An Open Letter to Air India Express

An Open Letter to Air India Express
by Walter Nandalike
Jan 20, 2009
Dear readers, In the last few days daijiworld.com has received several letters of complaint against the services of Air India Express which operates direct return flights from Mangalore to the gulf countries. Many of the letters contained harsh comments. Few of them were published, but most others could not be published. Taking the matter seriously, Daijiworld Media Network Team interviewed about 125 passengers who arrived at Mangalore between December 20, 2008 and Jan 10, 2009 from Dubai, Kuwait, Doha, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and Muscat. Taking it as a social responsibility, Daijiworld.com has decided to address open letter to the Air India Express chief in Mumbai , expressing the grievances of passengers, with a hope that usual problems of passengers would be solved soon and it would also help Air India Express to serve in a better and professional way. This letter is written on the basis of the interviews from passengers and letters of complaint received from readers.

To, Capt P P Singh
Chief Operating Officer
Air India Express
Mumbai _ India
Subject: Inconvenience caused to AI Express passengers of Gulf destination flights from MANGALORE
Sir,
At the outset let us thank you for initiating direct flights from Mangalore to different destinations of the gulf region. Our joy knew no bounds when the first flight was announced by you. Our dream came true because of your initiative and support from Mangalore Airport management, and other respected leaders. But, ever since direct flight operations began, the complains from passengers steadily started to flow in. A few of our concerns were solved at the local level, but following are the problems that could not be addressed or entertained at local level. Hence it is our desire to bring them to your notice:
1. The fare fixed for Mangalore to Gulf destinations is not in line with the ‘Budget Airline' concept. There is an accusation from a large number of passengers that, service quality may be matching with your Budget Airline Concept, but fares certainly do not. It has been observed that fares during the peak seasons of July, August, Christmas, and New Year Season is far higher than normal conventional airlines. To quote you one example, a passenger from Dubai, during December, paid Rs 35,000 for a Dubai - Mangalore return ticket But an Emirates airline ticket to Mumbai with a connection to Mangalore with Jet Airways would have cost lesser than the direct option. Besides the fare, the same passenger further ended-up paying another few thousand rupees on excess baggage as Air India Express allows only 20 kg luggage from out of Mangalore.
There are several readers / passengers who have observed that Air India Express fares to other destinations like Calicut, Cochin and other sectors are much more competitive. Is this because those destinations have other carriers operating there as well? Do we need to wait until other airlines start their operations to Mangalore? Kindly look into this issue before Mangalore-bound passengers unitedly decide to opt for alternate cheaper options. Monopoly is not a justification to charge passengers exorbitantly. We have always regarded and respected our national carrier and we hope Air India Express reciprocates this sentiment by first reducing the fares to an affordable level...
2. When passengers raised their concern on the permitted baggage allowance (20 kg from Mangalore airport to the Gulf, and 30kg from Gulf destinations to Mangalore) officials always give the excuse that, 'Budget Airlines can allow only limited luggage unlike regular airlines’. Does this apply only for Luggage? Why not for fares then? There are several instances where even ONE kilo of excess luggage was not spared and charged Rs 400/- .
Is there no tolerance even for a single kilo when the fares paid are high? The passengers have requested with your airline that you allow at least 30Kilos from Mangalore to Gulf destinations and 40 Kilos from Gulf to Mangalore. If this is not possible due to logistic reasons, then kindly reduce the fares substantially in order to be in par with other budget airlines.
3. About 80% of the passengers interviewed by daijiworld felt that the counter staff at Mangalore Airport are not trained enough, lack professionalism and are wanting in customer friendly attitude. There is no smile on the face, non courteous and lack knowledge in handling international passengers and processing time takes much longer when compared to other international airports. This is a serious issue which might affect the integrity and status of Mangalore International Airport. The official uniform of the counter staff does not rise up to normal airline standards as it is inconsistent and varies from person to person. The same passengers are soaked into seeing well dressed staff of Jet Airways and Kingfisher airlines. We urge you sir, to use your good offices and find out the reason for this poor performance from a presumably untrained staff of Air India Express Mangalore airport.
4. You had announced the catering of a Mangalorean cuisine for the flights leaving late evening from Mangalore. Complains have poured in regarding the food quality on board. We understand that many Budget airlines do not server food on the flight. Instead they sell food on board. If you are not able to manage quality food to the passengers, perhaps selling quality food may also be an excellent idea. This should be food for thought for Air India Express.
5. The general behavior of the airhostesses on board is also questioned. They too lack a smile and give an impression that they are not trained. A large majority of the passengers feel that lack of training and lack of well deserved candidates may be the reason for this slide in service level. There is also a big concern among a few passengers that ALL Airhostesses are from North Indian and they do have a cold blanket attitude towards south Indian passengers. There is nothing like flying with someone who knows our language and understands our ethnic sentiments.
6. We also request you on behalf of thousands of Mangaloreans in Saudi Arabia to update us on the latest status of direct flight from Saudi Arabian destinations to Mangalore.
Although there are many more concerns expressed by the passengers we thought it right to highlight only a few major ones. We trust your judgment and believe in your leadership. We have enjoyed your support when we wanted additional flights or facilities. It is possible that you are unaware of these issues and hence this open letter to you. Your timely action will certainly go a long way in helping thousands of passengers who travel on AI Express and also could give room for improvement to AI Express. This will also be an opportunity for Air India Express to grab the reins and be prepared when the airport becomes fully operational at the new terminal. Thanking you in advance for your consideration and listening to our problems On behalf of all our readers and Mangalore-bound passengers,
Yours faithfully
Walter Nandalike
Editor-in Chief - Daijiworld.com
Managing Director - Daijiworld Media Pvt Ltd