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binaiks · Member Joined: 15 Jul 2007 Posts: 162 Location: VOBL/VOCI

A little bit of story:
SpiceJet pulled out of the Bangalore-Kochi sector amidst their turmoil in January 2015. They used to fly Kochi-Bangalore-Goa and vice versa (SG231/234) until then. After being away from the sector for six months, SpiceJet came back with a Kochi-Bangalore-Vishakhapatnam and vice versa (SG431/432) w.e.f July 01, 2015. Wthile they flew daily in the old avatar, the new rotation flew 6 times a week (except Tuesdays). Bookings for this new flight opened sometime in May 2015.

Little more story:
I realised quite late that my cousin's marriage was fixed towards the end of August. My brother was driving down to my hometown for the marriage - but I did not have enough leaves to spare, and had to travel separately. SpiceJet turned out to be my choice - for two reasons: lowest fare on the day of my trip, and a great timing. The flight was initially scheduled for 1730hrs - but later got rescheduled to 1820hrs - perfectly fine for me.

Fast forward to August 22, 2015:
After a very awful check-in experience - something that resembled a peak time railway ticket counter, people jostling for space, and absolute mayhem - and, a very slow moving security check (the delay was due to a lot of bags being pulled up for re-scanning), I reached my favorite waiting spot - the seats next to Gate #1, which gives a great view of the apron.

FR24 clarified that my aircraft wouldn't be reaching BLR on time, and I am sure to be delayed. The FIDS were silent on any delay, though - it kept showing that the ETD was 1820 from gate #8C. The apron was quite busy - lots of 9W ATRs and SG Q400s went by - No less than three 9W B738s as well. I did not count the IndiGos - would've been a futile exercise nevertheless. I was quite excited to see the grand old lady VT-ABB of AI-Regional and VT-APB of Air Pegasus.

Sometime around 1745hrs, the FIDS silently updated the status of SG432 to "Delayed" and the ETD was now put at 1840hrs. The aircraft (VT-SGH) was still on its way from VTZ. The aircraft (SGH) finally landed at 1812hrs - confirming that the flight would not depart on time. The aircraft emptied out here. Boarding was called at 1833hrs - no zonewise boarding - people just crowded the gate, with multiple lines forming.

I remained seated till the crowd settled and the line shortened. I got into the aircraft finally by 1844hrs. I hate the aerobridges at Bangalore - they are fully covered - it feels very claustrophobic inside them. You can't see the aircraft, and feel like walking through a dark tunnel (its well-let, btw). It was crowded inside the aircraft - people were still settling. Boarding was completed at 1849hrs, soon followed by the call for ground personnel to get off the aircraft . The doors were armed at 1851hrs, and we were pushed back at 1852hrs.

Capt Gautham and Capt Siddharth were in the deck, while Arushi, Ekta, Priyanka and Roopesh took care of the cabin. We had a very long taxi to Rwy27, and we finally took off at 1902hrs. It was dark all around, and fairly very cloudy. Although the seatbelt sign was taken off at 1806, it was turned back on again immediately. The seatbelt signs remained on for most part of the flight, and the ride was bumpy for sure.

I had prebooked a "meal" - an announcement was made that only passenger who had prebooked would be served, however, those interested to buy something could use the call button and alert the nearest FA. I received my sandwich, along with a serving of water. The sandwich was quite good - it was soft and the filling was "quite filling". It was an eventless flight. Landing was finally announced at 1930hrs. I felt that the approach to the airport was quite unstabilized - It felt that we were quite high as we passed the perimeter wall. We had a hard landing (1948hrs on Rwy27) - it was literally a thud down. This was followed by very hard - I mean really hard - braking. WE finally parked at 1952hrs - I got off the aircraft at 1958hrs, and rushed home.

Why this title?
This particular rotation - especially SG431/432 has a very unique record of never having flown on time ever since the rotation started in July. SpiceJet really kept to its record, and had a delayed departure this time as well. In fact, with the regular delays, I had absolutely no hopes of this flight being time as well. SpiceJet continues to have delays on this rotation even now - I'd keep away from this rotation, as away as possible.

Read the full report on my blog, Platform7.
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Regards,
Binai

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

binaiks · Member Joined: 15 Jul 2007 Posts: 162 Location: VOBL/VOCI

Thanks a lot for your comments Sumantraji. It is your encouraging words that keep me going, and make me write better Smile

ameya · Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 6:55 pm Post subject:

Finally got time to read the TR Binai. Thanks - its a nice TR.

The pictures are very nice!

SG seems to have done some good work on the branding side of their food - the sandwich looks nicely packaged
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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

What a nice short TR Binai and photos were very sharp and clear. Were you using a DSLR for taking photos?

Is it common in BLR airport to board people without zone? I am guessing this will be quite chaotic and time consuming. The spice jet sandwich box seems to be quite innovative.

Thanks for posting the TR

Sri_Bom

binaiks · Member Joined: 15 Jul 2007 Posts: 162 Location: VOBL/VOCI

Thanks Sri.

Optimus.Prime · Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 3:08 pm Post subject:

Good TR Binai.

As far as unstablised approaches go, it's safe to assume it's a thing of the past. The DGCA crackdown has been immensely helpful to reduce/eliminate unstabilised approaches. An unstabilised approach will usually result in a Go Around.
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