My first experience with Air India...live...
As I am writing this, sitting in this aged A320, the aircraft itself looks tired and uninterested in taking us safely to Mumbai. The worn out seat covers & flickering lights add to the antique look. Need I mention a bumpy take off and a damp smell in the cabin?
Our tickets mention 'meals on board' & since it was an 8:55pm departure one would naturally assume that there would at least be hot food (if not full dinner service). Instead we have been served something which resembles a sandwich but does not taste like one at all...a thick slice of some cheap cheese between stale, dry bread does make for an interesting combination. Since there is nothing moist in the "sandwich", I have decided to swallow mine down (only eating this because I am extremely hungry) with the provided water bottle. There is a packet of cookies which are due to expire in December so I have skipped those. My wife in the mean time has had just one bite of the sandwich and left it at that. We have also now discussed how stupid we are to just assume that there will be good food specially since its Air India. If this food has come out of a flight kitchen, this Chef really needs to go eat a vada-pav at any railway station in Mumbai just to understand flavours. Being from the hospitality industry myself I am not only disgusted but ashamed.
There is some salvation though...the air hostesses have just asked us if we need some more water...oh yes so there is service as well...Ms Naseem who seems in charge of cabin crew looks like someone with vast experience. So vast that she probably knows that patrons are aware of the reputation Air India holds in the aviation industry and has decided that she will only help in damaging it further. There has not been one smile from the crew and professionalism has been non existent as if on purpose. She did seem a bit polite while slamming the tray onto the tray table. And going by what we were served, it hardly needed a tray... I wonder if words like 'no frills', 'budget' etc. actually mean rude, unprofessional etc. I would rather buy coffee from the railway stations where the person selling it cannot pronounce 'coffee' properly but knows how best to serve it - with a smile !
I have always been told by my uncle to never travel by Air India. According to him it is better to delay the journey by a day than to put yourself through this ordeal. I beg to differ with him today. I think we should all travel by our national airliner at least once...to understand how bad it is...how appalling it is...
Oops my notepad just dropped on the floor...oh yes that was the landing !
Shame on you Air India...
