Oct 01, 2009 11:27 PM
5287 Views
Dear Mr Jadhav: A few days ago I travelled on your much publicized airline. As an Indian, I had been following all the recent negative news surrounding Air India but the patriotism in me wanted to give this airline a try and also help an airline that is struggling. Keep in mind that this was the first time I was travelling on Air India. I flew out from Minneapolis (US) to Kolkata (India) on the 15th of September via JFK. The connection was tedious and my flight path took me from Minneapolis to Chicago and then New York (JFK). Something you should really look at closely for your US customers travelling from non-direct Air India cities is the connection path.
While I have no gripes about the flight and the new 777s you have acquired for your non-stop service to Delhi, your ground staff in JFK leaves a lot to be desired. While I was checking in for my flight, most of your ground staff was busy, rude and busy making crude comments about female passengers on the flight. It was horrible to watch one of your young Air India employees spending most of his time attempting to woo one of the female passengers on the flight and talking about her to your other staff. I suggest you fix your ground staff problems in JFK before someone files a sexual harassment case against Air India. The same young Romeo assured me that my luggage would be checked into the flight when I inquired whether my suitcase was scanned on to the aircraft. That turned out to be a blatant lie.
Upon reaching Kolkata, I discovered that my suitcase had not arrived. This was going to be a big problem since most of my clothes and other basic necessities were in that bag. I filled out a form and an Air India employee said that he would trace the bag. I wasn’t overly worried about this as I realized Air India operated daily flights from the US and as an international airline in service for over 60 years, I concluded that you would treat the situation as any other commercial airline. How wrong I was!! To make matters worse, your very Air India staff constantly assuring me that my suitcase would arrive within 24 hours decided that it would be a good idea to ask me for some US dollars as bribe money. This would coincide with the pujas here in Kolkata. How despicable that an employee dares even ask a tired passenger any form of money especially after they have just lost your luggage. Again, an example of your horrible ground staff!
The next few days were utter hell as I placed phone call after phone call in an effort to trace the bag and get any kind of information. Air India does not like to take any accountability and phone calls were often hung up, transferred or I was simply told to call someone else. Eventually, after about 50 calls, your staff was kind enough to tell me my bag was still in Chicago! Mind you, it was the 17th and I had arrived in Kolkata on the 15th. 2 days just to track a bag. I was told that my bag would not make it to Kolkata before the 19th of September. This was going to be a short trip for me and I was told that my bag (full of clothes and other essentials) would be in Kolkata 5 days after I landed. This had to be some sort of joke I thought but then I realized your airline’s Rs.3000 compensation was an even bigger joke. Surely Air India has to know that Rs 3000 for 5 days without clothes, essential toiletries, and other needs is hardly enough. To make matters worse, no one from Air India kept me updated on the suitcase and any new information. In fact, it required me and my parents to make numerous calls to Air India to even get any shred of information. When your staff was kind enough to pick up the phone, I was told conflicting information. Eventually, I was able to pry out of one of your employees that the bag had arrived in the afternoon of the 19th of September.
I journeyed to Kolkata airport for what should have been a routine claim and departure. Again, how wrong I was. The bureaucracy of your airline shows in the attitude of its staff. Again, I was sent to several different areas of the airport and your very same Air India staff said that the baggage claim was closed and that I would have to return the next day. This was after 5 days of waiting and a 2 hour drive to the airport. I had had enough. I talked to the Air India operations manager (in Kolkata airport) and gave him a piece of my mind. Why had I been summoned to the airport if I couldn’t claim my luggage? How does an airline expect a passenger to stay for 12 days without any luggage or essential needs? The bigger question, does Air India even believe in customer service?? I was again referred to someone else at the Air India counter where I was greeted with “You need to wait as I have to attend to another flight.” I was patient and when it was all said and done, I walked out of the airport with my bag at 11:00PM. I had originally reached the airport at 7:00PM. What should have been a routine pick up turned into a 4 hour nightmare as I again dealt with the bureaucracy, inefficiency and corruption that is Air India. Shame on the country’s national airline! Did I mention that I was not even compensated for my roundtrip fare from where I live in Kolkata to the airport?
Mr. Jadhav, you have requested that your passengers write to you directly and that is what I am doing. This is one of many stories I’m sure and I can also assure you that this will be my last experience with your airline. Additionally, I will for my part make sure that anyone I know will not take a chance on Air India. There is saying in the US that I discovered to be painfully true (Friends don’t let friends fly on Air India). I am writing to you for several reasons. As top management, you need to know what a nightmare Air India can be for your passengers. Hopefully, incidents like this allow you to rectify the problem for the few passengers you have remaining. Air India has garnered a terrible reputation and I can see now why.
I am disgusted, tired and furious at the way I have been treated. What should have been a fun 14 day break with my aging parents turned into a nightmare. I will never forgive this airline for the emotional and physical damage imposed on me and my parents. I have travelled on many airlines to India and it’s ironic that the worst experience was by the country’s own airline. I am going to publicize my experience with Air India to India’s main newspapers and travel blogs all over the Internet. People have a right to know what kind of product they are getting themselves into. I also suggest you read some of the blog postings about Air India online. A simple google search takes you to other articles that highlight the nightmare that is Air India. I for one am done with this airline and intend on spreading the word as best I can so that others like me do not have to go through this ordeal. I don’t know if I will get any refund from you. In reality, there is no refund to the emotional anguish that your airline provided me on this trip. I hope the taxpayers of India have their own strike in protest to the fact that the Government is even keeping your airline in business. Perhaps the tables need to be turned and I for one believe justice will prevail. I hope as CMD, you can turn this atrocity of an airline around. I’m just lucky enough to know never to fly you again.
Yours sincerely,
Abhik Mitra
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