On a flight of lies from Newark to Chennai

On the fateful day of August 25, when everything about my vacation was superlative, Jet Airways decided to play the Grinch. The airline cancelled the flight from JFK to Mumbai via Brussels and moved passengers from JFK to Newark Airport and put them on a flight to Mumbai. Subsequently the flight from Brussels to Chennai was cancelled and passengers were accomodated on the Mumbai flight and were promised the next flight to Chennai.

There were 20 of us on this flight traveling to Chennai, some were traveling with their children and many of them were senior citizens. Despite the cancellation of Brussels – Chennai flight we decided to go ahead with the journey since the staff in Newark promised us of an accommodation in Mumbai and the first flight to Chennai next morning.

The flight from Newark departed after a delay of 90 mins. There was another 60 min delay on the Brussels – Mumbai flight since passengers arriving from connecting flights had not arrived. And we landed in Mumbai at 11.30 pm on August 26. Customs and Immigration was cleared in 15 mins and we got the baggage at the conveyor belt in 15 mins.

We re-checked our bags at the counter, with a hope that we would be given accommodation. And we were just given our boarding passes on the 8.45 am Chennai flight on August 27, but no news about accommodation. The personnel at the check-in kiosk asked us to get on the inter-terminal shuttle to proceed towards the domestic terminal. When asked about the accomodation, the Jet Airways staff and duty manager, conveniently washed her hands-off. When we asked if they received any email from the desk in Newark, they denied receiving any email for accommodation, and said it has never been their policy to put up people in hotels or Jet lounges due to flight delays and cancellations. Some amongst us moved away after hearing their reply, while a few of us decided to stick around and fight it out.

I heard the Supervisor talk to a foreign national, a business class passenger and a Platinum Card member on the same flight. She asked him to report to gate 1 at the domestic airport, but said the Jet Lounge could accommodate only 20 and she wouldn’t promise a place for him. She also said and the airport security may let him into the gate two hours prior to the flight departure and he must be prepared spend the night (8 hours) sitting in those chairs near the check-in counter. On hearing this I turned irate and had no choice but to gather my co-passengers me for a confrontation and if possible a showdown.

I asked the Chennai bound passengers to join hands with me and we confronted the supervisor and recorded her boorish, rude, brash answers. We asked her to call the General Manager, and she said she did, but it was never their policy to provide any accommodation for delays or cancellations. It was sad to know that the Jet Airways ground staff and supervisor are not empowered to make any decisions to save the image of the airline.

Many of us had to report to work the next morning and Jet Airways didn’t care whether we slept that night or stayed awake. Amongst us there was an international passenger who is travelling to the country for the first time to add to his woes Jet Airways managed to lose his luggage and he had a 10 am business meeting the next morning.

When we raised our voices, she had no option but to extinguish our tempers and quickly get us out of the international terminal. She took down our seat numbers and promised an accommodation at the lounge, but when we reached there, the security guards would not let us enter the gate 8 hours prior to the flight and the ground staff at the domestic airport didn’t want to help and washed off their hands.

The Captain on the Brussels bound flight attributed the reason for cancellation as commercial, while the Captain on the Bruessels Mumbai flight said it was due to technical reason. That day we were flying on lies from Newark to Mumbai.

Would you want to experience such a service with no humaneness and professionalism? Imagine your aged parents, wife with kids stuck in Mumbai with no food and accommodation for 8 hours. When it is time to make a wise choice and don’t be afraid to drop Jet Airways from your list, even if you get a free ticket.

Check out this video I shot that night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDEtK0XFmn8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Service “Up in the air”

Five months ago when I decided on a trip to the USA, I choose you guys over the rest of your competitors. Price was never a matter, and especially on this trip to see my near and dear ones in a far away land. And the decision to fly with you was a culmination of service I have experienced in the last ten years as loyal customer. So how does one react when loyalty is unrequited and privilege is unappreciated? Should one feel cheated and violated?

Trouble started just 24 hours before….

24 hours before the journey I go online to do a check-in and the airline website throws an error. I tried multiple times, and then I finally decided to call the customer service. And the response that I got only surprised me further.

The gentleman at the other end says “Some customers are experiencing issues with our online check-in, and I would request you to get to the airport early to get the seats of your choice.” Before he could close with the customary statement, “is there anything else that I could assist you with today”, I politely hung up.

7 hours before the journey….

I got a text message from the airline “9W 0226 flight from Chennai to Brussels is delayed and will leave at 2.15 am”. Since I had a connecting flight to Newark and then a flight to West Coast, I was a little anxious. I would have managed to squeeze in a few extra hours of sleep if the flight had left on time at 1 am. We all understand that no one has control over what happens in air!

3 hours before the journey….

The airline staff at the opening of the queue requested my ticket print out and passport. On seeing the short queue at the airport, I was excited, but the excitement didn’t last long. His eyes peered through the names of passengers on the list, but never caught mine. I pulled out my mobile and matched the date on the mobile with that on the ticket and I also looked around to see if I was in the right airline queue. I felt anxious and helpless, and volunteered to find my name on the list. Even without the help of my eye glass, I managed to find myself on the printed sheet of paper within seconds.

While I thought the delay at the mouth of the queue was made up for at the check-in counter, I was made to feel more anxious. The staff invited another colleague over and asked him to note down my name, while my boarding card had 4 S printed on it. Having never experienced such a privileged profiling, I asked the staff what it means. She started to say security, but she quickly cut it short and handed over my boarding card to her colleague. I asked another airline college next to her, while he didn’t budge either. He replied nothing and handed me my boarding card.

While boarding…

At the gate there were boards that clearly segregated the crowd by class and seat numbers for economy. But the half a dozen airline staff waiting to scrutinize boarding cards, passed on no instructions or made no announcements on who gets to board first. The queue phobic, indisciplined Indian population elbowed each other to take their pre-assigned seats on the aircraft.

With slow moving line, I realized there were 2 more rounds of passport and boarding card matched made before we boarded. When I handed over my boarding card I was pulled up by the staff for special frisking and screening of my baggage. Aha moment! I knew what the “SSSS” in my card meant and why the airline staff never disclosed to me what it meant.

While I was still in Chennai, I got the message, “Weclome to the new America”. I was extra cautious while packing my carry-on not to have liquids, sharp objects or other prohibited material with me. I even decided not to wear my belt so that I walk through the security without setting on any alarms. And a prepared and cautious passenger like me gets a privilege treatment in the name of security.

20 mins after boarding….the wings got clipped…

Over head bins were already full and the crew was busy running around to find place for luggage that passengers were never willing to part. A passenger complained that her seat automatically reclined and the crew summoned the mechanic on-board to fix the issue.

Though kids and elderly get the right to board first, kids can get a little restless. An 18 month old boy next to me was super excited and was running around the aircraft, while his parents were busy getting his feeds ready. The airline staff soon reached out to the parents and very rudely asked them to keep their child from moving around. Not happy with his wings being clipped and with his mother arms firmly wrapped around him, the toddler hated the red card and started to cry. Passengers were surprised what happened to the child who was happy a few minutes ago. His unrelenting cries soon invited the airline crew and this time around they asked the parents if they knew how to distract the kid. Rudeness!

 An hour into the journey….

At 3.30 in the morning I was posed with the question, “Vegetarian or non-vegetarian” and very soon a veg hot pocket was handed over to me. Rubbery and hard paneer pieces in the hot pocket gave me an idea what I should offer when I invite someone who I hate to my home. Even relief packets thrown by Red Cross in Kandahar would be better.

Four hours into the journey….terrible!

An elderly couple next me give me a nudge and ask if I can show them how to use the faucet in the toilet. By then the crew rolled out the terrible tasting food trolleys like they were feeding some prisoners and beggars. I avoided the trolleys and I took the elderly couple towards the front of the aircraft to show them how to use the faucet. The airline crew intervened and told me that one of the toilets had no water and the other one was reserved for business class and showed us they way back to the economy class. And finally when the food arrived, the variety, quality and quantity left us with a bad taste?

The bad food, bad attitude of employees, and singling me out for another frisk continued before I boarded the next flight from Brussels to Newark.

Where is compassion? Where is service? Where is loyalty? Where is respect for human life? Am I not adult enough to know what “SSSS” my boarding pass means? A women employee asking the mother and father if they knew how to engage and distract their child got me out of the chair. Arrogant responses and obnoxious response towards elderly clearly made this a “never travel” airline for me. Continuous display of arrogance and boorishness was good enough to convince me that I shouldn't need their “Privilege Card” any more. Who would want to hold a privilege card and feel humiliated on a vacation?

How can an airline fail continuously from the corrupt online check-in, to ticketing staff to cabin crew, to non-functioning toilets, to arrogant and disrespectful crew on a single day? Anyways, Jet Airways lost a 10 year loyal customer on one journey.

Being “up in the air” for too long can make one feel haughty, and it is time Jet Airways did some serious introspection and pull up their socks to upgrade the service, the fleet, and the cabin crew behavior.