BawliBooch wrote:

sibibom wrote:

The child did have an incident but was calm by the time boarding was to start. When other passengers(including doctors at the scene) too came to their support I am sure armchair critics like us are the better judge.

"Other passengers including doctors came to their support". Sure!

When any delay or denied boarding instances happen for various reasons, people create a scene and in India support from other passengers is given.

Does that mean the airline was wrong to prioritise safety and operational integrity? The child did create a scene. Should Indian airlines start a babysitting service to handle cases of parents being unable to cope with their kids?

And there was absolutely no reason, NO REASON, for the Minister to poke his nose where it dont belong. I am surprised to see former enthusiastic proponents of the Govt getting out of Aviation enthusiastically cheering for a Minister bullying a private airline.

The incident is from 7th May, the minister got involved today. How are we drawing conclusion that he is reason the parents and the child got put up in a hotel??

BawliBooch wrote:

sibibom wrote:

Outrage as teen with disability stopped from boarding IndiGo flight at Ranchi airport

source : https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trend ... 73661.html

Glad to see other passenger stand up for the child and his family. Indigo (and other airlines) need to introspect and have rules in place which doesn't punish customers with disabilities (this is not the first time and probably will not be the last) and demean them in the name of "rules"

I really dont see why the airline should be hounded for prioritising safety and operational integrity.

The Special Child was stressed out by the long journey to the airport without food or water, checkin and passing through security and supposedly threw a fit of some sort. This is something the parents should have handled. Indigo staff at Ranchi were not wrong to deny boarding in this situation.

Ofcourse, as is the norm in India, creating a scene on Social Media can prompt the airline to back down, suspend the poor employee and mollify the passengers. Add to that the Civil Aviation Minister is now jobless after the sale of Air India to Tatas and is finding new ways to keep himself entertained. Like going after airlines (except SpiceJet). Air India, Vistara, Indigo and Air Asia planes are being checked by Ministry clerks on overnight stops but Ajay Singh owned SpiceJet with 2 runway overruns, multiple 737 engine shutdowns, and pictures of 737s flying around with broken and dirty interiors is spared the checks. Now Mr.Scindia wants to personally interfere in the matter.

This is exactly why Indigo threw in the towel and provided accommodation to the parents and child and put them on the next day flight. Make a noise and get "free" stuff - THAT is the Indian way.

That could be true but it's also true that many a time and more so after the pandemic, Airports are a harrowing experience. I have had less than pleasant experiences in New Delhi International Airport which for many people is the gold standard in India. For any person travelling, food, water and toilet are basic necessities and I have found signages for each of them wanting lot of times. One can look at Qatar or Singapore Airport and how to make it easier for passengers. In fact, shouldn't it be in the Airport's best interests to have more non-fare box revenue? And this I'm talking about as a person who isn't disabled. And I do have disabled friends and there have been times when I have accompanied and helped them so do know others have embedded help while we have not , In many airports, they have braille and sounds that help blind people. I have even seen maps with grooves that tell a blind person where he/she/they are and what they need to do in order to do whatever.

Adani raising more funds ostensibly for Mumbai Airport -

https://www.fortuneindia.com/enterprise ... ium/108085

avier wrote:

The ironic part is this; “His parents obviously knew how to handle his meltdown". If they did, he wouldn't have starved and been thirsty and had the outburst then, to the point where other pax had to intervene.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 0-amp.html

I re-read the original article and this one too. and it seems to me that it was a poor choice of words by the original poster on SM. We actually don't know that to be true one way or the other. Many times when kids (even non-special needs kids) are worked up, irritable and/or overly anxious like this boy was, food and drink is the quickest way to distract them. It does not mean they are actually hungry and/or starving. Kids can be notoriously unpredictable. Every now and then a parent will get something wrong even with all the preparations in the world. Trust me it's the worst feeling in the world at the time. Most people around if you are in a public place will "intervene" and try to help however insignificant. It doesn't mean the parents did a bad job. Don't be too harsh on them until like you yourself stated we know the full context.

As for the Minister, yeah I agree there was no need for him to get involved.

This was spiraled quite a bit, seems there was more to the story -

https://twitter.com/aditya_mani_jha/sta ... 8217086976

Apparently, there were quite a few 'rich' drunk Indians who also created ruckus while boarding but they were allowed to board, it was only the disabled/specially-abled child who was not allowed to board.

Another question by one senior citizen of having ramps for elderly people especially if they have heavy luggage wasn't taken as an issue as Indigo says they have porter service. Seems that the charter of rights of passengers is only for printing and PR purposes but nothing beyond that. Think of children, women and even many men who wouldn't be able to lift 32 kgs. bag. Both Airports and Airlines don't seem to care

There was an interview on NDTV, a one-sided interview of the Indigo management only. They had got a disability expert but somehow forgot to get him on set (he was in the make-up room) while this interview was done -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBx5_Ls9i40

After that bit got exposed on SM they are calling the disabled expert again, There are a lot of valid questions that need to be asked but sadly nobody is asking them including what is the procedure in Indigo and whatnot. Even how the captain was informed and what sort of steps he took or lack of.

Indigo's statement to the press -

"As a small token of appreciation, IndiGo would like to offer electric wheelchair for child barred from boarding flight: CEO"

Can somebody tell me how does 'appreciation' fit in here ?

There is a pretty good summation of what happened by one of the travelers who was there at Ranchi Airport, her account of the proceedings. I tried to copy but because it is text-heavy airliners.net wouldn't let me copy -

https://www.facebook.com/10000627889265 ... 312194800/

RMTAviation wrote:

I think the Air Asia India & Air India merger makes a lot of sense. Considering AI has condensed their operations to mostly BOM and DEL based operations, Air Asia India flies many routes that were flown by Air India themselves before the pandemic. Take COK for an example, Air India used to fly routes like COK-BLR/MAA/HYD. Now, due to the pandemic, it is just COK-BOM and COK-DEL both 2x daily. Since Air Asia India flies COK-BLR 5x daily, if they become merged into Air India, Air India will get many routes that were dropped during the pandemic back. Not to mention, consolidated crew and maintenance. It doesn't really make sense to merge Air India Express with Air Asia, since one does South India to Middle East, while the other does Indian Domestic, and they operate two completely different types of aircraft, pilot. base, etc.

It is really about time AI got out of this BOM/DEL mindset.

For years they have lost lucrative traffic from all over India to foreign carriers due to this sheer idiocy.

A country the size of India needs at least four-five major hubs with at least two located south of the Vindhyas.

Just look at Qantas. They decide to start operating to India post pandemic and which destination do they choose? Not DEL, BOM or any other but BLR.

That proposed BLR-SYD flight should have been by AI and not Qantas.

I hope the Tatas really do something about this.

DIJKKIJK wrote:

RMTAviation wrote:

I think the Air Asia India & Air India merger makes a lot of sense. Considering AI has condensed their operations to mostly BOM and DEL based operations, Air Asia India flies many routes that were flown by Air India themselves before the pandemic. Take COK for an example, Air India used to fly routes like COK-BLR/MAA/HYD. Now, due to the pandemic, it is just COK-BOM and COK-DEL both 2x daily. Since Air Asia India flies COK-BLR 5x daily, if they become merged into Air India, Air India will get many routes that were dropped during the pandemic back. Not to mention, consolidated crew and maintenance. It doesn't really make sense to merge Air India Express with Air Asia, since one does South India to Middle East, while the other does Indian Domestic, and they operate two completely different types of aircraft, pilot. base, etc.

It is really about time AI got out of this BOM/DEL mindset.

For years they have lost lucrative traffic from all over India to foreign carriers due to this sheer idiocy.

A country the size of India needs at least four-five major hubs with at least two located south of the Vindhyas.

Just look at Qantas. They decide to start operating to India post pandemic and which destination do they choose? Not DEL, BOM or any other but BLR.

That proposed BLR-SYD flight should have been by AI and not Qantas.

I hope the Tatas really do something about this.

QF flies DEL to MEL nonstop but not to SYD. I was surprised that QF did not choose to restart BOM but went with BLR instead. Also AI flies DEL to SYD and MEL and does not fly from BOM, where they should start flying since QF is not planning to.

Currently AI is focusing on DEL and it appears to have paid off atleast partially. They have deemphasized BOM and have only a few international flights. AI also is serving LHR from HYD, BLR, MAA, COK, AMD, ATQ. An airline just cannot rely on O&D especially on long haul (except may be for LHR) they need to get at least some connecting traffic. BLR is slowly reaching that stage and Tatas may start to introduce more from BLR and also bulk up BOM, which has seen reduced flights.

hohd wrote:

DIJKKIJK wrote:

RMTAviation wrote:

I think the Air Asia India & Air India merger makes a lot of sense. Considering AI has condensed their operations to mostly BOM and DEL based operations, Air Asia India flies many routes that were flown by Air India themselves before the pandemic. Take COK for an example, Air India used to fly routes like COK-BLR/MAA/HYD. Now, due to the pandemic, it is just COK-BOM and COK-DEL both 2x daily. Since Air Asia India flies COK-BLR 5x daily, if they become merged into Air India, Air India will get many routes that were dropped during the pandemic back. Not to mention, consolidated crew and maintenance. It doesn't really make sense to merge Air India Express with Air Asia, since one does South India to Middle East, while the other does Indian Domestic, and they operate two completely different types of aircraft, pilot. base, etc.

It is really about time AI got out of this BOM/DEL mindset.

For years they have lost lucrative traffic from all over India to foreign carriers due to this sheer idiocy.

A country the size of India needs at least four-five major hubs with at least two located south of the Vindhyas.

Just look at Qantas. They decide to start operating to India post pandemic and which destination do they choose? Not DEL, BOM or any other but BLR.

That proposed BLR-SYD flight should have been by AI and not Qantas.

I hope the Tatas really do something about this.

QF flies DEL to MEL nonstop but not to SYD. I was surprised that QF did not choose to restart BOM but went with BLR instead. Also AI flies DEL to SYD and MEL and does not fly from BOM, where they should start flying since QF is not planning to.

Currently AI is focusing on DEL and it appears to have paid off atleast partially. They have deemphasized BOM and have only a few international flights. AI also is serving LHR from HYD, BLR, MAA, COK, AMD, ATQ. An airline just cannot rely on O&D especially on long haul (except may be for LHR) they need to get at least some connecting traffic. BLR is slowly reaching that stage and Tatas may start to introduce more from BLR and also bulk up BOM, which has seen reduced flights.

AI doesn't fly LHR-MAA/BLR anymore, ever since the air bubble ended.

In fact they have significantly drawn down stations like MAA (~50% of pre-Covid movements) so some rationalization has definitely taken place.

AI domestic at BLR is quite weak too, at least compared to the competition. The merger with AirAsia India should put AI in a good position at BLR.

hohd wrote:

DIJKKIJK wrote:

RMTAviation wrote:

I think the Air Asia India & Air India merger makes a lot of sense. Considering AI has condensed their operations to mostly BOM and DEL based operations, Air Asia India flies many routes that were flown by Air India themselves before the pandemic. Take COK for an example, Air India used to fly routes like COK-BLR/MAA/HYD. Now, due to the pandemic, it is just COK-BOM and COK-DEL both 2x daily. Since Air Asia India flies COK-BLR 5x daily, if they become merged into Air India, Air India will get many routes that were dropped during the pandemic back. Not to mention, consolidated crew and maintenance. It doesn't really make sense to merge Air India Express with Air Asia, since one does South India to Middle East, while the other does Indian Domestic, and they operate two completely different types of aircraft, pilot. base, etc.

It is really about time AI got out of this BOM/DEL mindset.

For years they have lost lucrative traffic from all over India to foreign carriers due to this sheer idiocy.

A country the size of India needs at least four-five major hubs with at least two located south of the Vindhyas.

Just look at Qantas. They decide to start operating to India post pandemic and which destination do they choose? Not DEL, BOM or any other but BLR.

That proposed BLR-SYD flight should have been by AI and not Qantas.

I hope the Tatas really do something about this.

QF flies DEL to MEL nonstop but not to SYD. I was surprised that QF did not choose to restart BOM but went with BLR instead. Also AI flies DEL to SYD and MEL and does not fly from BOM, where they should start flying since QF is not planning to.

Currently AI is focusing on DEL and it appears to have paid off atleast partially. They have deemphasized BOM and have only a few international flights. AI also is serving LHR from HYD, BLR, MAA, COK, AMD, ATQ. An airline just cannot rely on O&D especially on long haul (except may be for LHR) they need to get at least some connecting traffic. BLR is slowly reaching that stage and Tatas may start to introduce more from BLR and also bulk up BOM, which has seen reduced flights.

Even if Tata's airlines haven't embraced a BLR hub, others have. Both American and United will start flying to BLR later this year, and these are ultra long 17 hour flights. This is nice to see. I think COK is also a nice location for a South Indian hub, due to the demand and new facilities. The 3x LHR-COK is doing a lot better than the 3x LHR-MAA, and COK is one of two Indian destinations to get 2x Qatar frequency. COK also gets heavies from about every major airline flying there.

RMTAviation wrote:

The 3x LHR-COK is doing a lot better than the 3x LHR-MAA

Any data to back this up? LHR-MAA is on BA while LHR-COK is on AI, there's no comparison.

RMTAviation wrote:

COK is one of two Indian destinations to get 2x Qatar frequency.

It's no secret that COK is strong in ME traffic. But outside of that its destination portfolio is very sparse, especially when compared to MAA/BLR/BOM/DEL.

CPS001 wrote:

RMTAviation wrote:

The 3x LHR-COK is doing a lot better than the 3x LHR-MAA

Any data to back this up? LHR-MAA is on BA while LHR-COK is on AI, there's no comparison.

RMTAviation wrote:

COK is one of two Indian destinations to get 2x Qatar frequency.

It's no secret that COK is strong in ME traffic. But outside of that its destination portfolio is very sparse, especially when compared to MAA/BLR/BOM/DEL.

The LHR-COK flights almost always fill up quickly.

That is true that COK is strong in ME traffic, but if COK is built up as a hub, it does have some good potential. First, COK is a good connection point between vacation destinations like the Maldives, the Middle East, local Indian cities, North India, and places like Thailand, Malaysia, etc. In addition to the middle east, Southeast Asia also has very good connections with COK. If Air India decides to build a good network out of COK, due to its facilities and geography, I believe they can make it work. MAA airport is already congested as it is. COK has more connections to the middle east than North India, and it is sad that Air India doesn't fly very high demand routes like COK-MAA or COK-BLR like they used to.

True that BA and AI aren't a good comparison, but COK-LHR has more seats per week than MAA-LHR. Not to mention, if BA flew to COK, even more people would fly COK-LHR as more people are probably willing to fly BA rather than AI. For example, if somebody wanted to fly MLE-CJB, COK would be the perfect stopover.

It's not about the seats, it's about the yields/revenue etc. There is a reason why no FSC Long Haul EU airlines are not flying to COK. The yields are lower than MAA/HYD-EU. COK will never be a hub, it's more inclined to Lower Yielding pax traffic. I've been hearing about COK becoming a hub since 2010, but it's pretty much still the same. What COK needs is to develop its domestic traffic, until then.. no major FSC airline will touch down at COK even if they provide incentives.


From what I am aware, whenever a EU FSC is looking at India for expansion, they do not even look at COK. It's always BOM/DEL/BLR/MAA/HYD & then CCU comes into picture. Also, please stop comparing BA with AI on the LHR sector. COK has massive leakage of passengers via the GCC to Europe.


Regarding making COK as a "hub for tranfers to the SEAsia from GCC, well my friend... You're too late. There are other airports in the vicinity whi are doing it better than COK. For example, transfer traffic at BLR on the MLE flights are higher than that of COK-MLE, similar scenes for BLR-HKT.


I agree with what CPS said about COK traffic being sparse. Unfortunately, COK is working on its route development at a time when, airports like HYD/BLR/DEL/BOM are already 7-10 years ahead.
When Qantas was scouting for a South Indian connection, they looked at only BLR & MAA. Thiygh COK(Kerala in general) has a higher share of leisure traffic than MAA/BLR. But, when you lokmat COK's domestic route network, it's poor for connections to various part of the country. It's not just having 1 or 2 flights to T2/T3 cities, you need to have multiple frequencies+ you need to show them the transfer traffic coming in from various T2/T3 cities duri6 the peak ARR & DEP banks. Plus, as I said in the beginning..... Ultimately Yields are very low.
Hence you see AI operating the route & not BA.


As I told it was similar when LH had planned for expansion at IND, they didn't look at COK at all. Only BLR/BOM & MAA and/or HYD. EK too reduced 10x weekly DXB TRV to 7x and deployed the 3x to BLR and made DXB BLR go 24x weekly, Primarily due to higher yields

sand26391 wrote:

It's not about the seats, it's about the yields/revenue etc. There is a reason why no FSC Long Haul EU airlines are not flying to COK. The yields are lower than MAA/HYD-EU. COK will never be a hub, it's more inclined to Lower Yielding pax traffic. I've been hearing about COK becoming a hub since 2010, but it's pretty much still the same. What COK needs is to develop its domestic traffic, until then.. no major FSC airline will touch down at COK even if they provide incentives.


From what I am aware, whenever a EU FSC is looking at India for expansion, they do not even look at COK. It's always BOM/DEL/BLR/MAA/HYD & then CCU comes into picture. Also, please stop comparing BA with AI on the LHR sector. COK has massive leakage of passengers via the GCC to Europe.


Regarding making COK as a "hub for tranfers to the SEAsia from GCC, well my friend... You're too late. There are other airports in the vicinity whi are doing it better than COK. For example, transfer traffic at BLR on the MLE flights are higher than that of COK-MLE, similar scenes for BLR-HKT.


I agree with what CPS said about COK traffic being sparse. Unfortunately, COK is working on its route development at a time when, airports like HYD/BLR/DEL/BOM are already 7-10 years ahead.
When Qantas was scouting for a South Indian connection, they looked at only BLR & MAA. Thiygh COK(Kerala in general) has a higher share of leisure traffic than MAA/BLR. But, when you lokmat COK's domestic route network, it's poor for connections to various part of the country. It's not just having 1 or 2 flights to T2/T3 cities, you need to have multiple frequencies+ you need to show them the transfer traffic coming in from various T2/T3 cities duri6 the peak ARR & DEP banks. Plus, as I said in the beginning..... Ultimately Yields are very low.
Hence you see AI operating the route & not BA.


As I told it was similar when LH had planned for expansion at IND, they didn't look at COK at all. Only BLR/BOM & MAA and/or HYD. EK too reduced 10x weekly DXB TRV to 7x and deployed the 3x to BLR and made DXB BLR go 24x weekly, Primarily due to higher yields

I understand what you are saying. Interesting though why EK increased DXB-COK to 14 weekly again. As far as CCU goes, I think that it is pretty much a lost cause. BA flew it, and then dropped it, and many airlines like EK only fly it once daily. Even AI is refusing to fly that. I do agree, BLR has the most potential for a true hug.

DIJKKIJK wrote:

RMTAviation wrote:

I think the Air Asia India & Air India merger makes a lot of sense. Considering AI has condensed their operations to mostly BOM and DEL based operations, Air Asia India flies many routes that were flown by Air India themselves before the pandemic. Take COK for an example, Air India used to fly routes like COK-BLR/MAA/HYD. Now, due to the pandemic, it is just COK-BOM and COK-DEL both 2x daily. Since Air Asia India flies COK-BLR 5x daily, if they become merged into Air India, Air India will get many routes that were dropped during the pandemic back. Not to mention, consolidated crew and maintenance. It doesn't really make sense to merge Air India Express with Air Asia, since one does South India to Middle East, while the other does Indian Domestic, and they operate two completely different types of aircraft, pilot. base, etc.

It is really about time AI got out of this BOM/DEL mindset.

For years they have lost lucrative traffic from all over India to foreign carriers due to this sheer idiocy.

A country the size of India needs at least four-five major hubs with at least two located south of the Vindhyas.

Just look at Qantas. They decide to start operating to India post pandemic and which destination do they choose? Not DEL, BOM or any other but BLR.

That proposed BLR-SYD flight should have been by AI and not Qantas.

I hope the Tatas really do something about this.

I agree but that requires dedicated planning. Nobody in our civilian ministry cares a fig about enhancing QoS and look at when they can land the next flight to go overseas on some assignment.

CPS001 wrote:

AI domestic at BLR is quite weak too, at least compared to the competition. The merger with AirAsia India should put AI in a good position at BLR.

AI has been very weak in BLR for quite sometime, both domestically and Internationally. In the mid 2000s as foreign carriers made a beeline to get into the BLR market, AI sat there and did nothing. Just a few years ago, there was a famous A.net poster who would often claim that BLR pax didn't "like" traveling in Air India. But the fact remains that AI didn't show the slightest commitment to BLR and BLR pax were simply fed up of transiting in DEL/BOM. Remember 15-20 years ago transiting through BOM and DEL was very difficult not to mention that you had "pay" people to get your bags out of Customs, particularly in Mumbai.

We've seen over the years AI launch half-heartedly and then stop abruptly flights from BLR to Male, Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai, London, Frankfurt, Muscat (?), Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur (?). BLR's Wikipedia page shows that a couple of these routes are back but I am not so sure. At some point they even did a direct BLR-JFK via BOM/DEL/LHR. Their BLR-SFO service is also very sketchy. I am not even sure if that exists anymore. I am simply amazed at the network that Indigo has out of BLR. AI doesn't even have a third of that network.

sibibom wrote:

BawliBooch wrote:

Some poor airline staff at Ranchi will lose their job because of entitled Karens who cant look after their kids!

As someone who has a neighbour with Autism and seeing the parent of the child struggle managing them sometimes despite all their best efforts, calling them "Karens" with no context or witnessing it first hand is regrettable. All those passenger who came to their support might be "Karens" too!

When you purchase a ticket, you agree to subscribe the rules of the carriage contract. The airline has to offload any passenger who it deems is a risk to flight safety. Parents who did not feed or provide water to their special needs child and landed up at the airport to speed through security put their kid through unnecessary stress which directly caused the incident.

THAT is the context. Which you chose to conveniently ignore. You and I were both not present. We are both basing our opinions on the reporting in the media and the Social Media tweets etc. You seem to believe that Parents of special needs children need to be given extra leeway. I agree with being empathetic, but in this case, all available information points to one thing - the parents behaved extremely irresponsibly. The airline cannot be blamed for putting passenger safety and operational integrity on priority.

I travel with my cranky Twins all the time. I know that I need to reach the airport early and ensure MY kids are fed and watered. The airline is not running a baby sitting service. Hope this incident teaches parents a lesson on travelling with kids.

sibibom wrote:

As per Indigo's CEO the child in question and his parents have flown with the airline more than 50 times, I wonder why the airline entertained such "karens" so many times. Put them on no-fly list. Maybe lock up the child too!

Not the point. And you know it!

The kid did not cause an incident the 50 or 100 times they flew with the airline before this. The airline took this action now when the problem arose!

BawliBooch wrote:

sibibom wrote:

BawliBooch wrote:

Some poor airline staff at Ranchi will lose their job because of entitled Karens who cant look after their kids!

As someone who has a neighbour with Autism and seeing the parent of the child struggle managing them sometimes despite all their best efforts, calling them "Karens" with no context or witnessing it first hand is regrettable. All those passenger who came to their support might be "Karens" too!

When you purchase a ticket, you agree to subscribe the rules of the carriage contract. The airline has to offload any passenger who it deems is a risk to flight safety. Parents who did not feed or provide water to their special needs child and landed up at the airport to speed through security put their kid through unnecessary stress which directly caused the incident.

THAT is the context. Which you chose to conveniently ignore. You and I were both not present. We are both basing our opinions on the reporting in the media and the Social Media tweets etc. You seem to believe that Parents of special needs children need to be given extra leeway. I agree with being empathetic, but in this case, all available information points to one thing - the parents behaved extremely irresponsibly. The airline cannot be blamed for putting passenger safety and operational integrity on priority.

I travel with my cranky Twins all the time. I know that I need to reach the airport early and ensure MY kids are fed and watered. The airline is not running a baby sitting service. Hope this incident teaches parents a lesson on travelling with kids.

Read the multiple first hand accounts of what has happened. There is no one supporting the airport manager's version (there is group of doctors, government employees and every single random flyer who witnessed the incident). People are going out of their way to support this family, you are choosing to ignore this. And comparing your kids to a child with special needs? Live in the shoes of those parents before making such daft comparisons.

Where is the proof of your accusation of parents not being able to handle the child (there multiple accounts of parents doing a great job and not losing their cool despite the child being called "not normal") or weather they were seeking attention on social media for freebies, or the blame on Union minister (who entered the debate 2 days later)?

I guess we agree to disagree.

SATexan wrote:

AI has been very weak in BLR for quite sometime, both domestically and Internationally. In the mid 2000s as foreign carriers made a beeline to get into the BLR market, AI sat there and did nothing. Just a few years ago, there was a famous A.net poster who would often claim that BLR pax didn't "like" traveling in Air India. But the fact remains that AI didn't show the slightest commitment to BLR and BLR pax were simply fed up of transiting in DEL/BOM. Remember 15-20 years ago transiting through BOM and DEL was very difficult not to mention that you had "pay" people to get your bags out of Customs, particularly in Mumbai.
.

I, along with my friends and family, have made many international trips through Mumbai over the last 25 years and have never had to "pay" anyone to get bags out customs. If this comment is based on your experience, then it is unfortunate, but let's not generalize it. Having said that, I agree that transiting through Mumbai was a pain, especially through the old "Sahar" terminal.

In light of SpiceJet drawing flak on SM for their pathetic interior conditions, DGCA conducted spot checks on 280 night-stopped aircraft.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bus ... 451273.cms

"Inspected" 112 aircraft of which 50 were from SpiceJet
"Carried out spot checks" on 168 aircraft of which 100 were from SpiceJet

sibibom wrote:

Outrage as teen with disability stopped from boarding IndiGo flight at Ranchi airport

source : https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trend ... 73661.html

There is now a CCTV footage from the airport, which will throw more light into what transpired at the airport on that day.
https://twitter.com/ImManishAwasthi/sta ... 9jmGQ&s=19

SATexan wrote:

CPS001 wrote:

Their BLR-SFO service is also very sketchy. I am not even sure if that exists anymore. I am simply amazed at the network that Indigo has out of BLR. AI doesn't even have a third of that network.

Yes they stopped BLR-SFO service and also ORD-HYD and both were only weekly flights. Could be pilot issues or flight availability. But this is the time AI should jump and restart these services before UA does and fly atleast 2 to 3 times a week for it be viable. UA is a long way in starting BLR service as they need to make a fuel stop to make it work to avoid Russian airspace.

These suspensions cannot be blamed on GoI anymore, this was stopped in March/April after Tata took over.

reynan wrote:

SATexan wrote:

AI has been very weak in BLR for quite sometime, both domestically and Internationally. In the mid 2000s as foreign carriers made a beeline to get into the BLR market, AI sat there and did nothing. Just a few years ago, there was a famous A.net poster who would often claim that BLR pax didn't "like" traveling in Air India. But the fact remains that AI didn't show the slightest commitment to BLR and BLR pax were simply fed up of transiting in DEL/BOM. Remember 15-20 years ago transiting through BOM and DEL was very difficult not to mention that you had "pay" people to get your bags out of Customs, particularly in Mumbai.
.

I, along with my friends and family, have made many international trips through Mumbai over the last 25 years and have never had to "pay" anyone to get bags out customs. If this comment is based on your experience, then it is unfortunate, but let's not generalize it. Having said that, I agree that transiting through Mumbai was a pain, especially through the old "Sahar" terminal.

Agreed. I have been traveling through BOM for several years now and never had to pay anyone to get my bags through customs.

The only issues were with the old Sahar terminal, particularly if you intended taking the airside shuttle bus to the domestic terminal. You had to wait for the bus in a mosquito-infested passage, and for some time the service was operated by pesky staff who would demand 'chai paani' in dollars! Thankfully they got rid of them and replaced them with more professional staff before doing away with the airside transit bus alltogether.

DIJKKIJK wrote:

reynan wrote:

SATexan wrote:

AI has been very weak in BLR for quite sometime, both domestically and Internationally. In the mid 2000s as foreign carriers made a beeline to get into the BLR market, AI sat there and did nothing. Just a few years ago, there was a famous A.net poster who would often claim that BLR pax didn't "like" traveling in Air India. But the fact remains that AI didn't show the slightest commitment to BLR and BLR pax were simply fed up of transiting in DEL/BOM. Remember 15-20 years ago transiting through BOM and DEL was very difficult not to mention that you had "pay" people to get your bags out of Customs, particularly in Mumbai.
.

I, along with my friends and family, have made many international trips through Mumbai over the last 25 years and have never had to "pay" anyone to get bags out customs. If this comment is based on your experience, then it is unfortunate, but let's not generalize it. Having said that, I agree that transiting through Mumbai was a pain, especially through the old "Sahar" terminal.

Agreed. I have been traveling through BOM for several years now and never had to pay anyone to get my bags through customs.

The only issues were with the old Sahar terminal, particularly if you intended taking the airside shuttle bus to the domestic terminal. You had to wait for the bus in a mosquito-infested passage, and for some time the service was operated by pesky staff who would demand 'chai paani' in dollars! Thankfully they got rid of them and replaced them with more professional staff before doing away with the airside transit bus alltogether.

US airlines really only care about one thing - US origin high p dying J travelers. It doesn't surprise me that they are starting nonstops to BLR (probably can get $5k-10k per seat in J). BOM has always been more balanced with both India origin J and US origin J (more suited for and Indian airline with a strong US partner). I guess the ME3 have taken enough of the BOM origin J to really diminish the attractiveness of BOM? Also the fact that neither Indigo nor Spice use Terminal 2 really hurts BOM. If you don't have a local traffic/connection deal with AI/Vistara you are SOL. I would never connect from Terminal 2 to any of the other domestic terminals.

And I also have never had to pay anyone to get my bags out in BOM. I travel a ton, and really like BOM. It is a nice, clean easy airport to use. Not the best in the world, but right up there. Main disadvantage of BOM is the lack of frequencies, city pairs and timing choices going to EU and NA. BOM Is a feeder to ME (which I have no desire to go to)

https://onemileatatime.com/news/air-ind ... ll-wilson/

AI appoints the former CEO of Scoot Air, Campbell Wilson, as the new CEO. This appointment should have a smooth sailing. Appears to be a good choice. Now he has the massive job of integrating the various airlines of the group.

CaliguyNYC wrote:

DIJKKIJK wrote:

reynan wrote:

I, along with my friends and family, have made many international trips through Mumbai over the last 25 years and have never had to "pay" anyone to get bags out customs. If this comment is based on your experience, then it is unfortunate, but let's not generalize it. Having said that, I agree that transiting through Mumbai was a pain, especially through the old "Sahar" terminal.

Agreed. I have been traveling through BOM for several years now and never had to pay anyone to get my bags through customs.

The only issues were with the old Sahar terminal, particularly if you intended taking the airside shuttle bus to the domestic terminal. You had to wait for the bus in a mosquito-infested passage, and for some time the service was operated by pesky staff who would demand 'chai paani' in dollars! Thankfully they got rid of them and replaced them with more professional staff before doing away with the airside transit bus alltogether.

US airlines really only care about one thing - US origin high p dying J travelers. It doesn't surprise me that they are starting nonstops to BLR (probably can get $5k-10k per seat in J). BOM has always been more balanced with both India origin J and US origin J (more suited for and Indian airline with a strong US partner). I guess the ME3 have taken enough of the BOM origin J to really diminish the attractiveness of BOM? Also the fact that neither Indigo nor Spice use Terminal 2 really hurts BOM. If you don't have a local traffic/connection deal with AI/Vistara you are SOL. I would never connect from Terminal 2 to any of the other domestic terminals.

And I also have never had to pay anyone to get my bags out in BOM. I travel a ton, and really like BOM. It is a nice, clean easy airport to use. Not the best in the world, but right up there. Main disadvantage of BOM is the lack of frequencies, city pairs and timing choices going to EU and NA. BOM Is a feeder to ME (which I have no desire to go to)

As someone who flies to BLR every year to see family I can attest to BLR being a very premium heavy market. I don't think I've ever seen an empty J seat on my flights to/from there. There's a pretty big concentration of business travelers and high net worth individuals and I'm pretty sure non stops to NA will see pretty high yields. The only challenge is the range requirements are pretty extreme and the US3 need to use Russian airspace to make it feasible with 789s or non ULR configured A350s.

I agree on BOM now being a really nice airport. The new terminal is beautiful and the lounge is one of the best I've ever been in - on par with many first class lounges. Its a bigger business center and hnw cluster than BLR in every way and the range requirements are just this side of being feasible so I'm not surprised the US3 have prioritized it over BLR.

I agree that BOM is NOW a nice airport. But 17-20 years ago (I am talking when Centaur hotel was alive and kicking), the terminals were dungy, stinky and mosquito/roach/rodant infested. Back in the day, there were trip reports on A.net that highlighted these issues. The domestic to International transfers from Santacruz to Sahar had to be done on buses via Western Exp Highway. Wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Also, I have been on multiple occasions met with uniformed touts at the baggage claim area asking for money to be let through Green channel even though I was a business traveler carrying nothing but clothes. Things may have changed after 26/11 but I remember reading how Customs folks managed to harass a close family member of an Union minister around the same time frame. I am very happy to learn that they have cleaned up their act in Mumbai even though I no longer fly in there from outside India just based on my personal experience.

SATexan wrote:

I agree that BOM is NOW a nice airport. But 17-20 years ago (I am talking when Centaur hotel was alive and kicking), the terminals were dungy, stinky and mosquito/roach/rodant infested. Back in the day, there were trip reports on A.net that highlighted these issues. The domestic to International transfers from Santacruz to Sahar had to be done on buses via Western Exp Highway. Wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Also, I have been on multiple occasions met with uniformed touts at the baggage claim area asking for money to be let through Green channel even though I was a business traveler carrying nothing but clothes. Things may have changed after 26/11 but I remember reading how Customs folks managed to harass a close family member of an Union minister around the same time frame. I am very happy to learn that they have cleaned up their act in Mumbai even though I no longer fly in there from outside India just based on my personal experience.

The harassment was specifically reserved for the ME DXB/SHJ/AUH crowd who do still consist of a significant number of undereducated folks. The most popular was Forex-for-Alcohol scheme. Customs officer would demand either Dirhams per Duty Free alcohol bottle or 1 bottle of Duty Free alcohol. And they could get innovative too by throwing immigration into the mix. I was stopped at immigration once because "there was an extra stamp in my passport". Tried to pull one over me by pretending the Sharjah Department of Labor stamp was an illegal immigration stamp to extort money (succeeded with my friend).

Adani Group's networth is 26k crore INR but their loans are today 2.2 trillion rupees. This was published in the Hindu just a couple of months ago and even came today with the latest figures mentioned.

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/sp ... 834619.ece

If one day this guy runs away, most businesses will have to be shut off and Indian banking itself would be in dire straits

This is the group to whom most of the privatised airports have been given.

sibibom wrote:

BawliBooch wrote:

Some poor airline staff at Ranchi will lose their job because of entitled Karens who cant look after their kids!

As someone who has a neighbour with Autism and seeing the parent of the child struggle managing them sometimes despite all their best efforts, calling them "Karens" with no context or witnessing it first hand is regrettable. All those passenger who came to their support might be "Karens" too!

As per Indigo's CEO the child in question and his parents have flown with the airline more than 50 times, I wonder why the airline entertained such "karens" so many times. Put them on no-fly list. Maybe lock up the child too!

True that. Some people are very easy when it coming to judging others.

Best, Subramanian

pune wrote:

Adani Group's networth is 26k crore INR but their loans are today 2.2 trillion rupees. This was published in the Hindu just a couple of months ago and even came today with the latest figures mentioned.

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/sp ... 834619.ece

If one day this guy runs away, most businesses will have to be shut off and Indian banking itself would be in dire straits

This is the group to whom most of the privatised airports have been given.

Adani is not Mallya. He is a hardcore Nationalist and hence beyond questioning. Questioning him is anti-anti-national!

subramak1 wrote:

True that. Some people are very easy when it coming to judging others.

Best, Subramanian

Yes! That is what this is about! Judging parents for being irresponsible!

Akasa Air’s IATA code will be QP. Meanwhile, Jet Airways has decided to have some fun of its own on Twitter with this announcement.

VTCIE wrote:

Akasa Air’s IATA code will be QP. Meanwhile, Jet Airways has decided to have some fun of its own on Twitter with this announcement.

Ha Ha...I liked both the tweets though...well played

Has anyone travelled by AI after their takeover by Tatas. Any noticeable improvments in the hard product?

subramak1 wrote:

Has anyone travelled by AI after their takeover by Tatas. Any noticeable improvments in the hard product?

I havent personally but many friends and family have & they seem to say there is improvement in terms of catering and general crew courtesy. Ofcourse hard product will take time change. You might also see thie TR viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1472411

Does anybody know how the AI934/834 and AI 833/933 Dreamliner Rotations work? Does the plane get towed from the international to the domestic terminal, or do one of the flights use bus gates to the other terminal?

pune wrote:

This is the group to whom most of the privatised airports have been given.

What exactly is the problem if Adani has 6 airports in their operations. In every case they were the highest bidder and in one particular case, Trivandrum airport, the Kerala govt came up with a pathetic bid, far lower than any one.

And Kerala govt to this day is still harping on that fact.

Your issue is that Pune has no immediate plans for a new airport or any current plans are getting delayed indefinitely. But you cannot blame in on Adani it is just the process is taking too long. For Maharashtra, Mumbai is the priority and BOM needs second airport because the current airport cannot expand thanks to a particular "local party" in control.

Just a reminder that posting images requires users to include the source. This is required by forum rules.

✈️ atcsundevil

https://www.yahoo.com/news/american-dro ... 40305.html

SEA - BLR delayed till summer 2023. Kind of expected though and even next year, not sure how the air space restrictions will affect this flight. They will have to use the longest range aircraft possible for this route.

142857 wrote:

Air-India will be migrating its PSS (Passenger Services System) to Amadeus on 24th May
PSS mainly consists of Reservations, Inventory, Ticketing, Departure Control, Load Planning, Cargo, etc

Also, Amadeus was selected long before Air-India became part of the Tata group

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Came to know that the RIT part (Reservations, Inventory, Ticketing) was migrated from SITA to Amadeus, as planned, on 24-25th May

Migration of Departure Control systems is planned over 5 weeks ending June-end (5-7 phases) ... 1st phase completed, last phase around June-end

Thx

hohd wrote:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/american-dropping-7-international-routes-143240305.html

SEA - BLR delayed till summer 2023. Kind of expected though and even next year, not sure how the air space restrictions will affect this flight. They will have to use the longest range aircraft possible for this route.

This route, probably is gone for good!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/a ... 565c3eb199

AI is close to ordering A350. What will they do with their 777 and 787 some of which are idle for lack of spares.

Hearing that UPS is likely to start Bangalore operations from mid July.
SZN-BLR-CGN is the likely routing

I think Air India will keep the 777's. The A350's are clearly for expansion. The 777's are perfectly good aircraft and will serve India well. Even 50 A350 won't be enough (even with the 777's and 787's) in the future.

RMTAviation wrote:

I think Air India will keep the 777's. The A350's are clearly for expansion. The 777's are perfectly good aircraft and will serve India well. Even 50 A350 won't be enough (even with the 777's and 787's) in the future.

I suspect that they will get rid of the 77Ls and the old 77Ws once the A350s arrive. If they do order the A350-1000 then they will get rid of all 77Ws after those arrive. I don't agree that AI will need 50 A350 AND existing 777,787 fleet, not in the next 7-10 years.

I can see them operating the owned 787s , the newer 77Ws in conjunction with 20 A359s. The rest 30 I pressume are options for when they fully retire the 77Ws and possibly grow new routes.