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me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Hey Guys!!!

TR: 0002
Had to go to BOM to celebrate Diwali along with my cousins. I left on 16th night, actually 17th early morning with the same AI flight I had gone to BOM the last time, and return was on the 21st on 9W…
I had initially planned on writing a TR only on the 9W flight, but I really had a lot of interesting comparisons to make…

FLIGHT 1
# : AI 631
A/C : A321
Regn.: VT-PPF
ETD : 0305
ATD : 0350
ETA : 0405
ATA : 0510
Load : 82

Background
My mother and brother had gone earlier, dad was scheduled to come to BOM the next day, so I got to travel the way I love to, ALONE!!! I had originally planned to catch S2’s night flight(2115) but I had unfortunately not got any time to make an advanced booking, so the last minute fare was INR 7800/-, this was far too much, I checked on the AI counter and the fare was INR 2830/- which was pretty good…

Booking
I was at the airport on the 16th evening, I went to the AI counter to purchase a ticket, the women at the counter refused!! and told me booking was not possible now, I was asked to come back at 12am and make the booking. I got to the airport at 2200hrs, because I had nothing much to do and hoped to get the ticket then, but they still weren’t still available. I got back to the airport back at about 0005, but still the tickets weren’t available. Frustrated I asked if the flight was actually operating or not, the women at the counter told me she wasn’t sure (in Gujju by the way cause she knew no other language)!!!
I had to wait till 0050 before the ticketing began, by then a good crowd had gathered and there was no organization in the ticketing line, I finally got my ticket at around 0115, at the above quoted fare. The ticket was an old fashioned ticket with lots of pages and hand written details. Even the AI logo on this ticket was old!!!

Check-In
It was just as bad as booking, now for separate reasons. Check-in for the FRA flight had already been done by then still there was a considerable crowd for G9 to Sharjah who use AI’s counters for the check-in formalities. There was a small line, and when I reached the check-in desk, it was one of the same women from the AI booking office. I asked for a seat on the A row. I asked her about the loads, but she kept mum, and when I looked at my boarding pass, I was petrified, she had given me 19C. This was perhaps the worst row in which the seat could be allotted on an A321 as the emergency exit is just behind so the legroom is also considerably less, I being 6’1, thought it definitely be a problem. When I asked about my seat allotment (very politely), I was told that the flight was full (pretty rudely, and the flight couldn’t have been full as I got my ticket at G fare) and the person behind me was called… [ANGER]

Immigration/Security
I was a domestic PAX, I just needed to declare whatever valuable goods I was carrying along with me, and because I had checked in pretty late, it did not take very long for security to be announced. Also unlike last time, the airport was crammed with PAX traveling on EK, QR and G9 to their respective destinations.
Unlike last time, the AI PAX to BOM were asked to go through security before the EK PAX.
Since I was the first in line, security was fast and hassle free. Usually whenever I go through security, I don’t know why but I certainly end up asking the policeman

Q: Aapne kabhi kisiko gun ke sath pakda hai kya??? ( Have you ever caught anybody with a gun???) And the most common answer is
A: Gun-vun to nahi per chhaku ke sath kai logo ko pakda hai… (Never with a gun but I have caught quiet a few people with knives, etc…)

Uniquely AMD
Whenever you look around AMD airport, you most definitely end up finding a few geeks[SMILE]

1: The last time I mentioned about the observation area, through which you can see the Immigration, pre-security areas as well as boarding the a/c (not so clearly though). Well this time, I found a gujjuben who was traveling in EK chat in sign language with someone in the observation area (mostly her husband or brother), which I thought was pretty sentimental until I realized that the person in the observation area was actually trying to give her a phone number!!!!! Dude send an SMS for Pete’s sake!!!!!!

2: The boarding area in AMD consists of two levels, both of almost the same size, equally well air conditioned (the upper level even better I assume) and having almost the same number of seats, still people will prefer to stand downstairs rather then sit upstairs!!! Some kind of Omen maybe!!! I noticed this because, as soon our security check was over, EK’s started and there were a lot of PAX, which was not the case last time…

3: Since our flight was late, the EK A332 arrived, just when our a/c had arrived, a lot of people stormed to the gates and started asking weather EK flight was boarding from G-1 or G-2!!!

Boarding
The flight from BOM which came in as AI 130, was late by over half an hour, it arrived
at 0245 instead of the scheduled 0205. There was absolutely no info provided by anyone at the airport, which was pretty poor again. None of the AI ground staff was available as well. When the AI a/c arrived, 3 members of the ground staff came chattering and when I finally found some time between their gossips, I asked about the loads, I was told “ Sir pareshan mat karo na please, bohut kaam hai!!!! (Please don’t trouble me, I have got a lot of work)

EK’s A332 from DXB…

Domestic section consisted of 2 IT red A320’s, 3 SG B738’s, 1 EK A332 and a bunch of private a/c’s…

After the a/c arrived, PAX arriving from BOM were bussed to the arrivals section and apparently, some gentleman had forgotten his bag in the a/c itself, which further delayed the process of boarding. Boarding started at 0325 and unlike last time this time our bags were also manually checked…
Boarding finally completed at 0345.

VT-PPF (Got yelled at pretty badly for this)

In-flight…
The crew unlike last time was a young lot, even though not so different in the attitudes as compared to their elder counterparts on my previous trip. They certainly had something going on among themselves. I asked the steward what were the loads like, he said that, they were close to 80 odd PAX.

At check in I had made a specific request for either of the following seats 12A, 13A, 14A and 15A. I saw that 13A was un-occupied…

Later before take off I shifted to another seat as even the IFE on my seat was also not working.

The seats were extremely comfy and the IFE selection was also good this time. The announcement made by the captain was unclear and rushed; still it ended with “Jai Hind”. Nice patriotic trend to follow [SMILE].
We took off from Rwy 23 this time and in order to make up lost time, we taxied using the runway itself…

Take-off was smooth and quick and the seat belt sign was switched off when we crossed 10K feet. Snack Boxes were served almost immediately, consisting of a sandwich and a muffin…
I caught “Oye it’s Friday” and “Delhi 6” on the IFE, quality was pretty good as well, but the pathetic state of affairs on ground really had let my mood down…

Landing/Deplaning
Nothing special here as well besides the fact that we taxied beyond the original 2-C towards the AI hangars, I saw about 3 new aerobridges, they were not commissioned, I guess and hence were not being used.
Deplaning was through stairs, again nothing special to report here…

Yemenia B738 ready to pushback..

AI B77W being towed to their hangar…

I love this angle (Pic taken from the Bus)

BOM Arrivals…

Ratings…
Booking: 0
Check in: -2 ((-ve) rating here considering she purposely gave me a poor seat)
Ground Service: 1
In-flight Service: 5
Food: 6 (even thought it was the same which was served last time, it wasn’t particularly tasty, specially the muffin)
IFE: 8
Seats: 8
Total: 26/70 [Pretty Pathetic]

FLIGHT 2
# : 9W 327
A/C : B737-700
Regn.: VT-JNF
ETD : 1025
ATD : 1135
ETA : 1125
ATA : 1225
Load : J: 16/16
Y: 116/116

Background…
Time to head back home!!! My dad had to go to CCU for some work, mum and brother were at home itself, so again, I was traveling alone!!! Dad’s flight to CCU from BOM was 9W konnect flight at 0605hrs???, and so I decided to reach the airport along with him at 0515. I had Jari-Mari on the back of my mind…

T1-A Arrivals…
Taken at 0615, I decided to roam around the airport area, Arrivals section was absolutely empty, the departure section was completely the opposite…

Spotting in BOM…
I waited until sunrise, and the took an auto-rickshaw to Jari-Mari, even though I knew it was a risk, but I usually don’t go to BOM much and this was a golden opportunity and also perhaps the only opportunity to do spotting which I had never done before. I was extremely excited but was also aware of the fact that I had absolutely no idea where to go, once the auto guy dropped me in Jari-Mari.

I got down at the place from where planes pass to land just above our heads. I walked down and was able to figure out where taxiway A4 would be. After walking for about 5 minutes I found a small gully, it was stinky with gutter lines flowing along both sides, taking a right, I saw a public toilet which was raised.

I can tell you that Jari-Mari was perhaps the worst and dirtiest places I had ever seen in my life, but the moment I stepped on the raised platform, on which the toilet was built, I fell in love with the place immediately!!!

It took me almost 15 minutes before I could actually believe what I was seeing!!!

I spent about an hour and 15 mins at Jari-Mari. I did absolutely nothing, what a professional spotter would have done, infact for the first 45 mins I was too scared to take any pics. Then I took, some from my cell phone and the last 15 minutes I took pictures from my camera..

Here are some of them…

9W konnect

Lots of S2 departures…

Lots of AI a/c’s parked in their hangars… (Very Hazy)

AN-124-100 I caught landing, Massive Bird!!! (Cell phone Shot)

Oman Air B738… (CP Shot) Lovely Colours!!!

Booking…
I had booked this flight in AMD on 16th itself. Booking was hassle free, quick and organized. I could have actually taken the 0550 9W Konnect flight, but the fare on that flight was INR 3095/- and fare on this flight was INR 3350/-, so I decided to book on 9W 327 rather than 9W 2001, even then I had spotting in mind…

BOM T-1B G-2, the 9W entry gate, was relatively empty as compared to the morning…

Just another shot…

Check-in
I checked-in at around 0845 for a 1025 flight, hoping to get a good seat. I decided upon using the Kiosk to check-in. The moment I started using the kiosk, a 9w escort came and wished me good morning, by my first name (which I really appreciate, even though I am 6’1, I still do look 16-17 only, I really don’t like to be addressed as sir). He completed the other formalities for me and asked me (very politely) that 10A was available. I agreed and soon I received a snow-white boarding pass. By then the escort had gone to a 9w check-in counter and came back with a cabin baggage tag (how nice!!!), in case of AI, nobody even cared…

Security/Boarding
Because I was up at almost 4 in the morning, I went up to CCD and grabbed a cup of coffee and headed for security…
Security was quick and efficient, although the policeman who did frisk me this time did not look in a very pleasant mood and hence I skipped asking my regular question this time…
Vinay Pathak (Actor who was in Khosla ka Ghosla) was standing in front of me in the security line and boy he’s short!!!!

All my formalities had already been done by 0920, and I still had over half an hour before boarding commenced…

Well it was picture time again!!! For a person living in AMD, there were still lots of planes and it’s not that I have not been places, I have been to YYZ, LHR, ORD and SIN as well but never alone, and even though my father paid for this trip, I got this amazing sense of independence!!!!

Almost all were 9w konnect a/c’s.

AI 744 departing, perhaps the last one flying I would be seeing…

SQ B772 arriving from SIN…

It was soon announced that our flight was late by 35 minutes due to poor weather conditions in GOA from where the a/c was arriving. They also said that the ground staff would be happy to help anybody who approached them…
The revised boarding time now was 1035. I was not very disappointed to hear this as the stated arrival time for 9W’s flight from LHR was 1030 and IT 008’s arrival was stated at 1005 and I did actually manage to catch both of them…

IT 008 from LHR…

I then went to the 9W counter and asked weather we were using a B737-700 or -800. She was surprised, and asked me if I were doing engineering in some aviation field!!! We struck off a good conversation and talked about loads a/c used and she also apologized for the delay and also said that the maintenance of the secondary runway was leading to a lot of traffic congestion in the wee hours of the morning, and this delay is carried on throughout the day, because it’s very difficult to make up lost time and in our case, GOA also had very poor weather leading to further more delays. She also got me the loads and the registration of the a/c!!! Way Way better than AI’s crappy old service…

Just as boarding started, the 9W 77W from LHR arrived and an AI B744 also landed…

9W B77W (sorry for the poor shot)

AI B744 had landed just after 9W 119 from LHR..

9W Konnect B738 to Jodhpur…

Our a/c to AMD…

Wing View…(UPS MD-11 taxing to Cargo Parking)

Domestic Departure T-1B

9W B738 from/to DEL… (taken while pushing back)

Inflight…

I was greeted by a very soothing Good Morning (I don’t know why, it felt that way!!!) and a big smile. However that was pretty much what 9W had to offer in their in-flight product atleast in this flight, no PTV’s and the seats were narrow and even being on 10-A, just behind the J cabin, legroom was less (as compared to AI)…

We were served with a lemon drink which was pretty delicious…

Leg-room… (My legs aren’t as fat, I was just wearing my jeans low along a very long shirt!! …)

We were further delayed by two PAX not showing up. Finally we started to pushback at 1125 and while we taxied, I again took some snaps of the ramp in BOM.

The captain’s announcement along with the crew’s were very clear and they also made a very clear announcement that photography was strictly not permitted only in IAF or Navy bases. The flight to AMD was a 50 minute flight, as correctly announced by the Captain…

AI A330-200

Lots of construction…

Intl ramp. There was also a BA 772 on the left of the IT A332. There were 2 9W B77W’s, both were connected to the aerobridge, perhaps a switch of a/c’s on the BOM-LHR route. Also notice the slight change in the 9W logo on the tail of both the 77w’s. Perhaps the one on the right was the one returned by GF and is freshly painted.

We were 3rd in line for take-off, which was pretty smooth.

This was the place from where I took all my spotting pics…

Meal was served within 10 mins of departure, which consisted of a couple of Masala Dosas, delicious green chutney along with Black-Forest pastry…

It was delicious!!! Even though a little less in quantity…

Amazingly the young and apparently thin looking lady sitting beside me gobbled up 2 such meals and 3 bottles of water through the flight!!!!

The crew, after the meal distributed flight review forms. Another keen observation made here was that the introductory message on these forms was addressed by Jet’s Former CEO Mr Wolfgang S????????...

I rated everything very unbiased-ly (considering I am a huge 9W fan, quiet literally!!!)
I later also asked for a comment-form and made it pretty clear that I was unhappy with the state of the aircraft (product wise) and went on to explain that our flight being a proper 9W flight should have had IFE and a little more generosity was expected seat pitch-width wise…

This took up most of my time and by the time I was done we were almost on finals. Landing was smooth and taxi-in was quick. There was an AIX B738, 1 6E A320 and the same private planes…

Ratings
Booking: 9
Check-in: 9
Inflight Service: 8
Ground Service: 10
Food: 7
IFE: 4 [The magazine was great]
Seats: 6
Total: 53/70 [Good]

Conclusion…
The AI in-flight as well as ground service was very poor and even though the inflight product offered by AI was pretty good, the check-in and the booking had really let me down and got me disappointed…
9W on the other hand was completely opposite and of course on a 50 odd minute long flight service is usually give more priority than the inflight product offered.
Over all 9W deserved a better score, their service was top notch to say the least and they topped every thing that you usually associate with service and with a lot of their domestic fleet also equipped with IFE and that to with AVOD (as was the case with my father’s early morning Konnect flight to CCU) , it becomes very difficult to give 9W a below 60 score on 70. AI on the other hand have now got a good inflight product if they can just get grip of their service, they could now catch hold of some of the, now, growing domestic market in India…

I have a few questions here as-well…
1: In AMD at night, I saw a SG B738 constantly performing touch and go’s I counted more than 5, easily, and I can confirm this because I was there standing outside the AI office. What is this or what were the pilots doing???
2: My AI flight flew over Bhavnagar and then went to BOM, which would have been understandable if we landed on Rwy 9 and not on 23. This flight took 1hr and 10 mins while the 9W one, which came directly hardly took 50 mins. Why???
3: I know my pics taken from Jari-Mari weren’t as good but can you please rate them for me, I actually want to post some on A.net…

Comments, Criticism Welcome!!!!!

Thank you!!!!
Me111993

Spiderguy252

Thanks for sharing, me111993! Very enjoyable to read a comparison on two domestic Indian full service carriers. And congrats for adding the pics to it. Wink

Nimish · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 7:35 pm Post subject:

Great TR - thanks for posting!

Quite surprising to see the abysmal ground service on AI - I thought they'd be slightly better.
_________________
We miss you Nalini!

me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Hey Varun!!!
Thanks for the lovely comments!!! Very Happy

avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

An awesome TR!

Too bad the ground staff at AMD were such a rip off. Apparently IMO the moment you step in the AMD "international" airport, it is more or less a rip off.

BTW I did not figure out the upper level and lower level? I believe as soon as you cross the immigration at AMD, you have to turn left to enter the boarding area which are equipped with two (wow) departure gates. And if you stay outside of it there is a small seating area and in front you. The lounge for F,J pax is right above the immigration.

However I'm not aware if things might have changed in these months, if you could just point out the new seating area.

Here are the links to the TR I did in January 2009.

http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=5970

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/140927/

******************

9W Sections is good as well, though I must say for a 50 min flight that meal is more then enough Wink

, owing to the cost cutting going on.

Thanks for sharing your TR.

me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Hey you guys!!
Thanks for the wonderful comments! Very Happy

.
Ojas, NOTHING new has been done in the AMD international terminal!! Except a few info boards being changed and some changes in the arrival terminal (which i've not seem from the inside). If you happen to go through this terminal again, you will understand Wink

.
I cannot answer your question very clearly here b'coz b'fore SEP this year even I had never travelled through this terminal, however, the boarding area on the first floor doesn't seem to be new at all. Even though it doesn't seem to be used much it was far from clean. There is also an escalator to that level, which you perhaps would have seen, because it doesn't work and didn't seem just an year old either...
The main reason for people not using the first floor is, acc to me what I had written to Varun earlier. People are just to eager to board early (of all people I hope you understand cause you have been here before Wink

). I am telling you, as soon as the EK a/c arrived, our boarding had just started then, there were more than 50-60 people who got up and came near the gates !!!
My dad travells abroad frequently (mostly out of BOM) and if he happenes to travel through AMD T-2, i'll make sure he gets some pics...
Or why don't you plan a trip here?? AMD has really changed (infrastructure wise, the whole city). Acc to reports, the new intl terminal opens in March. You can plan your trip accordingly! Wink

...

Phadnis · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:50 pm Post subject:

jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

Phadnis · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:27 am Post subject:

AirIndia0001 · Member Joined: 28 Sep 2007 Posts: 391

Wonderful TR... thanks for sharing.

justbala · Member Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 1898 Location: Bangalore

Good TR!! Thanks for the pics... excellent work!! Good to see Jari Mari from different angles!!

I share your observation on IC and 9W services, however with more n more 9W services turning Konnect, my loyalty towrds 9W has diminished rapidly!! Sad

IFE on a 50 min flight is an overkill, I would rather prefer a quick bite and a good read. 9W does not offer or claim to offer IFE in all its flights, only select a/c (esp those used in the international sector, even there you cud land u in one with only drop down screens). I would prefer the Jet inflight magazine over the joke that is IC's IFE. I flew them in Sep and again 2 days back. No change in the 6 measly channels they offered - the exact same movies (Dr Do Little 2 and Aa Dekhen Zaraa). Disappointing. Sad

me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Hey Justbala!
Thanks for the nice comments. Even I agree to the fact that IFE is not a certainity on a 50 minute flight but I would appretiate it and if the fares and timings are the same I would slight preference to the flight with IFE. However I am certainly not talking about AI here as quality also play a major role here.
Until 2005, 9w only had AI/IC as competition hence they played their cards very intelligently. They provided service better than IC. Once IT came into the picture, who provided excellent IFE and service along with direct connections between alot of cities, 9w also raised the bar and started provding equally good service.
What i am trying to say here is "It's not about who's good but who's the best!!!"

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

Nice TR.

I like the question that you normally ask? Q: Aapne kabhi kisiko gun ke sath pakda hai kya???

Sounds very filimi...

Sri_Bom