Paramount - high potential airline. Review on Paramount Airways

I recenty had the opportunity to fly Paramount airways from Bangalore to Hyderabad thanks to the ongoing strike by jet airways pilots and believe me I was not disappointed!

Jet was my airline of choice to fly to hyderabad as they were fairly cheap and money was at a premium at this stage as I am in the process of moving back to bangalore not to mention the accident that befell by mother in law which was the primary reason why I had to fly to Hyd in the first place.

The ATR from jet is not a very comfortable aircraft to fly in despite the fact that we havent had any air accident for some time now, I always have this phobia that something might happen with the ATR flying machine. Anyhow, I guess im deviating from the topic, lets get on track shall we!?

So, I was a bit apprehensive about booking on paramount airways, they are a small airline and what would I do in case of a cancellation?? Needed to get to hyderabad to have the operation on my mother in law's leg done ASAP AND I needed to be there to help, unfortunately, airlines had jacked up their ticket prices due to the ongoing strike and this appeared to be the best deal, (not to mention also, that I had booked on jet initially but then realised to my horror that I booked for the wrong day0!) so I took it anyway, I was already at the BIAL so got a fair deal on the ticket Rs. 2800 is not bad considering the strike, though there was one snag, I was at the airport since 6:15AM and this flight was at 12:25 in the afternoon, I took it anyway since I could not afford to pay 3500 bucks for an air ticket at this

Thanks to my friend Naresh who brought me my laptop all the way from home so that I could while away the time, also thanks to BIAL for their free wireless access, I spent the time roaming around the terminal and in the process also met quite a few interesting folks as well! I tried to do a Kiosk checkin as the Notebook was the only luggage I was carrying, but realised that paramount wasnt listed, this made me wonder if the airline would be my preferred choice anytime in the future, coz I generally hate to stand in checkin counters as they always ask you for all unwanted stuff, like ID proof and CC card and stuff which is really not required, anyways I approached the checkin counter expecting to be asked for the same information, no pretty girl to greet me, some middle aged guy who I thought was fairly courteous but seemed bored with his job, printed out the boarding pass and gave it to me without asking for proof! Wow! now that was a good experience, I went through with the secuity check and then thought I would look up the MS community on this airline, and everywhere I looked I could only see praise for paramount! that was a good sign.

I started to relax a little and then the call came for boarding from a lady who looked bored with her job too! I was now wondering, will the cabin crew be the same?? Got off the bus and into the spanking new Embraer Aircraft, immediately, I was impressed, the cabin crew were very courteous not to mention customer centric, the moment I stepped into the aircraft, I knew this was going to be a pleasant flight. I was served coconut water initially as a refresher, candy was given along with a face tissue to refresh me.

The Aircraft was exceptional, business class and the seats were extremely comfortable not to mention the fact that I had ample leg room, which is my grouse with Boeing aircraft, I thought airbus was better, but the embraer was the best of all! Then reality struck, this was a full service airline! not a LCC as Jet Konnect, At the time of booking I was asked what kind of meal I wanted, and I replied with a Non-Veg Selection, I thought they would make me pay for the food, but imagine my surprise when food was served without asking for anymore of my hard earned money! The food served was not a non-veg selection and I asked but was told by a very concerned flight attendant that they did not have the food stocked and she was truly apologetic about the same, well I guess you dont get it all after all, but what I really liked was the concern shown by the attendant. I was given a box with sandwiches and a slice of cake along with a frooti, I remembered paying Rs.140 for the same stuff on Jet earlier this month, also on indigo airlines as well (Rs.150), the cake was delicious, the sandwiches were kind of cold but were tasty too. After this I was served with coffee. The flight was only a 55 minute affair, but I treasure every moment of it, I was asked to fill out a feedback form on board, to which I readily agreed but I did not have a pen, the same was arranged for me after a little delay and the flight attendant came up and smiled and apologised for the delay, the boring employees, of whom I had spoken earlier, were banished from my memory at that stage, the cabin crew were bubbly and willing to help and were the epitome of customer service ( I work in a customer service industry, so I should know!) especially a lady called P.Modi (Priyanka modi) who was vivacious and full of life, I had half a mind of giving them my card and asking them to come work with our company, such was the impression they created on me! At the end of the 55 minute flight (Did I forget to mention, we reached hyderabad before time!?) I stepped off the aircraft into a waiting bus to take me to the terminal, guess what I did then? Connected to Wifi and checked for a return ticket on Paramount airways! 2225 bucks was the price, absolutely amazing! I spent the same amount on an indigo flight 2 weeks ago and had about half the service that I had today! Unfortunately, the timing did not suit me, but all in all, I am now hooked to paramount, Paramount is now my airline of choice in India, they are truly an exceptional airline and come as a breath of fresh air to travellers like me who always look for something more than just a mundane flight!

Comments as always are welcome!