Airliners-India.com

karatecatman · Guest

Clash of the jets: 9W/AI-IC -- MAA-BLR-MAA
February 12, 2009

Background
“Aero India 2009” was on the minds of the MAA Gang. And it was being planned well. Or so we thought!! Office played spoilsport! Chief called up to say that he had work, VenkatMAA was in a state of flux, KCM. Boss trouble again. And Ashwin, boss trouble again.
So that meant one wicket down.

We aimed to be there on Feb. 12, as that seemed to be the only day suitable. Two days before the great day, Venkat called to say that he was already in Bangalore and we could coordinate meeting. Ashwin wasn’t sure at that stage and KCM’s boss was playing truant -- The only answer was “We'll see. His face turning tomato-red when he heard leave was for an airshow.” “Only a 2-year-old goes for an airshow,” must have been the unspoken words.

Finally on Feb.11, at 3. 32 p.m., Boss said “Okay, but only for one-day.” There must have been some significance to the time!!! Promptly dashed off SMSs to Venkat and Ash and got the travel agent to reactivate the booking. It was to be an airshow all the way!! Train? Forget it. And buses were packed like sardine cans.

Ash finally confirmed at 6 p.m. after KCM got his tickets. Agent wanted to know what this airshow was. “Didn't you go for one already? Military aaa! Ohoooo.”

As time would be wasted getting back to the agent, Ash dashed off to the airport and blocked the tickets.

So it was to be Jet Airways “Boeing 737-700” to “Bangalore HINDUSTAN” and “Air India/Indian Airbus A320-200” to Chennai.

Clash of the jets.

And as in the Cochin trip, this was back to back!
One more round of SMSes, and all set for the trip.

The similarities with the Cochin trip were quite coincidental! Once again early morning, a 0555 departure and return was 2140.

Packed all the stuff and set the alarm. Got a call at 10 p.m. from Air India reminding me to pay the UDF at Bangalore.

***

Feb.12
Alarm tried to explode but too late! Was ready for it this time two minutes ahead and quickly suffocated it into silence. Must have been too aggressive cos the LCD dial changed colours and the time went into a different time zone.

Got ready and transport arrived on time. Ash buzzed to say he was on the way too.

Chennai fortunately is still cool in the morning and reached in quick time. Hung around waiting for Ashwin. CISF was looking bored and there were a few sandbag points. Sat on a bench but had to scoot to the terminal as the malaria vermin were happy to have a blood meal. Pax having an argument with Indigo staff at the counter. Not much of a crowd.

Ash finally appeared and we went for check-in. Cleared security and moved to 9W. Got 2 windows and moved for security and boarding. This time the crowd was huge but manageable. No CISF running around asking you to take lifts. Quick frisking and bag sailed through.

Settled near Gate 4 which was where we were to depart from. Most of the morning flights were on the verge of departing so it was pre-boarding for many.

Finally. “Jet Airways to Bangalore” was pasted on a cardboard and waved around. One pax before us had a Kingfisher tag on his bag. 9W staff noted it and asked him to recheck-in. Huge argument. Pax: “I got the tag from CISF. Original had fallen down and they gave me substitute.” (Yes, there was a basket near CISF and there were tags of all airlines in it. Guess this is to help pax in distress and in situations where the crowd is too much.)
But 9W were firm. “Re-check-in. We are not Kingfisher Airlines.”

As the queue was building up, the pax had to relent. Moved along. Bag scanned again and stamped. Moved to the 9W bus and on board. Not much of a load. We drove on and on and finally reached VT-JNH.

Step ladder check and front boarding. Greeted by crew and settled in 14A.
Ash was the opposite window, selected to get a good view of BIAL.

Just before take-off on 9Wat Chennai. Pushback starts. Dirty window

As in the Cochin trip, it was a dirty window again. Cloth streaks could be made out. A pax settled in in the aisle. Lucky it was an empty middle seat. Crew went about giving out the lime juice bottles. Chime. Crew looked around -- 4 ladies and one guy. Smiled like dolls and went back to the business of lime juice distribution. Miss J in particular would walk from Y to J, stop at the divider and then walk back with a plastered smile, nod, check the seatbelts and then walk all over again.

Pax at emergency got a briefing on how to operate the door. Some animated gestures of tugging and pushing and she got him to nod back.
Lime juice bottles were collected in a black trash container. One more chime. Mr. C. came around and walked till J. One more chime. Stepladder was beginning to get towed back. “Crew close and arm all doors.”

Safety drill began. Miss C was for the beginning of Y while Mr. C was for mid-section. Big hurry to finish. No expression, just something to be done quickly. “We request you to pay attention to the safety drill as some features on this aircraft vary … seat cushions from rows 9 to 16 can be used as floatation devices. All other passengers have life jackets under their seats.” Time to fish out the life jacket. Miss J was more bothered about her hairstyle getting spoilt while Mr. C thought he was leading a battalion into Kargil.

When it came to the emergency door locations, anyone who stood near Miss C would have got stabbed in the eye. Okay, we know there should be two doors at the rear! Phew!

We were also told we would be served snacks. Ashwin and I exchanged incredulous looks. “Refreshments?!!! And we were asked for meal choices at the time of booking. Ticket said Breakfast.”

Captain Kataria came on the wire and cut into the top-notch boarding music --- fusion by Rahul Sharma. Co-pilot was Capt. Anurag, while Cabin Executive was Miss Chetna (so there were 2 Miss Cs!).

Time for push-back. Made our way out of an armada of 737s and A320s. Pushed to taxiway and we waited.

Captain Kataria on the wire: “Crew to your stations. Thank you.”

Lights dimmed for take-off.
Soon on active and take-off which was fairly smooth. We banked and turned 45 for Bangalore. Galley noise was quiet. Mr. C was to attend to our rows. But time to explore the seat pockets. Jet Wings, Deccan Chronicle and a dog-earred 737-700 safety card. Decided against too much picture taking as wanted to conserve battery power for Aero-India. Ashwin had his recorder out.

“Excuse me. Your snack.”!!!! “Snack” was a palm-sized croissant, butter, sugar, dairy whitener, after mint, plastic spoonlet wrapped mummy-like in cellophane and with a slick lookin Jet Airways silver knife – “A330 base Brussels” attached to it.

Fifteen minutes into the flight and descent was to commence! One gulp and snack was over. Time for tea, which was passed on past the gent in the aisle who was ill. Kept twistin his neck and rolling all over, removed his shoes and then hopped into the seat. Then squatted on it. Mr. C. told him he would have to fasten his seatbelt.

Tea over and was passed on a suggestion form. Apparently everyone got it and we were asked to seal it “before handing it over to your Jet Airways crew.”

Made a comment about the “meal choice” joke, dirty window, and a compliment for boarding music. Recommended some of the crew for “Outstanding crew member who impressed you most. This includes our ground staff and ticketing staff.”
Sealed it and watched our descent into Bangalore … just 32 minutes from MAA.

Sharp bank to the left as we turned in 180 and moved lower. Dull thud as the undercarriage was lowered.

Smooth touchdown and we moved to an aerobridge. First to greet us was the majestic Heathrow-bound British Airways 747-400. Right behind was a Kingfisher A330 with sealed engines. Step ladder still connected to the closed aircraft.

One more Kingfisher A330, with sealed engines, and then an Etihad A320.
Domestic traffic in full force.
Welcome to BIAL.

First visit to BIAL and it looked nice. Finally reached the front, where we spotted the Aero India ticket counter. No staff. “They come in only at 9.30 a.m.” And we had reached at 6.40 a.m.!!

Ashwin decided to do a round of spotting, while KCM discovered that battery 2 had gone dead. Found a battery charging tower (18 plug points) in the arrival area and camped there while it recharged. CISF agreed to let Ashwin out and he disappeared for the next hour or so. Battery charged and charged but it went dud in a few minutes. Bad buy! Irony was this was made in Japan. So it was down to just one battery. Made in China, but a workhorse, as the 20 MAA meets have proven.

Time to watch the international arrivals. Emirates was a circus. Trolleys of TV sets and other goods went past. Then there was a Madonna who came out. Had 2 feet high red stilettos and dressed in fake fur like she had appeared from the Arctic. Threw half her bags at the BIAL staff who swarmed around her and escorted her to an SUV. Turned out to be some Russian heavyweight in Aero India.

Noticed another pax in from Delhi asking about the Aero India ticket. BIAL staff told him he could try his luck in the city at CoffeeDay.

Ashwin made his way back. Spotted the BA lift-off and the turnaround of the EK777! That was quick! Also said that VenkatMAA was rushing back to Chennai on urgent work.

Almost an hour to go but no sign of Miss Aero India counter. We made our way to the seating area near the Odyssey book area and the bar. Tried to snooze. Then, all of a sudden Miss Aero walked in. We ran across and grabbed the tickets. Decided not to give her a lecture, grabbed our IDs and made our way to the bus area.

Got into Volvo Bus 9 and sat under a console that was overgenerous with the a/c. Reached Yelahanka in 25 mins. Only ones to get off. Chaos as Bangalore Police had no idea where the gate was. Redirected to the right gate, had our bags opened, metal detector checked and all camera parts scrutinised. Ticket checked and bags let in.
Heard the F-16 blast off.

Jet Airways:
Overall: 7/10

Ground Service 8/10
Cabin Service 6/10
Cleanliness 07/10
Punctuality 10/10
Catering 05/10

***

Highlights of Aero India:

The C-17 Globemaster is agile. And the Last Chance Aircraft (LCA) or Tejas is a MiG-35 in miniature. Both are revelations.
Mealtime: Had to eat lunch standing. We were first directed to the lunch areas and soon found it to be a “China plates+fork+spoon+knife+rose bouquet+wine glass+ serviette Taj Group of Hotels Rs. 700 per dish scam”. What about food for the aam aadmi?
Just as we were about to give up and snack on the oatmeal biscuits brought from Chennai, our tired eyes spotted the oasis. We managed to locate it at the end of Yelahanka. Decent meal of juice, Biryani rice, curd rice, 3 vegetable types and sweet in a preset tray, all for Rs. 30 only. Ate while standing and washed our hands outside the mobile toilets and near a barracks. Made our way back to the stalls.

Also saw out-of-work Tamil superstar Ajith who is supposed to be a machine freak. Was supposed to have been freakin out with his Nikon.

India's Su-30 in action

On the ground

On the way in, battery conked out. Drained out while tracking the F-16, F-18, Mig-35 and the Typhoon. KCM decided to try and ask a stall to help recharge the batteries. That someone’s battery can conk out was a concept alien to Aero India staffers. Answers were: “Can't help, No Idea. No, Sir. Sorry. Battery? Aaaaa. Try that side.” Finally recharged in the Gripen ancillary stall. Staff there were nice enough to give me a plug point and ask me to sit.” Wowwwww! Told Ashwin to keep moving and not wait. While sitting there noticed someone who has become a little chubby. Was it him. Naaa! Can’t be.

Battery recharged, thanked the staff and … they gave me a Saab Gripen pen! Huh!!! All without asking.

Found Ashwin at the UAV display area and told him about Mr. little chubby!!! Decided to locate him again. So we charged back in and finally hunted him down. Yes, it was him. A certain commander-in-chief of this forum. What a surprise!

And will making our way back, another discovery. A shutterbug, again a member of this forum!

Got a few souvenirs, but didn’t buy the A380 model -- a scam for Rs. 1,800.

***

5.15 p.m.
Time to leave. Great day. On our way out, we heard the IL-76 landing.
Made our way out only to be told by Yelahanka airforce commandos that there were no buses to BIAL. We were roaming around on the main road, wondering what bus to take when we spotted an auto. Autowallah said we would have to walk after a point as no autos allowed at BIAL!
Next a Meeru Taxi slowed down. Agreed to go, after we bargained the fare. Reached in 20 mins, at 6.15 p.m.

One more photo shoot session and time to look for dinner. This was a 2100 hour departure. Ashwin had to get his ticket as well and we had to also pay the wretched UDF of Rs. 260. Made our way to the Air India counter. Mini-pile-up!!! Air India's systems were down and two AI ground aunties were sweating buckets. One aunty made a call to BIAL complaints and was told it would take sometime.

A foreign group was making noises about how inefficient things were as the other AI aunty was handwriting all the details. Anyway she got things sorted out and sent the group away.

Next was Ashwin’s turn. AI got another back-up system working but when the printout appeared, it was something like an IATA codesheet log.

Ashwin holding his new ticket after Air India had 'Systems down, sir'!!! And CISF let him in after reading this!!!!!

The AI aunty ejected everything out of the window and barked out to the next pax who was asked to give his ID proof. Manhandled the pages and almost used it as a lick pad as she went through the sheets.

Located the UDF counter. Got a receipt and made our way to “Subway”. After that to “Baskin Robbins” for a mint and almond crunchy. And then time to get in.

BIAL staff accost you to check the UDF receipt and then disappear.
Got in and went straight to Air India who are now trying to appear very Kingfisher-like in appearance/attire.

Checked-in and got two windows. Confirmed that it was an A320 and not an A319, and moved up for security and to the gates after it flashed on the screen. On the way saw Narayana Murthy, Infy chief.

Cleared security but noticed the bag had been offloaded. CISF was in a tizzy. “Your bag? Ya. Open, open. What you got. Some bottle. CISF chief was barking at the CISF rookie asking him how he allowed me to get away with it. Got a glare and asked to open bag. Turned out to be the water bottle from the morning 9W flight. “Now you drink,” and CISF chief made some feeding bottle drinking gestures. So KCM had to drink the water bottle in front of 3,000 BIAL pax, down to the last drop!!!
“Now you put back. Go.”
Empty bottle was back in the bag after CISF said I shouldn’t litter.

Made our way to a few seats in a jam packed tiny departure hall.
And the reason was clear. Aero India airspace restrictions had sent almost every airline’s schedule for a toss. And to top it all, there was fog in Delhi.

Indigo was quick to react and reach out to its pax and we soon saw containers of Tropicana tetrapaks and sandwiches coming to the Indigo gate.

The only airline on time to every destination was … Air India. And as the display board showed.

Soon boarding was announced as Gate 4 was shared between Air India to Chennai and Jet Airways to Mumbai! Simultaneous boarding!!! Air India ground staff wished all Air India passengers a very pleasant flight for the 40th time.

The passengers bound for Chennai seem to outnumbered by Air India staff.

Soon we were on the Air India-SATS bus and made our way to a very tired looking IA A320 with the original IA logo.

Step ladder checks and into the aircraft VT-EVK and Air India IC544 for Chennai.

Crew were two guys and 2 ladies. Two pax ahead settled into J. Every J seat had an Air India pillow.
Got a warm welcome in Y from Miss A. 18 A for KCM and 18F for Ashwin.
Settled in. Sitar boarding music, probably from All India Radio archives. Seat pocket was with February “Swagat”, safety card for Airbus A320 which among things showed an Air India aunty successfully managing a water evacuation, and a Deccan Herald supplement.

Head rest covers were Air India. A few seats had Air India pillows.
Window was scratched, almost opaque! What's with this scratched window business everytime! And this craft must be a Gulf route veteran. Found some Abu Dhabi office numbers graffiti on the sidewalls but which Air India maintenance must have tried to rub off. But the plane looked as clean as it possibly could.
The lighting belonged to another era.

Very light loads on Air India/Indian.

Looked out. Spotted the second Air India bus come to the stepladder and just three more passengers climb up. They walked into Y and one said something to the crew.
Miss M nodded.

No more pax. Step ladder being disengaged.

After 20 minutes the stepladder was detached. Pulled away and attached to a ground tug.

Two chimes that remind you of the A300 era. Captain Ramesh Gangadharan on the wire, barking at the crew “Crew arm all doors.”
Ashwin and I were shocked or amazed. Counting the crew, it was 17 pax in total!!!

Time for safety demo. Miss M was in the middle of Y, Mr. G in the centre of J and Mr. L right outside the cockpit door.
Push back and we began rolling.
Miss M pulled out the oxygen mask and the demo seat belt. “The captain of this flight is Captain Ramesh Gangadharan, while cabin-in-charge is Miss Asha … two doors at the rear. The glow path will light up ….” Well at last, the safety demo was coordinated to perfection. The centre crew member even gets to do a small pirouette to indicate how the glow path lights up.

All smiles by the young crew.

Three chimes. “Cabin lights will be dimmed for take-off. You may switch on your reading light. All window shades must be open for take-off.”
Two chimes. “Crew to your stations.”
The V-2500s whined as we rumbled on to active. This was turning out to be another Cochin. Long roll!
Waited for incoming traffic.
Then to active.
The V-2500s roared and we shot off. Just 10.4 seconds and we climbed out steady!! And absolutely on time at 9.05 p.m.

One chime. “You will be served refreshments.”
Crew charged to start the “refreshments”. Crew told pax in 12 and 13 that they could move to anywhere they wanted and they all charged to the rear.

Refreshments! Ticket said dinner!

Trolley rolled past and was handed out a styrene base supported vegetable puff/pattie, chocolate cake and a teastall grade tomato ketchup satchet, plastic spoon and napkin. Got a water bottle, all wrapped again Mummy-like in cellophane.

Took 3 minutes to rip out the cellophane and then attack the refreshment. Time to hand back the tray which broke. Pax in 11 got angry that crew had come to collect the tray so they pacified him and let him eat in peace.
As it was a very light load, asked the crew if we could hop into the cockpit. Miss M said it was a very short flight and that the crew would be leaving immediately on landing so it would be very tough.
Sardar gentleman in front refreshed himself and came back to stretch out and sleep in 13.

Just then three chimes. “Fasten your seatbelts.” Mr. G told him to prepare for landing.

Descent started and made out the lights of the outskirts. We began to bank right and then left. Turned out to be a 09 approach. Whirring and then a thud. Wheel bogie was down.

Seconds before touch down! Capt. Ramesh Gangadharan -- easily one of the best pilots ever.

Soon the blue runway markers. Smooth touch down. We made contact and made a gentle slowdown. Exit and towards the Kamaraj domestic.
The All India Radio began to play again.

“On behalf of Captain Ramesh Gangadharan and the crew we thank you for having chosen Air India. We look forward to flying you again.”
Two chimes. “Please contact our ground staff for assistance.”

Traffic was light at Chennai. A sole Air India Express and the 9W A330.

Got into the bus and out of the terminal in a flash. Dropped off Ashwin and in home quickly.

Super day!!!!

Air India/Indian:
Overall: 8/10
Ground Service 8/10
Cabin Service 7/10
Cleanliness 07/10
Punctuality 10/10
Catering 06/10 (Chocolate cake fetches points)

***
Link:
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6071
Clash of the jets: 9W/AI-IC -- MAA-BLR-MAA

lambuhere1

Nimish · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:22 pm Post subject:

Great report KCM - thanks for posting!

Which did you prefer of the 2 choices?
_________________
We miss you Nalini!

stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: BLR, DXB

Nice TR- so the loads were not good on either flight?
Do you know how many 320/737 services these and other carriers run btw the 2 cities?
_________________
eP007

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:05 pm Post subject:

Nice report there!

Very Happy

The pic just before touchdown in Chennai looked like a space formation though!
_________________
Yeah.

karatecatman · Guest

***
-- Lambuji,
You might get a clue from the Cochin TR!

***

-- Nimish,
Both are evenly matched on this sector, though 9W's catering was not too good.
But it's Air India of course!!

***
-- Stealth,
While both were bad, Jet's loads were better than AI's.

Domestic
Weekly operations between Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore:
Indian 14
Indigo 7
Jet 42
Kingfisher 49
Paramount 8
Blue dart cargo 6
Alliance air cargo 6
Total = 132

Indian, Indigo is A320
Jet is 737 and ATR
Kingfisher is ATR and A320
Blue Dart is 757
Alliance Air is 737
Paramount is Embraer

International
Air Mauritius
Mauritius-Bangalore-Chennai-Mauritius is A330.

***

-- Spider,
Cool

SEANDSILVA · Member Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 751 Location: BOM (VABB)

Nice TR kcm! Quite a few amusing experiences!

stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: BLR, DXB

Thanks a lot for that break up.
I think KF only flies the ATRs between the cities now.
_________________
eP007

TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

KCM

The IC flight you took, IC 544 has ceased to operate from 01 June. IC now has just one flight on the route, morning MAA-BLR as IC 909 operating TRV-MAA-BLR-TRV and evening on BLR-MAA with IC 911 operated as TRV-BLR-MAA-TRV. A/c used is A319. May expect some better loads on BLR-MAA due to TRV-MAA and BLR-TRV pax , biut notmuch as in both these routes KF has non stop flights leaving after the IC flight. But the last leg of IC 911 on MAA-TRV will fill up though as there are no other lfights around that time.