Over the past month one has been reading stories about the pilots strike in Air India and the drama being witnessed each evening on all national news channels with both the Management and the pilots talking tough and finally the Prime Minister and the civil aviation ministry intervening to sort out the problem. All the while the losses were piling up and the staff did not seem to have a care in the world.
This is not the first strike and will not be the last. We have had the cabin crew, ground staff and the other Air India staff going on strikes at the drop of a hat in the past, with little care or consideration for the millions of flyers who opt to fly this airline. No staff is ever allowed to be disciplined by the Management for any misconduct. They seem to think that they are above the law and keeping going around doing whatever they please. Since it is a public corporation the people working here take their jobs for granted. Not even a single employee cares for the welfare of its flyers. They think that by working for Air India they are doing a service to the nation and do not hesitate for a moment to blackmail the Management and the public as per their whims and fancies. All the while from within they try every possible means to suck the airline dry. Their families fly for free everywhere and see that they get upgrades while flying at the cost of other paying passengers.
The attitude of the cabin crew and the ground staff at airports makes you feel sick. You don’t see any welcoming smiles, but scowls and sulking when you draw their attention.
In January this year while flying from Mangalore to Dubai, I swore to myself that even if Air India remains the last and only airline in this world I would rather walk or swim, than fly this good for nothing airline again. The reason for my anger is this. My wife and I were flying and we had 20 kilograms check in baggage each and a little above 14 kgs, but less than 15 kgs of the allowable hand baggage. I pulled out two novels from my bag and showed them to the check in clerk. He refused to let me take these 2 books and instead asked me to pay for 1 kg of excess baggage. When I requested him again, he called in his supervisor who had a nasty and unpleasant scowl on his face and he looked at me as if I was some kind of rabid and stray dog and did not even bother to listen to me insisting that I pay one kg excess baggage. I pulled out the books and handed them over to my brother who had come to the airport to see me off, because I was in no mood to pay a single nickel in excess baggage. I informed the check in clerk that the day was not far away when this airline would close down and that I was eagerly waiting to see the 32,000 miserable employees of Air India walking on the streets with begging bowls, and they could expect no sympathy at all from the Indian public at the mess that they had created for themselves and other honest tax payers..
He did not seem to bother with what I said as he seemed to think that he was a government employee with a permanent job which nobody could take away from him and that he and his fellow staff could continue holding the entire nation at ransom whenever they pleased. I waited for a while and saw people who were friends of this supervisor carrying excess baggage and being checked in without any problem. I was very keen in creating a scene then and there, but I was pulled away by my wife, who said that I would be only ruining my mood and health by taking on people who were simply thick skinned and beyond reason. They have one set of rules for their friends and relatives and another set of them for the rest. I would have been extremely happy if no exceptions were made and all treated equally as Air Arabia and Jazeera do.
Another instance was when I travelled with my 2 years old nephew about 8 years ago from Dubai to Bombay. The poor boy was hungry and wanted food. Even after many requests the crew took their own sweet time and when they did finally come up with the food, the boy had gone to sleep, just eating the biscuits that I had with me. The coffee served after meals was cold and when my colleague requested for some hot coffee he was rudely asked to sit down and take what was offered. He being one of a mild nature just let it go, while I was simply boiling inside.
I remember a couple of years ago when all the social organizations in Dubai were working overtime to persuade the civil aviation ministry to start flight services between the Gulf countries and Mangalore. Even today organizations in Saudi Arabia are working on introducing flights between Saudi Arabia and Mangalore. The people from Mangalore working in the GCC and already thoroughly disappointed with the service and the fares and how badly they are swindled by the airline during the last 2 years. When you call yourself a budget airline, you only charge budget fares which are same as other budget carriers like Air Arabia and Al Jazeera. In case of Air India express the fares charged are that of a regular full fledged airline, but the service provided is that of a low class budget airline. Even basic snacks are either not provided and when provided even a hungry dog on the streets would not bother to touch them. Again the passengers are not given baggage allowances as other airlines and even when some consideration can be shown the staff simply wait to pounce on helpless people and empty their wallets.
Today everybody is eagerly waiting for the new terminal to be inaugurated so that other airlines can begin to fly Mangalore and the people are released from the clutches of swindlers from Air India once and for all. The Mangalore route is a cash cow for the airline and therefore they are trying their best to delay this. Once other airlines begin operations, I don’t think they could find any flyers, because there has been no goodwill created by the airline and one only feels a deep hatred towards Air India and its entire staff.
I was keenly following the newspaper articles and the news on the strike. I was very happy when the CEO was planning to declare a lock out. I wanted this airline to simply close down and put an end to our national shame once and for all. The people working here have not learnt anything over the years. The recession and the woes of the industry mean nothing to them. They are so self centred and selfish that they seem to care only about themselves and their families. As far as they are concerned the rest of the world can go to hell and that includes the millions of Indians who used to once think that the airline to be the pride of India.
As I am writing this piece, I read in today’s papers of another shameful episode which occurred 30,000ft in the air while overflying the territory of Pakistan on a Lucknow bound flight from Sharjah. Throwing safety to the winds the pilots and the cabin crew went is for a free for all sessions beating up each other while all that the shocked passengers could do was sit back and watch in horror. Is this not another feather of shame added on to a long list by our illustrious servants of Air India. They may demand an extra bonus from the Management for this act.
Everything about this airline stinks. Whenever I fly Jet Airways or Kingfisher my heart swells with pride at the class we get on offer. This really makes me proud to be an Indian. I see fellow passengers of other nationalities looking on with unbelievable wonder in their eyes at the service, courtesy, professionalism that they witness and experience while flying on these private Indian airlines. I also heard that there are other carriers like Indigo and Go-Air too are equally good. And when we have such wonderful choice who needs this stink called Air India, to shame us Indians the world over. But the fattened staff of Air India will fight on a dirty fight and put many a hurdle before the private airlines, to see that they incur losses and they have their supporters inside the government too, to help them continue with the con act.
This is not the first strike and will not be the last. We have had the cabin crew, ground staff and the other Air India staff going on strikes at the drop of a hat in the past, with little care or consideration for the millions of flyers who opt to fly this airline. No staff is ever allowed to be disciplined by the Management for any misconduct. They seem to think that they are above the law and keeping going around doing whatever they please. Since it is a public corporation the people working here take their jobs for granted. Not even a single employee cares for the welfare of its flyers. They think that by working for Air India they are doing a service to the nation and do not hesitate for a moment to blackmail the Management and the public as per their whims and fancies. All the while from within they try every possible means to suck the airline dry. Their families fly for free everywhere and see that they get upgrades while flying at the cost of other paying passengers.
The attitude of the cabin crew and the ground staff at airports makes you feel sick. You don’t see any welcoming smiles, but scowls and sulking when you draw their attention.
In January this year while flying from Mangalore to Dubai, I swore to myself that even if Air India remains the last and only airline in this world I would rather walk or swim, than fly this good for nothing airline again. The reason for my anger is this. My wife and I were flying and we had 20 kilograms check in baggage each and a little above 14 kgs, but less than 15 kgs of the allowable hand baggage. I pulled out two novels from my bag and showed them to the check in clerk. He refused to let me take these 2 books and instead asked me to pay for 1 kg of excess baggage. When I requested him again, he called in his supervisor who had a nasty and unpleasant scowl on his face and he looked at me as if I was some kind of rabid and stray dog and did not even bother to listen to me insisting that I pay one kg excess baggage. I pulled out the books and handed them over to my brother who had come to the airport to see me off, because I was in no mood to pay a single nickel in excess baggage. I informed the check in clerk that the day was not far away when this airline would close down and that I was eagerly waiting to see the 32,000 miserable employees of Air India walking on the streets with begging bowls, and they could expect no sympathy at all from the Indian public at the mess that they had created for themselves and other honest tax payers..
He did not seem to bother with what I said as he seemed to think that he was a government employee with a permanent job which nobody could take away from him and that he and his fellow staff could continue holding the entire nation at ransom whenever they pleased. I waited for a while and saw people who were friends of this supervisor carrying excess baggage and being checked in without any problem. I was very keen in creating a scene then and there, but I was pulled away by my wife, who said that I would be only ruining my mood and health by taking on people who were simply thick skinned and beyond reason. They have one set of rules for their friends and relatives and another set of them for the rest. I would have been extremely happy if no exceptions were made and all treated equally as Air Arabia and Jazeera do.
Another instance was when I travelled with my 2 years old nephew about 8 years ago from Dubai to Bombay. The poor boy was hungry and wanted food. Even after many requests the crew took their own sweet time and when they did finally come up with the food, the boy had gone to sleep, just eating the biscuits that I had with me. The coffee served after meals was cold and when my colleague requested for some hot coffee he was rudely asked to sit down and take what was offered. He being one of a mild nature just let it go, while I was simply boiling inside.
I remember a couple of years ago when all the social organizations in Dubai were working overtime to persuade the civil aviation ministry to start flight services between the Gulf countries and Mangalore. Even today organizations in Saudi Arabia are working on introducing flights between Saudi Arabia and Mangalore. The people from Mangalore working in the GCC and already thoroughly disappointed with the service and the fares and how badly they are swindled by the airline during the last 2 years. When you call yourself a budget airline, you only charge budget fares which are same as other budget carriers like Air Arabia and Al Jazeera. In case of Air India express the fares charged are that of a regular full fledged airline, but the service provided is that of a low class budget airline. Even basic snacks are either not provided and when provided even a hungry dog on the streets would not bother to touch them. Again the passengers are not given baggage allowances as other airlines and even when some consideration can be shown the staff simply wait to pounce on helpless people and empty their wallets.
Today everybody is eagerly waiting for the new terminal to be inaugurated so that other airlines can begin to fly Mangalore and the people are released from the clutches of swindlers from Air India once and for all. The Mangalore route is a cash cow for the airline and therefore they are trying their best to delay this. Once other airlines begin operations, I don’t think they could find any flyers, because there has been no goodwill created by the airline and one only feels a deep hatred towards Air India and its entire staff.
I was keenly following the newspaper articles and the news on the strike. I was very happy when the CEO was planning to declare a lock out. I wanted this airline to simply close down and put an end to our national shame once and for all. The people working here have not learnt anything over the years. The recession and the woes of the industry mean nothing to them. They are so self centred and selfish that they seem to care only about themselves and their families. As far as they are concerned the rest of the world can go to hell and that includes the millions of Indians who used to once think that the airline to be the pride of India.
As I am writing this piece, I read in today’s papers of another shameful episode which occurred 30,000ft in the air while overflying the territory of Pakistan on a Lucknow bound flight from Sharjah. Throwing safety to the winds the pilots and the cabin crew went is for a free for all sessions beating up each other while all that the shocked passengers could do was sit back and watch in horror. Is this not another feather of shame added on to a long list by our illustrious servants of Air India. They may demand an extra bonus from the Management for this act.
Everything about this airline stinks. Whenever I fly Jet Airways or Kingfisher my heart swells with pride at the class we get on offer. This really makes me proud to be an Indian. I see fellow passengers of other nationalities looking on with unbelievable wonder in their eyes at the service, courtesy, professionalism that they witness and experience while flying on these private Indian airlines. I also heard that there are other carriers like Indigo and Go-Air too are equally good. And when we have such wonderful choice who needs this stink called Air India, to shame us Indians the world over. But the fattened staff of Air India will fight on a dirty fight and put many a hurdle before the private airlines, to see that they incur losses and they have their supporters inside the government too, to help them continue with the con act.
