– Indian Budget AIrlines

In this visit to India.. part of my mission was to visit a Indore – a small town in a central state of India .. Madhya Pradesh. Unfortunately for me, I booked my ticket on Air Deccan – a budget airline.. if you ever have a choice in India for domestic travel – DONT EVER .. EVER get on to this airlines!

The ordeal started as soon as I entered the airport. Ostensibly, the flight to Srinagar had been cancelled.. so what do you think the irate passengers did? They started almost rioting.. tried to shut off all the other counters so none of the flights could be checked into! I just dont get this!! There is nothing unusual about flight cancellation.. and even if its an inconvenience.. still why start fighting others?

When I objected .. this lady amongst the Srinagar passengers came out with a hillarious statement – “What kind of Indian are you?” …. and I am like… INDIAN?? what is an Indian expected to do? Just SUCK UP to UNRULY AND DOWNRIGHT UNLAWFUL behavior??!!

Our priorities are all screwed up as Indian citizens… we just like to fight with eyes and minds closed. The tensions are always high.. and we have no ability to enjoy life!

Fortunately, I met this very nice lady who had this two year old in tow.. and kept offering me some paranthas (stuffed Indian bread).. and after refusing twice (although I wanted to taste them) … I finally gave in.

Getting on the flight was another episode.. the ground staff was minimal.. and they worked on one flight at a time.. they had few buses and fewer aircrafts.. the tempers were always on the boil in the lines of passengers.. in the anticipation that their aircraft will be diverted to another destination.. and aircrafts were a territorial thing for most! We finally got on to the bus to carry us to the plane.. and we all were enjoying this serendipity after lots of uncertainty… when we were asked to come down.. it seems the captain of the plane had just found out that the queue for the plane was real long.. almost two hours delay! After 1 hour… we again boarded the bus.. and finally took off.

Its not as if the aircrafts in US are never late.. the ones that I take are late almost 70% of the time.. anywhere from 15 mins to 2 hours! But the difference is in professionalism!

And frankly.. as an Indian.. I found Air Deccan to be a National Security threat! The way the gates were crowded.. and people moving back and forth… anyone could have come in and done anything!

So when in India – go Jet Airways, Sahara Air, or Indian Airlines!