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malQ

With this, the sixth in a series of ongoing reports on the options that exist relating to travel between Pune and Delhi, I figured that the next trip - in the interests of journalism, ofcourse - would have to be either by Air Deccan or by surface transport. Which brought me to the next point, why does it have to be only by air, why not by air and road and rail, combinations thereof? Via Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, even Surat now. An old copy of Paul Theroux's "The Great Railway Bazaar" and its co-traveller, "Riding the Iron Rooster", convinced me that I needed to get back to basics. I did, after all, also grow up in a railway town. Jamalpur, in Bihar, to be precise.

So, soon it shall be by train and bus and taxi and auto and car and air, and all combinations therein, all going well. As also the simple fact that air fares are rising again, post mergers, acquisitions and re-alignments.

Thus it was that I started looking for a way to get to Delhi on Saturday morning, having failed to convince She Who Knows Best that a weekend for her in cool comfortable Pune was better than a few days for me in hot hazy Delhi, and also courtesy the EPFO which desired to see me in Delhi in the middle of the week. The early morning Kingfisher departure to Delhi did not seduce me enough, though I did get to drive over to drop a friend who was headed for Bangalore by the same bird, and was witness to the usual chaos at Lohegaon. Let me assure you, it is as bad at 5:30 in the morning as it is in the evening, with traffic management being restricted to providing ease of access only to the so-called VIPs, the rest of us be damned.

I still can not get over the Airport Director of Pune/AAI giving it to me in writing that it was a "foregone conclusion" that so-called undefined VIPs would get privileged service over paying passengers. I guess people like him thought that it was a "foregone conclusion" that actors and others would take the land of farmers away without any demur.

Came back home, and started looking for fares on Jet Airway's website, lo and behold! A good seat with a snack on the fore-noon flight was all mine for a reasonable 5100/- rupees, with an additional 750 frequent flyer points for eTicket and webCheckIn, no-brainer for their 1035 departure. 9W-366 on 09th June'07, PNQ-DEL, was what it would be. Pune Airport shuts down for civil operations after 11am on Saturdays, and I wanted to get to Delhi, so this was the best way out. Sahara was showing "not available", and I was soon to find out why, as I closed the deal on the Jet Airways website. Very pretty, lots of helpful features, but slow on a dial-up. In addition, they have started displaying third-party advertisements, which does slow things down.

A follow-up telephone call to the Jet Airways airport counter, and I managed to switch my "normal" window seat to the certainly far more desirable "emergency row" window seat, for reasons of much better leg space and the simple fact that the row in front of you does not recline into your face and lap. You also get the best "with wing and engine" kind of photographs from this seat. Also, if there has to be an emergency, I would like to be sitting next to the exit there and helping, rather than being trapped elsewhere inside the aluminium tube.

Got to the Airport at about 1010, just in time, more of the usual morning chaos. The episode of the previous visit into Pune was still fresh in my mind as I headed for baggage screening and check-in. It does seem as though news on my correspondence and RTI Application has filtered across to the airline staff as well as others at Lohegaon. I will believe something has happened only after I see some basic improvements, like specific parking space for disabled people and senior citizens, and removal of the favoured parking slots for so-called VIPs.

Flight was operating on time, so I skipped the lounge/restaurant and went straight into security, though I was looking forward to the hot cooked breakfast one can obtain upstairs. No time left for food, what next? There is nothing like a good freshly cooked omlette with chapatis and pickle, and the restaurant upstairs knows how to make one, with all the variations you can think of. There is enough to eat and drink and keep people busy at the little terminal at this time of the day. Transit passengers can also pick up the "chiwda" and "shrewsbury biscuits" that Pune is famous for, though at slightly inflated prices over market rates.

Outside on the bays there was a Jet Airways Boeing-737-800 turnaround from/to Mumbai and an Air Sahara CRJ turnaround from/to Delhi. And then there was VT-JNH, a Jet Airways Boeing 737-700 as morning turnaround from/to Delhi, for us. Lines had formed for all three flights, and boarding was already on when I cleared security frisking, I try not to take photographs after this point at all airports in India. Except if I spot something flagrantly wrong. Quick walk through the gate and on to the tarmac and on board. As usual, a hopeful from some other seat was already comfortable in my seat, and tried to get me to change instead. Flight was totally full, so I suggested he move to his assigned seat,which he then did with some bad grace. Took the newspaper with him. Happens.

On board, more of the usual welcome, safety announcement, and I must have missed the boiled sweets and cotton part. Got a cold towel though. Take-off dot on time into the clouds in a Westerly direction, turn right for the over Mumbai part, and then twist and turn some more as we rose through the thick clouds, over the ghats, to break out into the blue well after we turned right again after Mumbai to get into the Delhi freeway in the sky. The break-line between the cloudy bits into the clear blue sky was stark, somewhere over Gujarat.

Back on board the snack service was on. Beverages served in open glasses, Jet needs to fix this soon and give us sealed tetrapacks or bottles, it is simply not smart to walk around with trays stacked high like this in the monsoon or otherwise too. There is also the hygeine factor. And then there was the much awaited snack, since I had not eaten anything since morning. Gobbled everything up on the tray, though there wasn't much, and suffice it to say that quantity as well as quality has taken a big toss at Jet Airways. There isn't even the option of buying a sandwich.

Uneventful flight otherwise. Excellent in-flight magazine, Jetwings, the current issue was all about - food. There is also a competition on, but I can never find the contest form on board, though I did find the list of previous winners. How do they manage it? The passenger sitting next to me informed me that he was booked to fly on Air Sahara but had been transferred to Jet Airways because the usual morning Boeing on S2 had been replaced by a CRJ. Good way to use equipment substitution and improve yields. All flights in and out of Pune continue to run largely full.

Soon enough we were being informed about arrival into DEL happily (before time) and the temperatures there with a sigh (above 44 - and it was logged at 49 on the runway later on the same afternoon). But more than anything else, it was the view outside the porthole which was amazing. A blue sky had a stark yellow base, which kept getting closer and closer as we went lower and lower. And then suddenly we were flying through fine dust particles, I think we could hear the change in the airflow sounds, as we flew through what must have been like sand-blasting for the outside of the aircraft.

Landed, got one of the bays closest to the arrival gate, and was amongst the last to disembark onto the bus. Amusing things I observed at DEL was that the baggage carousel displayed a 9W flight number against an Alliance Air logo. The "International Transfers" board had been dumped into the well formed by the baggage belt. A United Nations car was parked right on the bus-stop. Another bunch of Uttar Pradesh police cars was parked blocking the entry to Terminal 1-B departures. And it was hot, as I drove home, why am I not back in Pune?

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lambuhere1 · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:39 pm Post subject:

Good TR.

MalQ, Appears that your love for big beasts is unending

Ram P

JumboJet · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:54 pm Post subject:

One day tired of ur RTI's they will offer you the APD post at PNQ Wink

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I love the smell of Jet Fuel in the morning.

Nimish · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:05 pm Post subject:

Good read and interesting pictures as well..

Seems like 9W is no longer offering the great service they earlier used to. Is this a one off thing (on this flight) or more of a general trend. And if it's a trend, why does 9W get talked about like it's the best thing since sliced bread??

malQ · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:11 pm Post subject:

Personally, I think not just 9W but the other airlines also have a different way of treating pax on non-metro route flights, at least as far as onboard catering goes.

HAWK21M · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:23 pm Post subject:

How many believe the Media & Airliners have got their buddies getting their jobs done easier in both places Smile

regds
MEL
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Think of the Brighter side !!!

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

the chaat portion looks abysmally small!! Guess some of this slipped in thru the QA .. but the snacks portion looks good enough.. (I am kind biased towards 9W.. Razz

) ...

Is it me or do a huge chunk of 9W F/As come from the NE these days. On most of my recent 9W flights .. i have noticed atleast 1 F/A from the NE.

malQ · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:58 pm Post subject:

There were four (1-2-3 and 4) pieces of "paapdee" in the chaat and 2 (1 and 2) cubes of potato of size 0.5cm cubed. There was a whiff of tamarind sauce. It wasn't just my serving that was small. Everybody in my row got exactly the same 4 paapdee and 2 cuboids of potato serving.

Being "almost media" myself, I am fully aware of the way media get presents, and work hard towards saying "NO" to them myself. But then I think 9W could learn from Indigo, class act, who have got by with nil media themselves.