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Spiderguy252 · Last edited by Spiderguy252 on Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:49 pm; edited 3 times in total

Having hit a patch of free time - a week to be specific - toward the first quarter of June, plans for a quick flight someplace commenced. It was too short to apply for a visit visa for a jet back to Kuwait, and it was naturally too short for an expansive holiday someplace as well; but a visit to cousins and friends in Mumbai proved to be a valid and logical option, and so it went.

Since it turns out that all domestic carriers in this country are pretty much the same these times, and the fact that it's just a short hop outbound and inbound, I was in no usual qualms about excitedly picking out a specific airline, product, or equipment. Cleartrip.com listed SpiceJet as the least priciest option on a return ticket, and there was no reason to disagree.

So welcome to this progressive TR. As of writing these paragraphs, I am yet to board the outbound - heck, it may not even fly for all I know - but I have pretty much nothing else to do on this lonely Saturday night, so bear with me. Wink

SpiceJet.com is pretty vanilla as far as airline websites go, the only gaudy element being the hideous "Sun" logo at the top right. Nevertheless, there were splashes of red everywhere and some healthy advertising for all sorts of flights from Calicut (Kozhikode) - a new destination for them I presume?

The fare - going out and coming back in.

Towards the left were two options - a regular fare, and a special return fare. The difference ain't that stark, but it beats me why people would select the former?

No seat assignments available like on IndiGo. However, you can select your meal. From several prior experiences with SG (here's a TR => http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=7167), I didn't dare to.

The payment screen.

And zing. It listed both flights as confirmed and generated a PNR. Job done.

A copy into my inbox too, for good measure.

So the outbound is on the 2nd (Monday), with the inbound on the 8th (next Sunday). I'll follow up this TR on these dates, or if something interesting happens in the meantime. Cheers!
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Spiderguy252

ameya · Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:08 am Post subject:

Wish you a happy and safe flight and hope its on time ...

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

Nice start! hope u have a nice flight!
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Causal Determinism : We are hardwired to need answers. The Caveman who heard a rustle in the bushes and checked out to see what it was, lived longer than the guy, who assumed it was just a breeze.

- Greg House

aeroblogger · Last edited by aeroblogger on Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:15 am; edited 1 time in total

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

Varun, this is nice! What Ameya started on, you have picked it up beautifully, and given it a nice name, too `progressive' trip report. It is nice to see you writing after quite a while. Thanks for taking us through the step-by-step booking, and the excitement that we AI.netters have before a trip. Best wishes for a wonderful trip! I look forward to reading the usual witty descriptions, and seeing nice pictures.
Cheers, Sumantra.

Spiderguy252

aeroblogger

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:13 pm Post subject:

So I was plugged in to some music earlier in the afternoon and thought I heard the phone ringing, but it was too faint for me to actually sit up and pick it up. Only after I did get up an hour later did I realize that I'd missed over a dozen calls from a number. Rolling Eyes

Just when I was contemplating calling the said number, it rang again and a computerized voice chimed out, "Dear passenger, your flight SG 273 has been preponed to 9:25 AM. Press 2 to confirm your new itinerary.....".

I did so, and it dispatched a text right away.

And again, an email for good measure.

So turns out the flight's a half hour early....
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Nimish · Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:09 pm Post subject:

Nice start to the report!
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ameya · Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:47 pm Post subject:

Somebody I know told me that this flight is being advanced everyday so as to depart at 9:25, not sure whats the issue. Similarly some 4 flights are delayed as well

Typical SG

aeroblogger

Spiderguy252

aeroblogger

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

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

Rishul, AI seems to have improved by leaps and bounds. Any change in flight timings is sent via SMS, email as well as phone calls. I guess I am talking about IC (the ex-IC, as well as the current AI-domestic). I haven't flown the AMD-BOM sector, but on my numerous flights around the country, I am yet to come across a part where the film or programme was mid-way. More so now-a-days, since they do not switch on the IFE unless the plane has reached cruising altitude. I have seen this rule being uniformly maintained. Yes, the audio content was, and has been superb. This is something which I enjoy almost all throughout. Your bad experiences on the AMD-BOM sector were quite some time back, right? If I remember from your trip report, you got a First class Y: choose almost any row of three seats! The situation is a bit different now-a-days, and Rohit's experience with a bad load journey may be a little blot on an otherwise normal load factor curve. It is nice to see AI making progress on the passenger experience front at least, in addition to route and capacity planning. On some other fronts, I guess they will continue to bleed taxpayers' money for a long time to come.
Cheers, Sumantra.

aeroblogger · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:12 am Post subject:

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 7:02 pm Post subject:

Good evening from Mumbai, folks. The weather is rainy and humid as expected, but I'll quickly brief you about the flight on the way in:

I stayed up last night catching the football (not a football fan here, but I was forced into watching it - Spain vs. Italy). Which meant that I woke up at 6:30 AM like a zombie - and I ain't no morning person even in the best of times. A shower and a quick breakfast later - just a couple of omelettes, I caught a ride to the airport.

Chennai was overcast this morning, and the weather was pleasant as a result. Though being a Monday, the traffic was far from so. I eventually reached the increasingly futuristic looking domestic terminal by 8-ish and made my way in.

FIDS. Strangely, it listed the flight as scheduled for 9:55. No mention of any prepone-ment yet.

The terminal was slowly kicking into life, with the morning bank of departures of every carrier beginning check-in and security. As luck would have it though, 9W's 8 or so counters were mostly empty, G8 had 2 in the corner which had only a few pax waiting, and AI was obviously scarcely populated as well. SG at the far end occupied 4 counters and it was.......packed. Confused

Upon closer examination, SG departures this morning were to CJB, BLR-CCU, a place called "Tuticorin", and my flight to BOM. All checking in at the same time. It wasn't helped by the fact that the agents kept bumping up CJB pax ahead of the line as that flight was preponed by a good hour or so.

Still, patience does the trick. 8:45 was when I made it to the head of the queue and a bloke called Shyam manning it seemed to be on overdrive (he was apparently the head of their ground staff or some such position). He rapidly checked my trolley in and gave me seat 20B. Gak. I requested a change, *type-type-type*, and it was switched to 16A. A window-cum-exit row seat. Much better. I picked up a copy of 'The Hindu' from the counter and made my way out.

MAA's domestic terminal, like it's international counterpart, shows no signs of any modernization from the inside. Nevertheless, it certainly has a ton of more shops within - A French Loaf, A Maggi soup and noodle store, a couple of women's and clothing accessories stores, a Port Lounge, HigginBotham's and even a spa, among others. I don't get why some of these haven't opened in the near-desolate international area? Confused

The first boarding call was announced at 9:10 AM and I proceeded to gate 2 which had the red SG bus waiting on the outside. The bloke who verified our boarding cards said that the flight was delayed back to it's usual departure time of 9:55. Confused

As expected, they packed the bus to the brim before dispatching it towards the aircraft. From the inside, I could make out an aerobridge docking itself to an IndiGo 320 (INQ I think it was), with SCD occupying the other jetway-ed gate. At the far end, I could spot an SV 77E and an IX 738 at the international ramp.

The bus made its way out of the apron and past the usual domestic area, onwards to the fire station and towards the cargo area at the end of the airport boundary where our 738 was parked. SGO was the reg of the bird (ex-RyanAir), and it was a helluva long ride to get to it. I guess it's safe to say that this was the aircraft's first flight of the day.

The end of the runway was right next to us as we were boarding and an SG Q400 and an IT ATR whizzed past as we were climbing the stairways - both of which were open, the front and the rear. A single male FA was present at the forward door, and I was in 16A in no time, watching the cabin fill around me. The seats were (slightly ripped) blue and cloth - a touch different from the gray leather I thought SG use in their fleet. The cabin overall looked tired and it reeked of being a heavily used plane. Not good, SG.

Airline: SpiceJet
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Registration: VT-SGO
First flight date: 17th November, 2000

Load in Y: 90%

Scheduled Departure Time: 9:55 PM
Actual Departure Time: 9:25 PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 11:55 AM
Actual Arrival Time: 11:15 AM

Flight Time: 2 hours, 0 minutes

Being an exit row, legroom was classy though!

Some BlueDart action towards our left.

Our bus leaving for the terminal.

An SG 738 touching down.

This hovering chopper was VT-NAV. Naturally some sort of navy/coastguard equipment.

And a 9W 738.

9:20 saw another bus arrive from the terminal - carrying last minute stragglers I guess, and a middle-aged bloke plopped down at the aisle seat, thus rendering the middle seat empty. Both him and I busied ourselves with our iPods until we were hastily interrupted by the FA, who explained the emergency exit door stuff like a textbook. The safety demo followed and the Eastern European skipper came on air to announce the flight details. And soon we were off to the nearby runway. So turns out the departure time was 9:25 after all.

Still overcast.

Can't be an Indian airport without our national carrier berthed can it? Wink

Banking and climbing over MAA.

Hitting the clouds.

The cabin gradually drifted off to a light slumber, and me and my seatmate busied ourselves with some music yet again. Until the food trolley ambled by. I looked around for the menu, and found it inside the in-flight magazine.

And soon.....a sandwich and a cup of coffee. Rs. 150/- for the lot, not too bad I would say - considering a small pack of cashews (the stuff handed out by the dozen for free on AI) was listed at Rs. 50/-. Mr. crew member didn't have change for the couple of hundred buck notes that I paid him, so he jotted down my seat number and change due in his little notepad and remembered to return the cash right at the end of the flight, at the door. Neat.

Not long after, we began our rather steep descent to BOM. Captain "Awont" reported the temperature at 30, and said that we were 10 minutes ahead of schedule. The city began to reveal itself amidst the dense clouds. It was obviously drizzling down below.

*Touchdown*

We rolled past the AI hangars - caught half a dozen T7s there, then the 9W hangars before we entered the domestic apron.

And ended up docking right next to SPT, winglet to winglet.

Back to the terminal. Clearly a very gloomy BOM day, typical for this time of the year.

Scores:

Punctuality: 10/10
Seat: 5/10
Catering: 7/10
Aircraft Condition: 4/10
Entertainment: 5/10
Crew: 7/10

Total: 38/60 = 63% = Three stars out of Five.

The drizzle had graduated into a heavy downpour at BOM, and I rushed out to the prepaid cab counters to catch a quick ride home.

A tad uneventful then, SpiceJet but it's nothing that wasn't expected. I reckon the sequel will follow on the 8th or if I don't get the time, the 9th.

Cheers and thanks for having a read! Smile

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ameya · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:52 am Post subject:

Great TR. Couple of questions

1. The staff is not of any help if they tell you the flight is shifted back to its original time and then it goes as per revised

2. The food seems to be good value for money as comapred to costs of other carriers

3. It is unlikely that the bird was doing its first run of the day, but if it was, then wow.. thats poor utilization !

4. I havent travelled SG since 2007 but people keep complaining about the poor interiors time and again

5. How would you rate the experience of being bussed from the SG bays at BOM. I find it iritating when 6E and G8 use aerobridge and / or row no. 1 bays where its quicker to come to arrivals.

Last heard, SG was having issues with aircraft and hence these delays and advancement to fit in flights.

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

Very nice report on the onward leg, Varun. As you mentioned in a previous report, your name as the Rain God seems to go with you every time! The Chennai airport seems to be coming up well, at least from the outside.
Cheers, Sumantra.

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 7:44 pm Post subject:

ameya · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:54 pm Post subject:

Thanks.

I am really surprised with respect to that flight being the first. SG doesnt have a engg base in MAA and there are very little chances that a aircraft would start utilization so late.

Their website schedule is not updated and hence difficult to understand the base schedule.

As for the aircraft, yes they are shabby at times, but thats where G8 to a small extent and 6E to a large extent attract high yielding corporate traffic.

As 6E CEO says. clean planes, on time dep and arr, good service = people are happy
I hope he adds food to it and improves it

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

Excellent TR Varun! Some pretty good pics too! (particularly the last two ones) Wink

I assume the sandwich was good, normally is excellent, but then 150 bucks is a tad steep by SG standards. Normally you get a sandwich + beverage for a hundred bucks, I guess they increased the price.

Planes on SG can be a big let down, older 737s in any event fall short of good pitch/width and if poorly maintained they can be huge disappointment, particularly compared to the 6E's of the industry.

And for whatever reason AMD always gets the best of SG planes, even now, most of the times atleast 2 of the 4 737s based here have skyinteriors.

Btw, I get back to MAA on the 8th too, the usual morning 9W 338 via Mumbai. I know there'll be a well maintained 10 year old delayed 737 waiting for me at AMD, fortunately, you still,, have the pleasure of not knowing to keep that additional excitement going Wink

.
_________________
Causal Determinism : We are hardwired to need answers. The Caveman who heard a rustle in the bushes and checked out to see what it was, lived longer than the guy, who assumed it was just a breeze.

- Greg House

aeroblogger · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:05 pm Post subject:

My recent SG experiences have been on the Q, and it seems that the Qs are in much, much better condition than the 737s. That cabin looks very tired indeed.
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Nimish · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 1:38 am Post subject:

Excellent TR Varun, and I hope your stay in BOM is better than the flight there Smile

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We miss you Nalini!

ameya · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:07 pm Post subject:

Now some clarity

this flight MAA-BOM is being advanced daily to operate MAA-BOM-TRV (dep TRV at 11:40 )

The actualy rotation is DEL-IXU-NDC-BOM-TRV and v.v but DEl-IXU-NDC-IXU-DEL is being operated right now breaking the NDC-BOM connection.

To operate TRV on time, the MAA-BOM is advanced, also finding out if thats the first flight of the day at MAA

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:34 pm Post subject:

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:35 pm Post subject:

btw, the rain has showed no signs of stopping yet. Let the flooding commence! Razz

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aeroblogger · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:52 pm Post subject:

Rain is good. The monsoons this year have been a disaster - not enough rain.
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Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:51 pm Post subject:

So far so good. No pre/post-ponement texts so far.

Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon.
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ameya · Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 11:01 pm Post subject:

The rotation is doing

MAA-BOM-TRV-BOM-MAA

There is a MAA-COK-MAA which will get added soon in the morning and evening on this bird.

The original rotation is DEL-MAA(SG301 arr 9:10) and MAA-BOM 9:55. However, they have pulled out NDC-BOM as a ad hoc measure to stem losses, thus they are operating, as you said, MAA-BOM base

So it does MAA-BOM-TRV-BOM-MAA. Pathetic utilization for an LCC.
11:10 arr is their slot from NDC, which they have used to start this flight.

So tomorrow, more or less if the morning MAA-BOM is on time, your return flight should be on time.

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 3:31 pm Post subject:

Flight scheduled for a 16:45 departure according to boarding card.

Posting from T1B.
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Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:51 pm Post subject:

And that. Was the worst domestic flight ever. Even worse than AI.

Details tomorrow.
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Nimish · Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 11:10 pm Post subject:

aeroblogger · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:15 pm Post subject:

Any update on the return report?
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Spiderguy252 · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:19 pm Post subject:

PAL@YWG · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:23 am Post subject:

Nice TR, Spiderguy252. Waiting for the return leg.

The similarity of MAA and CCU is striking whether it's the FIDS or the shabby building structures.
BOM/DEL/BLR/HYD all got modernised but CCU and MAA are still at the marcy of AAI.

CCU's decision is understandable but why MAA went the AAI way, I couldn't figure out.
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Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:48 pm Post subject:

Here's the return. Finally got some free time over this weekend to compile some pics and do a quick write-up:

14:00: Depart from home amidst a heavy downpour. Hasn't started well - the cab guy didn't turn up and upon a phone call, says his fleet is busy and urged me to pick an alternative means to get to the airport. Sick.

14:15: Finally managed to flag down an auto who reluctantly agrees to make the long hike to the airport in Santa Cruz.

15:20: Reached the airport. Guy tries to do a fleecing act - first by using an incorrect card, then by claiming extra for the luggage - a measly trolley. Shoo him away and make it into T1B.

15:30: Just two counters open for all SG flights. Funnily enough, two flights are scheduled for take-off - one bound for Kochi, the other for Chennai. Join the huge lines.

15:50: Finally complete check-in, boarding card states that departure time is delayed to 16:45.

16:00: Enter the boarding area and find myself staring at the glass windows onto the tarmac beyond. It's still raining cats and dogs outside.

16:05: Boarding call for the COK flight goes up. Another announcement - the MAA flight is delayed by a further 15 minutes to 17:00 due to "late arrival of incoming aircraft. European pilot sitting next to me clicks his tongue - he's captaining the flight, apparently.

16:20: Another announcement - the flight is further delayed to 15:15 due to "late arrival of incoming aircraft". A huge line had formed for the MAA flight behind the COK line - as the pax had expected to board right after. Some returned to the seats, some others stood around staring at the SG staff rather angrily.

16:40: Again - the flight is now delayed to 17:30 due to "late arrival of incoming aircraft". Some passengers begin conversing heatedly with the SG bloke handling the boarding, who tries to pacify them with moderate success. In the meantime, the guy in charge of the airport air-conditioning has apparently put the device in overdrive - T1B starts to freeze. Doesn't help that the rainy weather outside makes the aircon redundant anyway.

17:00: Guess what? The flight is now delayed to 17:45 due to "late arrival of incoming aircraft". Rolling Eyes

This spells the last straw for most pax - who impatiently badger the aforementioned SG bloke about when they could board.

17:10: FINALLY. A red SG bus arrives outside, and they pack what seems like a 100+ pax into it. The aircon in the bus is even worse than in the terminal, and most pax end up shivering due to the cold.

17:20: Bus stops unexpectedly. Thanks to the fogged up glass due to the rain, none of us could make out what had happened.

17:40: We're still static. It's still pouring outside. Temperatures are still unbearable. The bus is cramped for room. Everybody grunts angrily.

18:00: We finally get going again and reach VT-SPJ. For whatever reason, we end up parking 5-10 meters away from the back door, thus ensuring that we're - after the cold - treated to 30 seconds of a cool shower before we reach the enclosed stairs to board the aircraft.

Airline: SpiceJet
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Registration: VT-SPJ
First flight date: 24th September, 2006

Load in Y: 90%

Scheduled Departure Time: 4:25 PM
Actual Departure Time: 6:45 PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 6:40 PM
Actual Arrival Time: 8:45 PM

Flight Time: 2 hours, 0 minutes

18:05: Make my way to 18A - a couple of rows behind the exit row. The aircraft appeared to be one of SG's owned ones - the seats were the plush leather type, and the cabin overall felt well maintained and relatively new.

Cabin view.

Safety Card.

Another SG 738 to the left.

Fairly tight Legroom, laptop bag notwithstanding.

18:30: Captain announces further delay thanks to heavy traffic. Passengers sigh.

18:45: We're off at last, at 6:45 PM - our original scheduled arrival time into MAA.

VT-KFN, an IT 321.

The old ATC.

ET 767 to ADD/PEK.

The international ramp. A 9W 332, accosted by several AI T7s.

A lonely 9W 738.

Some SV action.

16:55: Taxiing to 27.

19:00: We take-off after queuing behind a 9W 738.

19:05: Thick clouds greet us, captain comes on line and asks us to keep our seatbelts fastened as we're flying through a turbulent low pressure area.

19:15: Sky clears up and we bank in the direction of MAA. The exteriors grow dark quickly as we make our journey from west to east.

20:00: Stewardesses come around giving out pre-booked meals to pax and taking orders. A cup of tea after all the igloo stuff seems like a good idea.

20:30: MAA is below us. But we don't land. Why? Congestion at the airport. We end up circling. Rolling Eyes

20:45: Touchdown. Then we pause at the entrance to the domestic terminal as all gates are full. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

21:10: Finally - I better not jinx it - we park.

21:30: Enter the domestic arrivals area. Stop at carousel 7. It hasn't begun to move yet. Another trivial problem - there are no trolleys around. See a 9W employee walking nearby. Enquire. Says they have run out and have dispatched for some immediately. They never turn up by the time I left the terminal, so there.

22:10: As luck would have it, my bag arrives last. Make my way out of the airport to catch a cab home. Fast Track - the private operator has run out of cabs wudyabelieveit. The government operator has a huge queue. I have no choice but to wait in line before I finally get home close to an hour later.

It may not all be SG's fault - but this wasn't a good day. Of course, it didn't help that I contracted the flu and was consigned to bed the entirety of the next day.

Thanks for reading.

Scores:

Punctuality: 2/10
Seat: 8/10
Catering: 6/10
Aircraft Condition: 7/10
Entertainment: 5/10
Crew: 5/10

Total: 33/60 = 55% = Three stars out of Five.
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aeroblogger · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 3:37 pm Post subject:

Nice trip report...