For a middle-class Indian, travelling on a foreign airline used to be the height of luxury - in the 1970's and 80's on the rare occasions one got to travel abroad (e.g. for a conference) one looked forward to the spanking new planes, delicately prepared food, elegant service and the occasional (in economy class) freebie like face masks or socks.
Well the tables have certainly turned. This year I've made two international trips on India's Jet Airways which proved excellent on all counts, specially the friendly, cheerful staff and the excellently fitted - and surprisingly spacious - economy class cabins. Then yesterday, I came from Bombay to Tokyo on Cathay Pacific - once famed for being among the world's best airlines. What a disappointment! Creaky planes, badly designed seats (if the person in front chose to recline, their seat back would practically hit you in the face) mediocre staff, no power sockets for laptops, poor quality video screens...
In fact I'm pretty sure Jet provides the best economy-class flying experience in the world today (Kingfisher fans will contest this, but that is also an Indian airline so we won't argue). By contrast, Cathay is right down there among the worst, along with other notables like Northwest, Continental, Delta... From personal experience I can also vouch that Swiss is a pathetic shadow of the defunct Swissair, and Air Canada is unspeakable. I'm not sure where Air India stands, but they are upgrading their fleet and could easily get up near the top given there's little competition left.
3 comments:
yes times are a'changing. In Indian railways 2AC , I can actually charge my mobile and laptop ( I do worry about losing the laptop in case there is a lot of power fluctuation )... though unfortunately, I cannot compare Indian railways with other railways around the world .....
I cannot resist reassuring rahul basu that he need not fear "being nibbled at by fierce piranhas" in case the air india "rattle-traps fall into the ocean" ...
the simple reason being (http://orford.tased.edu.au/piranhas.htm)
"Piranhas are tropical fish that are distributed throughout South America in the Amazon Basin Brazil and Venezuela. They are fresh water fish that inhabit the open waters of rivers. Piranhas prefer shallow waters, in particular rapids but can also be found in deeper zones of main rivers and also in estuaries."
By an odd coincidence Sunil, a view from the other side here in today's NYT. Makes you quite a bit sympathetic but also makes you wonder how the Indian airlines all manage to keep some of the romance of flying going.
One other thing that attracts me to the Indian airlines like Air India, Jet or Kingfisher is the food. For all that French food is made out to be, (and I, for one, do like most of it), there is nothing like a dal-chawal (or equivalent) as comfort food, even if it is the airline version. The only thing worse is an attempt at Indian food by Lufthansa or Alitalia like stone cold idlis served when you had just got on to their flight, hungry and tired.
About mind without fear's comment on piranhas, well, perhaps I should have said I have a marked aversion to a watery grave....
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