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Verified Member MouthShut Verified Member
Visakhapatnam India
Flying Indian airlines - Vizag to Port Blair trip
Jan 25, 2010 11:52 PM 7886 Views
(Updated Jan 26, 2010 12:00 AM)

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In Aug-2009 I decided to utilize my LLTC to visit Andaman and with a little scouting around I found Indian Airlines offered the lowest fare at that moment. I thus booked a return ticket to Port Blair via Chennai, to leave Vizag on 18th Jan-2010 and return on 23rdIt was not the first time I was flying Air India. Although it is normal for many of us to joke and make fun of Air India, I personally never faced any bad experience, or sloppiness that is so typical of any Indian organization. So I see no reason for me to complain. After all I am Indian too.


I never understood why people make fun of middle aged Air-hostesses or the fact that they are not more modernly attired. For God sakes, they are not participants in a fashion show, they are only helping us make our usually short journey comfortable.


The original flight, IC 7601 from Vizag to Chennai in which I was booked was taken off the air somewhere in November 2009, which I had to fortune to learn from reading the newspaper. I waited for some kind of official intimation either by e-mail or SMS but I was deprived of that satisfaction. The finicky person that I am, I checked the status of my booking on the internet site of Indian Airlines and also from their toll free number and discovered to my joy that I was still a confirmed passenger on a new flight called IC-541, a circular Chennai-Vizag-Bhubabeswar-Chennai flight, introduced in place of IC 7601. All the passengers who were booked on IC 7601 were automatically confirmed on flight IC-541. That set my mind at ease somewhat.


The pessimist that I am I had a nagging suspicion till the day of travel, expecting that I would be turned away for some omission of mine. However no such thing happened.


When I checked in at new Vizag Airport(not named yet due to political issues), I noticed that Air India had 2 or more check-in counters.


But none of the counters had provision to display flight number. Maybe there was only one Air India flight at that time of the day. I joined the line that was the shortest. On further observation I noticed that there was no slot provision either for a manual or for a digital display. Again I had to confirm with passengers standing in line and with the officers on the counter to ensure I was in the right line. Every one was glad to oblige so I have no reason to complain. I realized Simple signboards were alien to Air India. Even the baggage weighing machines were of the manual kind while there were digital sign boards and weigh scales at check-in counters of private airlines like KF and Jet. Thankfully the conveyor common to all counters(not in Air India scope) commissioned recently was in operation.


When I finally obtained the boarding pass I noticed the printed characters on the pass was hardly visible. Most probably due to a worn printer ribbon I said to myself. But it was legible on closer observation so that is nothing to complain about either. I have seen worse looking documents in my organization and in state govt. offices.


The Aero-bridge at Vizag is still under commissioning. The second baggage conveyor at arrival is also being installed.


Although there is a PA system in the lobby after the


security check, I did not understand why Air India staff was not using them. I


had to constantly observe the gates for activity and be close to air India


ground staff to know their intentions.


Finally I heard some one shouting that boarding of IC–541 is in progress. Well I did not miss my flight, so what is


there to complain? The flight, an Airbus 320 took off just 40 minutes late as it arrived late from Chennai. 40 mins is hardly anything so that is no reason to complain. The welcome at the main entrance by the male steward did not seem as appealing as the cute hostess of KF anyway. But I can’t say he was not trying. There were neither wet towels to wipe our not so tired faces nor lozenges for our parched tongues to suck on. It is just a waste of time and


effort anyway.


The flight had a stop over at Bhubaneswar for 40 mins. No refreshment was served in the 40 min flight from Vizag to Bhubaneswar(BBS). Lunch was served on the BBS Chennai sector.


Exiting the plane at Chennai’s Kamaraj Airport was not via aero bridge. At Chennai the baggage conveyors worked fine and all my baggage was received intact. So I could find no reason to complain yet.


On departure to Port Blair from Chennai I could not help


but notice that the banding machine at the Air India check-in baggage scanner


was in working order.


The check-in counters of Air India at Chennai were no different from the ones at Vizag. At least some one had to consideration to scribble the name of the flight on the counter top with a whiteboard marker. There were many counters but with no identification or flight number.


Since our flight to Port Blair(PB) was to depart at 5:50 am, we landed pretty early.Entry into the plane was via aero bridge. The flight IC-549 to PB was an Airbus 321 and I was amazed to see LCD touch screen


displays in front of all seats and to top it all, it actually worked. The Airbus 321 seemed pretty new. Headphones were also provided to all passengers even without asking and I forgot how time passed as I watched the Hindi movie ‘Wanted’.


There were 4 movie channels and around 6 audio channels Breakfast was


served and it was wholesome. No complaints on that score. The airhostess did their best to keep passengers happy.


When we arrived at Port Blair’s Veer Savarkar international Airport I noticed its is small airport and there is no provision for an Aero Bridge.


On Departure from PB back to Chennai I noticed the Air India counters looked the same. as in Vizag and Chennai. No displays or electronic weighing scales here either. There are only 2 security checkpoints and there was a long queue. There was also no announcement on PA system about boarding just the shouting brigade doing their job.


Flight and gate information displays were not working too. The IC-550 from PB to Chennai was again the same


Airbus 321 but I noticed it was the same movies being played and no headphones


were given unless u asked. Initially I was asked to delve into the seat pocket


and to retrieve used headphones left behind by the passengers.


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