---------------------------------------------------------------------------
**** http://www.GOANET.org ****
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goanet mourns the passing of Jorge de Abreu Noronha in Portugal - Nov 27/07
http://tinyurl.com/2dk2bl
http://tinyurl.com/29kpdx
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maharaja of the skies upsets NRIs on ground
By Kul Bhushan/IANS
New Delhi Nov 29: Most NRIs travelling on Air India have horror stories to
tell about their experiences. NRIs may well tolerate more hardships on other
airlines but not on Air India, which they think is their own airline and so
must treat them much better. The airline responds by saying that NRIs behave
better on other airlines than while travelling with them.
Last weekend, I received a couple of very irate calls from friends who were
delayed on their Air India flight to London and New York from New Delhi. Other
flights to the Middle East and, a few days later, Tokyo, were also delayed,
sometimes by for over 29 hours. It was the same 'delayed' story for its flights
to Toronto, Birmingham, Bangkok and Shanghai. The bitter, frustrated passengers
vented their anger at the airline staff and even came to blows.Delhi airport is
not the best airport to spend hours and hours of waiting for a flight to take
off. When the airline does not offer quick explanations or the normal
courtesies of snacks, meals and accommodation, tempers soar.
Travelling on a weekend, many passengers have to report on duty Monday
morning and if they miss their flight they have big problems at work. My New
York friend asked angrily, "Will the airline compensate me if I lose my job?"
Others have business and professional appointments that may cost them their
contracts worth millions.
The flip side is that air safety is more important than these commitments and
airplanes cannot take off with any technical problems. These technical problems
increase with the age of the fleet and Air India has an aging fleet. Of course,
the airline is buying more new planes but this takes years. Orders for 111 new
planes valued at $10 billion have been placed two years ago and the aircraft
are being delivered gradually by 2011. Ironically, with the news of massive
delays, The Times of India reported that orders for another 100 planes may well
be placed and these could be delivered between 2012 to 2017.
The merger of international Air India with the national carrier Indian
Airlines is the reason for doubling of the orders. But these orders hardly
matter to the passengers waiting at the airport these days. These delays could
get worse in Delhi as winter sets in and the fog increases -- and many incoming
flights are diverted from Delhi to other airports and outgoing flights of even
other airlines are delayed . Compounding this is the problem of airport
congestion as airports are unable to handle the vastly increased number of
flights on their existing runways.
Stung by the negative reports of delays, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel
called a number of meetings and issued strict warnings to the national airline
for maintaining its fleet better and becoming more punctual. It is not just
delays and cancellations but also ground and flight services from indifferent
ground staff at check-ins and aging airhostesses who should have been retired
decades ago. So NRIs go on complaining.
While they bicker, J.S. Bedi from Los Angeles writes, "Not too long ago an
Air India Jumbo made an emergency landing at LAX. The plane had blown two tyres
and the pilots landed the plane manually with no casualties or any injuries. It
was past 10 pm and Air India staff in Los Angeles wasted no time in arranging
transportation and accommodation for the 300 plus passengers... all this at
almost midnight at no advance notice."
He goes on, "Did anybody even stop to thank the pilots for bringing them down
safely?
"Did anybody stop to acknowledge the Manager Lalit Kapur and his team for
being able to provide buses and accommodation for over 300 people at no notice
in the middle of the night? All that the passengers did was bitch, bicker and
complain."
But Kevin Kaul, a well-known leader of Indian Americans in California,
differs. He wants the airline to be privatised as it is the first ambassador of
India. In Los Angeles, police are called in regularly because passengers get
rowdy about delays, he says.
Rajen Anand from California says, "Some courageous Indian government leader
must investigate every complaint against the airline and if any deficiencies or
wrong doings are found, the employees must be taken to task. Unless a massive
number of people are fired for their bad behaviour, the situation is not likely
to change. Many have stopped travelling by Air India, which is bad, for Air
India should be a symbol of what is good about India."
Now the national carrier has competition from Indian private carriers like
Jet and others like Kingfisher will soon join.
So the Maharaja had better pull up his socks!
(A media consultant to a UN Agency, Kul Bhushan previously worked abroad as a
newspaper editor and has travelled to over 55 countries.)
IANS
- Forwarded by www.goa-world.com
1ST KONKANI MUSIC STATION ONLINE NON-STOP AT YOUR DESKTOP
http://www.goa-world.com/goa/music/
http://www.parrikar.org/misc/channeachya-raati.mp3
---------------------------------
Get easy, one-click access to your favorites. Make Yahoo! your homepage.
