I will definitely fly on Air Deccan once (although I am yet to travel by air in any airlines :) ). I don't think it will be such an ordeal to use Air Deccan for short flights.
Here are two mails I got, which show the two sides of the same coin. It's upto you to decide which side of the coin you choose.
Subject: Air Deccan Experience!
Simply Fly
I share with all of you a unique air journey I had over the weekend. I had to travel to Chennai urgently on personal work and to save some money decided to travel Air Deccan. For those of you who don't know about this airline, this is an airline that's being advertised as a "no frill" airline,you get tickets cheap (or so they tell), and hence won't get the royal treatment that other airlines give you.
Accustomed to flying Jet, I made some brisk comparisons.
Ticketing : I checked the net for the ticket. They were available, and could be bought on credit card. "No hassles" I thought. Also there need not be any special ticket, you can just take a print out of the confirmation page and at the airport endorse it by the ticketing staff, and that becomes a genuine ticket. Incredibly convenient and time saving. However, I could not get the ticket at .501 (as they so popularly advertise). Neither for the intended date of travel, nor for the same date next year. So I don't know, may be such tickets are reserved like "Tatkal" tickets in Indian Railways, you just get to hear about them, never get them.
Anyway, I thought of trying out this airline, even though being a freq flyer in Jet and I could avail a host of privileges. I bought the ticket at just Rs.500 less than the Jet airways cost.
Airport : Because of the unique way of ticketing, you are expected to be there at least 2.5 hours before departure to endorse your ticket, as opposed to Jet which expects you to be there 20 minutes before time (if you do not have check in baggage as in my case). Chalo Maaf kiya, it was a weekend and I had nothing better to do at home. Rather I could be in the airport and check out the "high class" crowd.
Seat allocation: The way seats are allocated is also unique. They have a huge list of stickers, each named for one seat, and they stick it on the ticket. It isn't printed on the boarding card.
The rest of things at airport went smoothly, nothing "Deccan" about it.
Boarding: While boarding, the bus that took me from the terminal to the plane, must have been an old repainted BEST bus, as opposed to the AC Mercedes bus of Jet. Again forgave them, remember I paid less, even if it was 500 bucks.
In-Flight: I was relieved and happy to see that the plane was clean and as spacious as Jet economy (FYI, Deccan does not discriminate between fliers -there are no Economy, First and Business class, and also there are no frequent flier schemes), minus the reading material, and my favorite pre takeoff candy. The only reading material you get is the emergency exit map and the menu card. Yes, you are right, in this "no frills" airline, you get only what you buy. The costs were a bit higher than airport costs, around 2~2.5 times of MRP. Take off was uneventful and smooth.
Later, one of the air stewardesses came in pushing the snacks cart (or so I thought). Since it was lunch time people were very hungry. However, the stewardess politely answered everyone that she has nothing besides Noodles to offer. I found it ridiculous. Since even if the airplane did not care for what people might want, at least they could have seen the potential to make some profit, by keeping something to eat on flight. Anyway, I ate the noodles, thinking my mom would be happy, since I make a fuss at home when she makes noodles. I tried to question the stewardess as to why they didn't have anything to eat, to which she replied with a "It's not in my hands". Reminded me of the dialogue from Bruce Almighty, when a worker of a cookie shop is asked whether he feels happy to make people happy and smile, and to which he honestly answers, " I work in back, I see no smiles" I gave up.
Later I wanted to use the rest room, and the snacks tray was in between. From my experience in Jet, the stewardess would politely apologize and move the tray aside in the aisle allowing me to pass, but I was in for a shock. The stewardess gruffly told me "You would need to wait till we clear the tray". I wish they could control nature. Finally she cleared the tray, and I got permission to visit the rest room. On the way, I happened to glance at the seat where the air hostesses are expected to sit when the plane is landing/taking off, and to my horror I see the chief stewardess sleeping. That's scary. I haven't seen such an attitude even in an Indian Airlines international flight. And she wasn't catching a quick nap, because I made it a point to walk near her and cough, but could not break her deep slumber.
And finally, after a few minutes, I could see the pilot walk by in the aisle, probably stretching his legs, but the funny part is there was no copilot (at least I could not see him, yes the door of the cockpit opens in the main cabin hence we also get a view of the plane's front windows, the pilot's windows, and the complete cockpit), so I guess the plane was running on autopilot. Though I have little knowledge about flying a plane, I think this is a careless act which could cost all the passengers lives. Anyways he could finally successfully land all of us safely.The first thing I did after I got off....I cancelled my return ticket through Deccan, and instead switched back to Jet. "Enough of experimenting", I thought.
My Verdict : Avoid traveling by Deccan, unless you need the 500 bucks terribly. Poor on service, and poor on customer satisfaction, I wonder how they allow such an airline to "SimplyFly" when they are most probably flaunting security and safely norms.
The owner probably knows lots of higher ups.
Hi,
I did travel by Air Deccan this Tuesday(26-07-2005) from mumbai
(infact those terrible rainfalls started about 30 mins before the take
off causing a delay).
Now the service might have been bad I agree, but I did end up saving
a lot. I havent checked the jet fares but I paid just 2000 for one-way
to bombay. Now I assume I have saved atleast 2000 bucks ! I bet this
is a great deal. Besides Deccan has managed to get a major dent in the
Flight costs. I had heard about a year back that fares from mangalore
were upwards of 5000. Now its somewhere around 4000. I guess the
flights are worth it.
I understand the guys plight to attend the natures call and the
stewardess sleeping thing. But I dont think these chaps have
compromised on the security and all. The take-off and landing was very
normal, and there was a co-pilot(both of them spoke on the
public-address). I guess this chap got a raw deal ! But I had an
awesome flight ! come on guys! i saved 4 grand ! and had loads of time
with my family.
No offence with the person who had the raw deal. Just felt like
telling what I felt.
Cheers !
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