Why India's airlines draw passenger flak - Oraicity - Taaza khabre daily(Orai City)

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Friday, July 18, 2025

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Why India's airlines draw passenger flak

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Flights are a part of life for many even in India, especially those who commute between cities daily or several times a week. Although statistically minimal, glitches do happen in these trips, from delays, long queues and baggage mishandling to bad service, shabby infrastructure and, most annoying of all, 'technical issues'. But there are two compounding factors across all airlines: lack of or inadequate responsiveness and training of people-facing staff.Last week my flight from Delhi to Kolkata underlined that conclusively. We boarded on time, doors shut on time, the pilot made a cheery announcement about our imminent takeoff and estimated arrival in Kolkata. But our aircraft, by then proceeding towards the runway, suddenly turned to the left and halted at a parking bay on the apron. Then the captain announced a 'technical issue', a statement fraught with dread given what happened last month in Ahmedabad.He said it would soon be corrected but it was just the opposite. The airstairs stood around for quite a while before linking with the plane for engineers to board. Then the cabin crew drew the curtains, making everything even more mysterious-and scary. With no updates from the cockpit as two hours went by, passenger unease kept rising. Many inquisitive ones kept walking up the aisle to investigate. And then a senior bureaucrat along with two colleagues insisted on deplaning.Passengers then became even more restive: why would government officials want to get off unless there was something seriously wrong, they thought. With no information or reassurance forthcoming from anyone in the know, anxiety kept growing. More passengers went to the front, some to inquire, others to argue and some to just watch the 'tamasha'. Periodically, one would return to relay the latest, but still no timeline on takeoff, or the seriousness of the fault.Finally, the captain did speak: to announce a change of aircraft! A junior airline employee said we would not go to the terminal but be taken straight to another aircraft. He was wrong. We were disgorged there and taken through cramped security check counters and thence to another departure gate where water, juice and tubs of rajma-chawal arrived. But there was no manager, just frazzled juniors and several delayed text messages about the new departure times.By then it was three hours past our scheduled take-off time and the elderly as well as children were clearly stressed, and their carers even more so. Here, words of reassurance from a senior manager would have calmed nerves all round, but there was silence. Self-appointed passenger 'leaders' therefore subjected junior staffers to tongue-lashings, some justifiable, but most just instances of venting emotions. Finally, it was time to board again: same cabin crew, different pilots.When we took off from Delhi, it was already two hours past the time we were originally scheduled to have landed in Kolkata. By then passengers were all on backslapping terms, bonded by anxiety; it was as if friends were going on an adventure together. The pilot was more communicative this time, apologising and reassuring us that we would be in Kolkata in two hours-and we were. But the saga would have been much more bearable with adroit communication.The world's best airlines are those that score high on passenger experience based on punctuality and efficient, empathetic, responsive staff. Also, captains do not just pilot planes, passengers look to them for information and reassurance. This trip scored low on all counts. Budget or full fare, Indian airline managements' attitude towards customers is standoffish and ground staff are clueless about standard procedures. India has changed hugely; why haven't airlines?

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