[saamblr]

I recently traveled on Air India Express from Doha to Kozhikode ( in kerala) for a short business trip. I reached kerala in the morning and on the same day night had to travel by Bus to Bangalore. I just cannot hold back from sharing this experience. I took the shama double axle volvo from Thrissur to Bangalore. The bus journey was so much better and comfortable than the Air India Express Flight experience. The Air India Express seats leave hardly any space between the rows .

I do admit that people take Air India express knowing that it is a budget carrier. What is the definition for a budget carrier ?. Are they competing with some one for the worst service award or some thing ?. How can they come down to a level lower than the simple bus operator ?. The bus cleaner was more customer friendly than the Air India in flight crew. They do not bother to give water, blanket and stuff like that. The shama bus provided nice blankets , water bottles etc. Forget all the material stuff . I am amused by the quality of their in flight announcements ! I just could not make out whether they are talking in Hindi or English ! what is happening ?. Are they deliberately killing this airline for the sake of Private players ?. It is definitely not about cost or money. It is about total lack of will on the part of the management to run it properly. God Save this airline.

[jkdas]

Have you on any European budget carriers?

And yes, I think they are trying to kill the state managed airline company!

[revtech]

regarding the space between seat, i can tell you for sure that most low cost carriers(LCC) in europe and some in the US with a full economy config will have very little space in between seats..
however just because its a LCC, service and hospitality must not degrade to that level..
indigo is an outstanding example.the service is top notch..
and no they arent competing with any one for the worst service award..they earned that long back and the way they are going that badge is going to stay with them for a long time..its sad but thats the state of the national carrier.


rev

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by saamblr

I do admit that people take Air India express knowing that it is a budget carrier. What is the definition for a budget carrier ?. Are they competing with some one for the worst service award or some thing ?. How can they come down to a level lower than the simple bus operator ?. The bus cleaner was more customer friendly than the Air India in flight crew. They do not bother to give water, blanket and stuff like that. The shama bus provided nice blankets , water bottles etc. Forget all the material stuff . I am amused by the quality of their in flight announcements ! I just could not make out whether they are talking in Hindi or English ! what is happening ?.

First tell us how much you paid for the ticket and how much the other airlines' tickets cost? At the end of the day, you can only get what you pay for.

[Abes]

Air India Express is for the low income Indians in the gulf who cant afford the regular "luxury" airlines. And I think they are doing a great job at that, most of the flights are always full!

[selfdrive]

I think they also do well as they fly to destinations that the other airlines dont cater to. I am not sure how many other airlines operate to Kozhikode
I agree with jkdas, there are some budget carriers in Europe that are as bad if not worse than what you mention. While I have never had the opportunity to fly AI Express, I am presuming it would be at similar level to AI, maybe a little worse.

[saamblr]

Mpower, i do agree with you on frills part of it. I paid only about 60 percent of the Qatar airways direct flight. The rates of other full service airlines like emirates ( via Dubai) was on par with the Air India rates to Bangalore and Kochi. I took this flight because night time return flights were not available. So it is not about just money ( at least this time ). I agree that Air India Express is doing a great job by offering cheap flights to poor Indians ( including me ) in the Middle East. The point i am trying to make is that the service levels and attitudes are specially reserved for the Middle East sector because a majority of the passengers are uneducated blue collar workers . Do they pay any lesser to these crew who are on ME flights ??.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by saamblr

The point i am trying to make is that the service levels and attitudes are specially reserved for the Middle East sector because a majority of the passengers are uneducated blue collar workers .

LCC does not mean low in service.

Don't give food and water free but at least service with smile is expected.

Air India or Express or Indian, all are running low in customer satisfaction.

Btw, hows attitude of full carrier like Air France toward Indian passengers? any comments.

I think this thread can be merged in international travel experience thread.

[BulZire]

I too had few bad experiences with Air India express when I use to come from singapore and go back, I take it as the rates are comparatively cheaper than other flights. But sometimes i take Tiger airways with same price which are far better than AI express in terms of quality.

During some seasonal offers i take silk airways for the same price of AI express and the quality of silk is much better than AI and Tiger.
But when company pays for the travel, it is always Singapore Airlines !!!

[@400Kph]

I think the point he is trying to make is does the fact that the rates are low makes them to wear a frown instead of a smile ? I infer from Mpower's post that we should expect it !! If that infact is the opinion then i would say AI/ any LCC sucks big time.As others mentioned let them not give Pepsi/Cola or Sandwiches or even blanket.But atleast put on a smile.
@Ashishpollad , i have travelled in Airfrance thrice and it was pleasant , except for the food ofcourse ;-)

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Btw, hows attitude of full carrier like Air France toward Indian passengers? any comments.

Originally Posted by @400Kph

@Ashishpollad , i have travelled in Airfrance thrice and it was pleasant , except for the food ofcourse ;-)

Its good that you had pleasant exp.
I never flew with that airline but read many horror stories about its attitude toward Indian passengers.
Eventually, Indian aviation ministry warned the airline to come in line but thats another story.

[jkdas]

Ryanair to make passengers stand in bid to cram more on board | Mail Online

Aint AI better now?

And do you get any snacks/water with AI Express?

[DWind]

The in-flight service of an airline is a reflection of how well the management takes care of the crew. If the crew are happy then they would not mind taking that extra bit to help people. Also, it depends on how well the crowd treats the crew. You would expect this behavior usually from flights from Gulf or from Singapore/ Malaysia to Chennai. The passengers in these flights are usually laborers and most times behave badly with crew. The crew have no way other than to put up a stern face. In the process, the normal well-mannered passenger suffers.
Another factor could be crew fatigue. Like most carriers, Air India crews are stretched to work and more often than not the crew exhibits grumpy behavior on the return leg, especially when the flights are delayed.

[sindabad.sailor]

I remember that last year I travelled Bangkok to Krabi on AirAsia.
That 1 hour flight did cost me 1050 Rs all inclusive. Catering was available at prices we get on the streets. The leg room was acceptable if not great. AND SEATS WERE RECLINING.

This is another classic example of LCC can cater services of good class.

I have flown AirAsia umpteen number of times in the past and would sure fly to KL from Mumbai in future.

The point is not to advertize a particular airline but to stress that there are many airlines operating on LCC pattern yet offer full service class like ambience.

Express flight tickets are cheap but are no match to mentioned airlines fair. I believe there are other airlines to east asian destinations that beat express in fair a bit and quality by miles.

No offence but if someone complains of poor service then asking him about how much price he paid for, is intimidating. In LCC model first 10% seats are given at throwaway rates. So should it mean that people booking the dirt cheap tickets should be lesser taken care that those paying full price tickets at the end?

The express and air india definitely offer much lesser value.
I had earlier travelled air india from Singapore to Mumbai with a stop over at Chennai. The flight attendant was even reluctant to distribute newspapers as he said he just kept the papers back and why the guy did not ask earlier. Only good thing however food was just great.
The ultimate point is that if you have choices of LCCs better think twice.

Regards.

[snorting bull]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Ryanair to make passengers stand in bid to cram more on board | Mail Online

Aint AI better now?

which is fine to me. We stand in a bus, whoever started off saying that we can stand in a bus for the first time when bus came in as a transport would probably have been shy. It serves the purpose of a 30 mins travel. If its cheap who cares ( at least I don't )