I'm not sure what Air India's doing, but they should keep at it!

A month or so back, I was treated to a complimentary upgrade on Air India on a trip from MAA to DEL. I'd written about that here, and after that trip, I've been more pro-AI than I've ever been before. I'm certainly flying them more (voluntarily), and I'm increasingly convinced, that in spite of some ups and downs (example here!), they're trying a lot harder than before, to become a better outfit as a whole. But with more efficient operations comes the need to balance a no-nonsense approach with a customer-centric one, that could well upset the plans ofo most organisations that are attempting a large scale transformation.

So, it was with a lot of pessimism that I approached the check-in agent at MAA on my 3.45 pm flight to BOM, to inquire as to the possibility of an upgrade. I was booked on a moderately priced economy ticket, but certainly below 2/3 the cost of a full fare Y ticket - hence the pessimism. He said he wouldn't be able to do much about it, but asked me to speak to the duty manager. So I went to the DM's desk, but he was in a conversation with a group of his staff. One of them - a very polite gentleman - turned around and asked what I wanted. When I mentioned that the check-in agent had asked me to speak to the DM for the possibility of upgrade, he immediately went to his PC terminal and did some checks. There wasn't any visibility, he said, but also mentioned that he would put in a request, and I should check at the boarding gate with the gate agent.

After a quick coffee and snack at the lounge, during which time boarding had been announced, I headed to the boarding gate, and realised I was one of the last few to board (the flight actually departed about 10-12 minutes early). With some trepidation, I mumbled my inquiry for upgrade, to the gate agent. He took one look at my ticket and asked "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you so I can upgrade you." I was stunned! Normally when most airlines say they'll put in a system request, you can't be sure if they're just going back to their game of Freecell. But here was Air India - who might have rated pretty low on most people's lists a couple of years back - taking up the request, and actually making it happen! I got seat 1A !

I mentioned in my earlier post on the upgrade on MAA-DEL sector, about the friendly check-in agent (who also turned gate agent!). My recent incident seems to re-emphasize the speculation that AI might actually be trying to provide a better customer service experience.

The food on the flight itself was decent - some chicken kheema (mince) patties and chicken kababs (both of which were very nice), a sandwich (largely unpalatable) and some fruit (neutral).

And in spite of some air traffic congestion on arrival, we landed ahead of schedule. I was the first to disembark (other than a pilot who was on a positioning flight for his next one out of BOM), and the pilot of my flight came out of the deck and started chatting - very friendly fellow, it seemed! Not something I've seen all that often on Air India.

So what's my point? I am getting strong and positive vibes from AI that they're trying to impress and do there best. Even on the 3-4 economy flights I took in the last month or so, they've been very good across the board - in-flight service, food, seat comfort, etc. They could certainly do well to upgrade their entertainment systems and content, but I'd rather see them take baby steps and succeed, than giant steps and fail.