL seats though. The normal ones would require me to leave my knees at home. Also in Bombay, if I see an Indigo flight is landing at the old domestic terminal, I don’t even consider other options. A breeze to get out of that airport.

Besides Indigo, I also like Vistara premium economy. Well maintained aircrafts, comfortable seats (economy wise) and a good meal. However their routes and frequency of flights leave a lot to be desired.

[pepega]

Indigo is a low-cost airline. Of course, they're not going to make every 200 passengers on each flight feel special. If what it takes to get 200 people before time on a flight is to to get them to line up, so be it. I'd rather be on time than feel special sitting at the gate.

I've done Indigo priority check in within 5 minutes when I was carrying more than 100kg in luggage. There was a huge line, but the priority line was nearly empty. I was able to go through that and leave the check-in counter area in 15 minutes flat. That was impressive. I've also gotten "bumped up" to their emergency seat with the extra legroom when I was traveling without any check-in luggage.

Granted it's off season, but today you can get an air ticket on Indigo from Delhi to most domestic destinations in India for under 5000. That's cheaper than the cost of some 1st class train tickets, I'm sure. And almost infinitely faster.

I remember the prices being almost the same several years ago (around 2015-16). The fact is that those prices haven't gone up because of government mandates and so on. The airline still needs to run a business. If cutting meal availability and ground staff is what keeps them profitable, then I'm willing to accommodate them on that as well.

Just get me where I am going on time with the least amount of hassle. For that, I'll stick with Indigo.