IndiaFlights, Author at CheapIndiaFlights.com

India’s Kingfisher Airlines in Dire Straits, Begs Govt for Bailout

Airlines Comments Off

Nov 112011

Indian liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines in a desperate state in every possible way and is now begging the Government of India for assistance.

Important: Indians residing in the U.S. and planning a trip home in the near future must get in touch with their travel agents to rebook their flights within India (if they were made on Kingfisher Airlines) to their final destination.

Hundreds of Kingfisher flights have been cancelled in recent days, more than a 100 pilots have quit in recent weeks, vendors have not been paid for months and aircraft lessors are baying for their money.

The recent spate of flight cancellations has inconvenienced several thousand Indian travelers who are scrambling to get on to alternate flights to reach their destinations.

In July, Kingfisher Airlines grounded some aircraft as it did not have the money to even buy spare parts.

In the latest development, Kingfisher Chairman Vijay Mally is begging the Government of India for a bailout, a plea that India’s opposition party, the BJP is opposing.

Media reports from India blame Kingfisher’s ‘faulty pricing strategies’ for the airline’s current plight.

Airlines Screw Passengers on Seat Fees

Airlines Comments Off

Nov 102011

It seems like U.S. airlines never miss out on an opportunity to screw their customers.

Just when it appeared that the reputation of airlines for cavalier treatment of their customers could sink no further comes news how they’re trying to screw passengers on advance seat assignments.

As if screwing customers over checked baggage, early boarding and meals were not enough to drive customers up the wall.

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on how the airlines through seat assignment fees are further alienating their customers in a bid to extract more money.

Here’s an excerpt from the piece:

Seat fees are the latest iteration of the airline industry’s new normal. Carriers are blocking more seats from advance-seat selection, especially for low-fare passengers. More crowded planes also make it tougher to get a desirable seat. As a result, more travelers are feeling pressured to pay a fee and reserve a seat rather settle for an assigned one—which could be a middle seat or not located next to their family members. Worse, those without assigned seats stand a higher chance of getting bumped from a flight.

On some Frontier flights, one-third of all seats require extra fees or higher fares to reserve in advance. AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, which recently increased the number of seats it reserves as “preferred” seats requiring a fee or elite status, says a “majority” of its seats are still available unblocked. Delta Air Lines has been studying a preferred-seat fee plan, and an announcement is likely before the end of the year, industry officials said. Also coming next year, United Airlines will drop a perk that lets the lowest level of elite frequent fliers reserve Economy Plus extra-room seats in advance.

Google Launches Flight Search Tool

Airlines, Travel Agents Comments Off

Sep 132011

Life will soon get tougher for the desi travel agents still struggling to eke out a livelihood.

Google launched its expected flight search tool today, flowing from its acquisition of ITA Software a few months back.

Effective today, when users search for flight information on Google, for example “flights from Philadelphia to Atlanta,” they will see a “Flights” link in the left-hand panel. The link leads to Google’s new flight search feature, and is offered in addition to the flight schedules that have been available since May.

Googlers may also access the flight search feature directly at google.com/flights.

Google is promising that its technology combined with ITA’s expertise will provide users with super-fast results.

A post on the Google blog said:

Speed is critical to all the things we love on the web, and travel planning should be no exception. Making changes to dates, destinations, and filters should be as fast as we hope you’ve come to expect from Google.

Flights are chosen primarily based on cost and total travel time, while covering a variety of departure times and airlines. The flight search feature automatically sets the filters to focus on options that are said to be reasonable in both price and duration. Continue reading »

British Airways Cabin Crew to Use iPads

Airlines, General Comments Off

Aug 312011

British Airways is deploying iPad digital tablets from Apple to help its cabin crew boost customer service in the air.

The iPads are supposed to enable the airline’s cabin crew to get prior knowledge of customer preferences and a better understanding of each customer’s previous travel arrangements, allowing them to offer personalized service.

The iPad lets crew quickly identify where each customer is seated, who they are travelling with, their Executive Club status and any special meal requests. It gives cabin crew a whole library of information at their fingertips including timetables, safety manuals and customer service updates. It also means any issues can be logged with ground-based colleagues around the network prior to departure so solutions can be delivered while the flight is airborne.

When all the passengers have boarded and just before the doors are shut, cabin crew are currently handed a long scroll of paper, listing up to 337 customers. With the new iPads cabin crew will simply refresh their screen when the doors have closed through wireless 3G networks and they will have a complete list of passengers on board.

The iPad is currently being trialled with 100 cabin crew.

British Airways plans to roll it out to all senior crew members across the airline in the coming months.

Rohit Nandan is New Chief of Air India

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Aug 122011

Rohit Nandan, an Indian Administrative Service officer from Uttar Pradesh, has been named the new Chairman and Managing Director of Air India Ltd.

Nandan, who was earlier Joint Secretary with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, succeeds Arvind Jadhav.

The 54-year-old Nandan did his post graduation in History and MBA from United Kingdom.

Nandan joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1982 and belongs to the Uttar Pradesh cadre.

He has held posts in Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Social Justice and Empowerment, Disabled Welfare and Rural Development.

Complaints Against U.S. Airlines Up 21%

Airlines Comments Off

Jul 082011

USA Today is reporting that passengers’ complaints against U.S. airlines rose 20.8% in May 2011.

Irate passengers filed 1,062 complaints against airlines with the U.S. Transportation Department in May, up from 879 complaints in April and 799 in May 2010.

A third of the complaints filed in May 2011 was about delays, cancellations and missed connections followed by complaints about customer service, up from 87 in May 2010 to 120 in May 2011. Continue reading »

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