Don’t fly Air India

After a long time in the USA, I decided it was time to come back home. It was a sort of last minute decision. So the only tickets I could get, was from Air India. My ticket was code shared with Singapore airlines. Therefore, I could fly through Singapore air, till Singapore Changi airport. Man that is a great airport. It is a small city in itself. I had an 8 hour stay there, and I spent most of the time using their free internet access. I did some shopping too. All was well until I had to board my flight to India. I was so euphoric that home was just 3 hours away.

It was a cold night in Singapore. Outside temperature was around 12° C. And I entered Air India’s flight AI 4001 at 9:35pm local time. Immediately I felt something different. The flight was freaking hot. One could have cooked his dinner in there. When I asked the air hostess about this, she said “Sir, the main door of the flight is open. That’s why it is hot”. What? It is freezing cold outside and how is that going to increase the temperature inside? And the tone in which she gave the reply was not good either. She was too rude.

Once the main door of the flight was closed, everyone started questioning about the temperature. The air supply thingies that you can direct at yourself didn’t seem to work either. An air hostess checked that and said “It will work sir, eventually”. Eventually? This eventuality, that she predicted, never occurred. This again was told to us with a very rude tone and no smile on her face. ( indha mathiri air hostess ellam enga irundhu pudikaranga? She looked like was a failed mega serial actress)

It was baking in there and they started showing Ah Aah in the in-flight entertainment system. Many co-passengers complained that their headphones didn’t work. Again the reply came “See if you are in the correct channel”. Rude again. I didn’t care to complain.

Add to this, the fact that the person sitting to me started blabbering after having 2 glasses of wine. I felt like sitting in a cheap theater watching a third rated movie (which Ah Aah is!) I was looking at my watch the whole time. I was relieved when the flight landed in Chennai. The air hostesses and other staff didn’t even have the courtesy to thank the passengers. When the passengers started to alight, the crew went off to pack their bags.

I don’t want to talk about things like the food provided or how sucky other things were in the flight. I am totally frustrated with their service and their attitude. And am sad that I have to fly using Air India while I go back. I would advise everyone reading this to never to travel by Air India again and also stop your family friends from using Air India.

Happy traveling!