Trip report: MAA-DEL on Air India business class (and a lot of "Strange")

I don't normally fly AI unless its the only convenient option. Particularly so after November 2009, when I had a rather terrible experience (not on the flight per se, but from a bunch of AI apologists on Flyertalk!). So when I had to fly AI earlier this week, I had quite made up my mind that I wouldn't put up a trip report. However, the experience was quite good, and I am beginning to think AI might have started to get its act together, so I guess this deserves a post!

Flight: IC 440 MAA-DEL | 2h 40m | 1097 miles | Business Class

I had booked an economy ticket, and for some reason, was pre-assigned seat 8F - now this in on an A321, and so seat 8F meant just behind the exit row, and no seat in front of me...so I wasn't about to complain. At check in, I asked the agent if there was a possibility of an upgrade, and she - very courteously - denied it. A word about her here - possibly the nicest agent I've come across with ANY airline, in many years!

Because it was almost boarding time, I didn't use the lounge (also, I was flying economy, so no free access either), and went straight to the boarding gate instead. Then, in what was very reminiscent of the movie, Meet the Parents, the same lady turned up at the gate to scan the boarding cards prior to getting on to the bus (no aerobridge use). I was 7th or 8th in line, and the moment she saw me, she didn't bother scanning my boarding pass, but scratched out the 8F seat on the boarding pass and put down 2D instead! I WAS UPGRADED!!! And because business class was flying very light, I chose to sit in 2F.

Interestingly, AI boards most of its flights from the right side (starboard???) of the aircraft. Now, airlines generally board from the left, and there’s logic to it (the galley is on the right with food being loaded, as is usually the cargo loading), but then, I think I need to realize that “strange” is normal for AI!

Strangely, seats C and D (aisle) have footrests, while A and F (window) don't. But then, knowing AI, there isn't much that is strange in the way they function! Anyway, next came the pre-departure drinks, and I settled for cranberry (which, BTW, was offered to me as fresh grape by the IFE!). Notice the large (really large) armrest and refreshment tray. There was also limited in-flight entertainment, but I did manage to catch a little bit of Sherlock Holmes, once we were airborne.

What next? Breakfast, of course! Being a rather early flight that left almost on time, and given there were some rain clouds when we took off, breakfast was served as soon as was reasonably possible. There wasn’t a menu as much as a sheet of printed A4 paper that the steward had with him, with the list of items available – could well have been the catering manifest. Nonetheless, options included cheese-stuffed omelet, and some south Indian vegetarian options that I wasn’t too keen on. So I settled for a chicken kheema dosa with a cutlet, fresh fruits, banana muffins and croissants (which were to die for!).

 

Breakfast trays were cleared promptly, and the crew came around with magazines. They had mentioned earlier on that the entertainment system was now available, and gave me headphones (there wasn’t one in the 2F seat pocket, though it was there in 2D – strange, again!!). Entertainment consisted of 6 video and 12 music channels (none of them on demand, but played centrally). 

 

Once I realized there wasn’t much of interesting stuff, I quickly read the proffered magazine. This took us till we were overflying Hyderabad. I turned on the flight map and took a quick picture – more for the moment, because only the previous day, Telengana was formally proposed as a new state of the Indian union (breaking away from Andhra Pradesh).

Then the captain came over the PA and announced that although we were a few minutes late at take off, we should be reaching DEL at 9.20 am as scheduled. There was confidence in his voice, and I so snoozed for most of the rest of the trip.

I woke up just in time when the captain was announcing descent, reaffirming the 9.20 arrival. However, a few minutes later, the captain was back on the PA, saying this wasn’t going to be our lucky day. Apparently there was a minor bird hit with an earlier landing in DEL, and the mess on the runway had to be cleared. We were now going to be at least 15-20 minutes late. After that, we were flying pretty low (I estimate not more than 1500 meters), and all I was doing was taking pictures of some stunning views outside, and also of the flight map (just to show how much circling around we were doing).

  

  

 

Landing was fairly smooth in DEL, and the weather was a comfortable 28 degrees C. Doors opened, and we were on our own.

Conclusion

In all, this was a vastly different experience compared to all of my previous flights with AI (or IC, as they were called before that). I’d read about the experience AJ (Live from a Lounge) had, and I think my flight was consistent in terms of his overall experience.

However, I’ve found that AI’s food quality has been generally above par and consistent. They certainly need to get their act together much more, particularly around service attitude and having a customer centric approach, but I am inclined to think, and would like to believe, that they may have already embarked on this.