This is the first time I flew Jet from Toronto to mumbai after hearing comments from past travellers that the service is beyond comparison. However, my experience for which I paid premium fare charges with one stop so I could get to Mumbai quickly is not one that I wil lever remember fondly.
My final say is that Jet Airways sucks, sucks and sucks....it was most disappointing first of all to be delayed by over 30 hours in Toronto, get our ass frozen for 2 hrs while wating for the shuttle, collect the baggage, recheck-in the next day after waiting in line for a lifetime and then be taken to Delhi instead of Mumbai. This was ridiculous. To make things worse, I forgot my camera bag which contained my Video Camera, my 30GB mp3 player, my indian passport, drivers license and some old recorded tapes in the damn cab in Mumbai.
I seriously believe that we are due some compensation from Phut Airways....
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
My thoughts on the Jet Airways flight
I have always been a big fan of Jet Airways and when they started their international services to the Middle East, Europe and North America, I was extremely happy for them. 6 flights later on the Indo- Canadian route, I had started recommending this airline to every international traveler I knew.
But, the jinxed 229 flight from Toronto to Delhi via Brussels saw the end of it all. As already mentioned on this blog, Jet Airways is good as long as it flies on time. What the airline management lacks completely is a Disaster Recovery Plan and what a disaster it was that the poor passengers had to encounter on the night of 12 December! The airline had announced by around 7 PM EST that the flight is likely to take off at around 2 AM. I had approached the airline counter then and I could hear a crew member telling another passenger that they were looking at arranging accomodation for all stranded passengers. The crew had already left the airport by then which made me think that the airline had already decided not to fly that night. I don't understand why they took all the time in the world to announce that the flight had been cancelled. (The announcement was made as late as 1.30 AM)
OK, deciding to provide hotel accomodation to all the stranded passengers was a good thing to do, but how about providing it on time? To start with, the airline wanted all passengers to collect their check in baggage which was absolutely unnecessary. And on top of that, there were not enough cabs available to transport the passengers to the hotel. This resulted in the passengers waiting outside the airport for a good hour and half waiting for cabs. The less said about the weather, the better. I personally was frost bitten by the time I checked into the Hotel room.
More chaos followed the next day afternoon. The queue at the check in counters was endless. There were 16 counters available, but only 4 were functioning. With the passengers checking in for 2 flights together, there was confusion all around. It resulted in both flights getting delayed by a good 2 hours!!!
OK, after all, a passenger would expect the airline to be prepared when the flight lands in Delhi. The answer to that was a big NO! More confusion prevailed- connections were not arranged, cabs were not available to transport the passengers to the hotel (which funnily was a good 45 minute drive from the airport, why was the accomodation not arranged somewhere close by is the other pertinent question) and there were no adequate rooms at the hotel. The big relief was that a buffet dinner was available at the hotel as late as 2 in the morning that provided some respite to the otherwise disturbed passengers!
One week from the whole episode, I am still trying to figure out how could an airline go so awfully wrong? In hindsight, they did provide everything that a passenger could have asked for but nothing was provided on time which remains the biggest drawback! Let us hope that the airline is better equipped next time something like this happens (and I hope, it does not happen when I am on board!)...
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
JohCre's comments
I share the views from other contributors. The additional 2 complaints that I want to add are
1. why did they not contact us on the phonenumbers we left behind or leave a voicemail on room-telephone (to avoid waking us up)? Also, why did they not try to provide the hand-out they left on the hotel desk counter, to our rooms If the information on the hand-out is correct, they had figured out the solution at 4:30am but most passengers did not become aware of the solution until late morning.
2. passengers that booked the flight through alliance partners were not initially assisted by the Jet Airways staff (see below)
I have flown regularly on economy class with Jet Airways with my family and always had pleasant experiences. This time, my office booked a business flight to Brussels through Brussels Airlines (operated by Jet Airways) and when I contacted Jet Airways at 3:30 pm for my alternatives, they indicated that they could not help me and that I needed to contact Brussels Airlines.
When I subsequently called Brussels Airlines, they were not aware of the issues and they could not contact Jet Airways because the local lines were not staffed (contrary to what the handout at the hotel desk suggested) and the tol-free number does not work from abroad (?!)
Absent any guidance from Jet Airways, I had booked alternative flights through my travel agency via Chicago and obtained the OK for this from Brussels Airlines. When I tried to check-in at the counter for the flight to Chicago at 11:30am, United warned me that I would probably get stuck in Chicago given that the ticket was not correctly split.
I then contacted my travel Agency and Brussels Airlines again and it turned out that Brussels Airlines was still not informed about the new flight at 5pm and Brussels Airlines could still not contact Jet Airways. I then called Jet Airways at 12:25 again and now they were willing to help me and assured me that I had a place reserved for me in the 5pm flight.
1. why did they not contact us on the phonenumbers we left behind or leave a voicemail on room-telephone (to avoid waking us up)? Also, why did they not try to provide the hand-out they left on the hotel desk counter, to our rooms If the information on the hand-out is correct, they had figured out the solution at 4:30am but most passengers did not become aware of the solution until late morning.
2. passengers that booked the flight through alliance partners were not initially assisted by the Jet Airways staff (see below)
I have flown regularly on economy class with Jet Airways with my family and always had pleasant experiences. This time, my office booked a business flight to Brussels through Brussels Airlines (operated by Jet Airways) and when I contacted Jet Airways at 3:30 pm for my alternatives, they indicated that they could not help me and that I needed to contact Brussels Airlines.
When I subsequently called Brussels Airlines, they were not aware of the issues and they could not contact Jet Airways because the local lines were not staffed (contrary to what the handout at the hotel desk suggested) and the tol-free number does not work from abroad (?!)
Absent any guidance from Jet Airways, I had booked alternative flights through my travel agency via Chicago and obtained the OK for this from Brussels Airlines. When I tried to check-in at the counter for the flight to Chicago at 11:30am, United warned me that I would probably get stuck in Chicago given that the ticket was not correctly split.
I then contacted my travel Agency and Brussels Airlines again and it turned out that Brussels Airlines was still not informed about the new flight at 5pm and Brussels Airlines could still not contact Jet Airways. I then called Jet Airways at 12:25 again and now they were willing to help me and assured me that I had a place reserved for me in the 5pm flight.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Comments
First of all let me thank Mr. Chopra for creating this platform where we can share our experiences of that troubled flight.
The entire incident, in general, has already been summarized in the previous posts. While we understand that a technical failure may happen at any time and that nothing can be done about it, the way the airlines authority responded to the situation is bound to raise a few eyebrows, to put it mildly. The lack of a well-thought of contingency plan was evident.
Firstly, the representatives seemed clueless about a solution to the crisis and could not guarantee anything when they were asked whether the flight would even take off the next day. While some of them appeared to be putting in their best efforts to help the stranded passengers and fix connecting flights, some did seem unconcerened and aloof. Then again, there was no point in releasing all our luggage in the middle of the night since we would be again checking them in the next day. It cost us a couple of hours to get hold of those suitcases thanks to a conveyor that kept on getting stuck. The shuttle service to the hotel was mediocre to say the least; and there were not enough shuttles plying to and fro. Once it so happened that the shuttle came, stopped for a few seconds and took off without picking up anybody, even though there was a bunch of people waiting for it outside in the cold. I was in the last shuttle to the hotel and we reached there at 5:30 in the morning.
The next day, even though they knew beforehand that effectively passengers of two flights would turn up for check-in in the afternoon, they seemed unprepared for the task. They had asked us to be there by 1:00 PM (we arrived before 12:30) but started checking us in after 2 o' clock. A lack of manpower was coupled with technical failures (a printer wasn't working, as was a computer) and inefficiency on the part of some of the personnels. They took a very long time to fix our connecting flights (for those whose final destination wasn't Delhi but somewhere else; mine for instance, was Calcutta) and many of us didn't even get any confirmation on those connecting flights. All this contributed to a further delay. Again, it was initially stated that all the passengers are being taken to Delhi through Brussels; but at Brussels it turned out that some (probably those who pressed hard enough) were granted direct flights to their respective destinations (Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai) directly from Brussels. This, surely was unfair to many other passengers who were travelling to the same places but were made to touch Delhi and take subsequent flights from there.
Having said all this, it would be unfair not to say a word of praise for those Jet representatives who put up a sincere effort in minimizing our trouble; Mr. Atul Joshi, for instance. Also, I, personally was satisfied with the treatment received at Delhi; and the delightful buffet dinner that was provided at 2:00 in the morning, after we arrived at the hotel (my connecting flight was the next morning). All in all, it was an interesting experience (though not of the kind which one would crave for) and the bright side was that we got to meet many people and made some nice new friends.
The entire incident, in general, has already been summarized in the previous posts. While we understand that a technical failure may happen at any time and that nothing can be done about it, the way the airlines authority responded to the situation is bound to raise a few eyebrows, to put it mildly. The lack of a well-thought of contingency plan was evident.
Firstly, the representatives seemed clueless about a solution to the crisis and could not guarantee anything when they were asked whether the flight would even take off the next day. While some of them appeared to be putting in their best efforts to help the stranded passengers and fix connecting flights, some did seem unconcerened and aloof. Then again, there was no point in releasing all our luggage in the middle of the night since we would be again checking them in the next day. It cost us a couple of hours to get hold of those suitcases thanks to a conveyor that kept on getting stuck. The shuttle service to the hotel was mediocre to say the least; and there were not enough shuttles plying to and fro. Once it so happened that the shuttle came, stopped for a few seconds and took off without picking up anybody, even though there was a bunch of people waiting for it outside in the cold. I was in the last shuttle to the hotel and we reached there at 5:30 in the morning.
The next day, even though they knew beforehand that effectively passengers of two flights would turn up for check-in in the afternoon, they seemed unprepared for the task. They had asked us to be there by 1:00 PM (we arrived before 12:30) but started checking us in after 2 o' clock. A lack of manpower was coupled with technical failures (a printer wasn't working, as was a computer) and inefficiency on the part of some of the personnels. They took a very long time to fix our connecting flights (for those whose final destination wasn't Delhi but somewhere else; mine for instance, was Calcutta) and many of us didn't even get any confirmation on those connecting flights. All this contributed to a further delay. Again, it was initially stated that all the passengers are being taken to Delhi through Brussels; but at Brussels it turned out that some (probably those who pressed hard enough) were granted direct flights to their respective destinations (Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai) directly from Brussels. This, surely was unfair to many other passengers who were travelling to the same places but were made to touch Delhi and take subsequent flights from there.
Having said all this, it would be unfair not to say a word of praise for those Jet representatives who put up a sincere effort in minimizing our trouble; Mr. Atul Joshi, for instance. Also, I, personally was satisfied with the treatment received at Delhi; and the delightful buffet dinner that was provided at 2:00 in the morning, after we arrived at the hotel (my connecting flight was the next morning). All in all, it was an interesting experience (though not of the kind which one would crave for) and the bright side was that we got to meet many people and made some nice new friends.
i am the father of twins who are 17 months old and were on this flight from hell... Jet airways did a bad job in communications on this flight. however i do commend them on one thing and that is to provide the hotel rooms. no european or north american airlines would do this.
i would also like to thank a lot of passengers who showed us compassion and helped us with our luggage and in managing our twins.
i would also like to thank a lot of passengers who showed us compassion and helped us with our luggage and in managing our twins.
9W1229-Jet airways Toronto-Brussels(12th December 2008) Flight Delay - Experience/Suggestions
This blog is created to share experience/suggestions regarding 12th december 2008, 9w1229-jet,airways,toronto brussel flight.
Original flight was scheduled to leave Toronto @ 6:25 PM on 12th december however at about 6PM airline frontdesk announced that flight is having some technical difficulties and departure is delayed by atleast 1 hour. Later on they announced that it is re-scheduled to depart at 2AM as defective part is being shipped from Vancouver which is scheduled to arrive by midnight. All Passengers looked forward to fly at 2AM however by 1AM Jet airways announced that flight has been cancelled as testing results of 
replacement part were not satisfactory. All passengers were asked to collect their baggage and queue up to collect hotel voucher. This is when real mess started and it clearly showed how unprofessionally Jet airways attemped to manage the situaltion and failed miserably. All passengers did undestand techinal issues with the aeroplane however lack of communication and unplanned action of airline without any logistics and backup plan clearly indicated lot of opportunity for Jet airways to improve and learn from experiences.
replacement part were not satisfactory. All passengers were asked to collect their baggage and queue up to collect hotel voucher. This is when real mess started and it clearly showed how unprofessionally Jet airways attemped to manage the situaltion and failed miserably. All passengers did undestand techinal issues with the aeroplane however lack of communication and unplanned action of airline without any logistics and backup plan clearly indicated lot of opportunity for Jet airways to improve and learn from experiences.Please share your experience and suggestions we could pass on collectively to Jet Airways' senior management to help them learn and improve to handle similar situations professionally should they re-occur in future.
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