My lowest no of flights in a decade

 I had only 6 flights in all of 2020, my lowest in recent years.

Few more tickets I had booked on Airasia for Australia, Cambodia, Kuala Lumpur etc had to be cancelled due to covid.

My 2020 travel details are detailed here

More details of my flights at my.flightradar24.com/enidhi

Hopefully 2021 will be better. How was your year?

What to do if we book wrong travel date by mistake?

While booking flight tickets, dates are most paramount information. You get the date wrong, changing it will be a nightmare. Most of the lowest fare deals come with restriction that date can't be changed- if you book for a wrong date either pay 100% extra and book a new ticket or change your plan to suit whatever dates shown in confirmed ticket.

I had an experience in this regard and I would like to share the same.

I wanted to book a flight ticket between Mangaluru and Chennai for a family member. I selected onward journey as 16th Jan, return journey as 24th Jan and searched for flights first on Makemytrip. As Indigo was the only airline that had direct flights between Chennai and Mangaluru, I went to Indigo's website to create a booking. The return fare was coming just under INR 6000. Indigo also promoted me to buy their premium package- pay some 1500 Rs more and get free food, couple of date change options, seat selection etc. I decided to ignore these and save that money. However Indigo now adds some 600 Rs + as convenience fee on return tickets, so I was scouting for ways to avoid this.

Decided to try Easemytrip.com who are popular for not charging convenience fee. Entered all the details again, got same fare without convenience fee and I could now book return ticket for INR 6000 on EMT instead of INR 6600 on Indigo.

But I had a shock after I saw the booking confirmation. Return date was being shown as 18th Jan instead of 24th Jan. I remember I had selected 24th Jan initially, not sure at what stage it got changed to 18th Jan. 18th was too short and wouldn't give us enough time to finish whatever work my family member had to finish in Chennai. It was my mistake I didn't cross check the date one more time before payment. Even EMT interface was not intutive to highlight this that I could have realized the mistake and done correction before paying.

Now that I had paid and ticket is confirmed, below were our options

• Option 1: Change plan as per ticket date- return within 2 days instead of 7-8 days planned earlier and plan a separate trip later if required.
• Option 2: Pay some 3000 Rs extra and book a separate one way ticket for a later date
• Option 3: Check with customer care if anything else can be done.

We spoke to Easemytrip customer care- they simply said they can't help- Only Indigo can change the date

We next spoke to Indigo customer care and explained that return date has been wrongly booked. Because the call was made within minutes of booking Indigo staff accepted our request and agreed to change the return date. We had to pay any fare difference and convenience fee. Since there was no fare difference, we ended up paying INR 315 as convenience fee to Indigo to get our return date changed. This was much better than having to spend 3k again for a new return ticket.

I believe calling them immediately helped. If we realize this mistake few days before travel and call, the same may not work- prices would have gone up, seats might have been sold out or airline might simply refuse to entertain our request as the fare is not flexible.

However lesson learnt- double check everything before paying. Else you may have to regret or spend more. What you entered on screen 1 may not remain as is when it comes to final stage. We were trying to save 600 Rs convenience fee- costed us few hours of time and effort (with customer care) and some 315 Rs extra payment anyway, but got resolved without major issue or expense.

Thanks to Indigo for quick resolution. Indigo also allows minor correction in passenger name/spelling but other airlines like Air India are adamant on these-only option is to cancel and rebook.

Old post: Indigo cancellation concerns * 

Only 1 direct flight between Mangaluru and Chennai

October 2022: Situation remains the same. Only Indigo is offering direct flight between IXE and MAA. Other airlines are least bothered about Mangaluru

Airlines have reduced flight between Chennai and Mangaluru. Indigo once had 2 direct flights per day between Mangaluru and Chennai. Now it is dropped to just one. Other airlines have not bothered introducing direct flight between Chennai and IXE- only one stop flights via BLR or Hyd or some other city.

Fare also has gone up- I had travelled for 1800-2000 Rs one way pre-covid- now tickets cost about 3000 INR one way.

Airlines are focusing more on Kannur and Kochi airports instead.

In other news GoAir has introduced flight from IXE to Ahmedabad, BLR and Mumbai

Related: Cheap transportation from Mangalore airport to city

Is it safe to buy fake flight tickets?

Flight tickets are an essential document for visa application submission. However flight tickets are often most expensive part of travel and loss is huge if visa is rejected. There are many websites that sell genuine looking fake tickets for a small fee- like 5$. Is it safe to buy such fake tickets?

Honest answer is NO. Following are the reasons not to go for fake flight tickets

• You may be caught. Embassy officials can detect if the ticket is genuine or fake. They can check with airline, they can use other means to figure out if you are cheating. If they catch you for falsification, your visa will be rejected and you could be banned from applying again.
• Flight schedules change, flights get cancelled- your fake ticket will not automatically update. 

How to check if a ticket is genuine?

Format with which the ticket is printed doesn't matter. A genuine ticket should meet following criteria

• It is possible to retrieve the ticket using PNR and surname on airline website.
• Flight date & time is in sync with schedule on the website 

Best way to get flight tickets for visa

• Honesty is best policy. If you are fully committed to travel, buy genuine ticket, explain with a cover letter on your need for travel and hope for the best.
• You can buy a slightly flexible ticket from airline website- it may cost a bit more but will get you a large portion of your money back in case your visa is rejected and you've to cancel your ticket.
• Fly to neighboring country- Like you have Canada visa and are applying for US visa- if you don't want to spend lots of money buying India- US ticket, plan such that you visit Canada and visit USA from Canada- this way you'll be risking a cheaper Canada-USA flight ticket, than more expensive India-USA ticket.
• Speak to your travel agent and see what options he has- travel agents will have more flexible cancellation terms with airline and may get you a genuine ticket with better cancellation terms.

Norwegian rocks! Temperature filter in flight search! A first?

 Norwegian was on the blink of collapse- but now airline has opened up sale for flights to UK for 2021. Flights to USA start at around 200 GBP onwards one way for the budget carrier. This amount is nowhere close to what WOW Air used to charge for transatlantic flights but 270 USD is not a bad fare (from UK)

An interesting thing I noted is the temperature filter- you can set temperature range of destination you want to visit- but when I checked, the filter didn't work. May be they are still fixing it. Still I think it is a cool feature. Don't worry about destination, just say "show me all destinations with sub zero temperature" and go to cheapest from the results.

Also temperature filter has 30 degree c as upper limit- how will it work on flights to Bangkok or other warmer destinations? (For Chennai, 30 should be minimum!)

Also we need to see which temperature applies- current or expected temp on the date of flight? Min, Max or average?

I had written about Norwegian earlier- about their love letter.

Let us hope the airline bounces back.

How much does it cost to hire a chartered flight in India?

 Aircraft charter was earlier the done only by large corporate companies and rich political parties. Now with covid-19, rich families are willing to shell out several lakhs to hire an entire plane for their family travel.

MakeMytrip has introduced a charter flight booking on their website. AirAsia India has also listed their planes for charter flights. Of course there're several individual companies owning smaller planes that can be contacted for chartered flights.

Question is, how much does chartering a plane costs and what are the terms and conditions?

This post tries to provide a quick answer:

Advantages of chartering an entire plane

• Flexibility to schedule as per our date & time, from and to wherever we want to go
• Full privacy and no contact with other fliers
• Less time in airport formalities
• Can carry pets

Factors that affect charter flight rates

• Size of the aircraft- Small 5-6 seater planes are cheaper to rent while chartering an Airbus 320 will cost several times more.
• Base city- just like how taxi companies charge garage to garage, aircraft companies start counting time from and to home base airport. Chartering a flight from Delhi to Bengaluru and back to Delhi will be cheaper, than chartering a flight between Tiruvananthapura to Chennai, as most aircrafts are based in Mumbai & Delhi.
• Time. There will always be some delays from your side or because of ATC/Weather etc and it will add to final price.
• Note that GST is 18% 

How much do aircrafts cost to charter?

As per makemytrip, hiring small planes all for yourself costs about 13 lakh onwards. But note that these small planes have limited space, seating, comfort and take 2x more time to reach the destination.

A more luxurious private jets can cost about 30 lakhs for a short trip. Makemytrip hasn't listed AirAsia's A320s for charter. Even AirAsia website doesn't list the planes for charter- AirAsia will communicate the rate in person if you make an inquiry. 

This Business Standard news says A320/B737 cost about 4.5-5 lakh per hour. At this rate, for a Delhi-Bengaluru flight, we are looking at 3 hours one way+  1 hour before flight, 1 hour after flight + 3 hours to go back to home base = 8 hours = 30 to 40 lakhs.

Other way to look at high aircraft charter price is to calculate per passenger expense. If an 18 seater beechcraft is costing 14 lakhs, it is about 80k per person, if you are filling all seats. That is probably 10-15x normal commercial fare but not an exorbitant amount for rich people. Per seat cost looks even better- like if a 180 seater A320 is available for 40 lakhs, it is just 25k per person. If you are using for both onward and return journey, then just about 12.5k per person, that is same as commercial flight. But you may not always have enough people to fill the plane, so calculate your per person cost.

Do I get security exemption if I hire a chartered flight?

No. You will still have to undergo security checks and all the restrictions applicable on cabin bag and check-in bag during commercial flight still applies for chartered flight. Of course you can negotiate a better baggage policy and some airports will have dedicated access/processing area to chartered flights- like you may be able to go till aircraft in your car. It may be convenient/safer this way, but cross check with operator, as not all Indian airports offer special treatment to chartered flight passengers.

Can we go to cockpit during chartered flight?

No. Passengers are not allowed inside cockpit as per rules- commercial or charter. But if your captain agrees to let you peep in off the record there isn't much anyone can do about it.

Can we fly international?

Yes, but it will involve lot more paperwork and regulatory requirements. You'll have to hire larger planes for longer duration hence cost will be high as well. Check with operator.

Are chartered flights safe?

There is no reason to believe they are unsafe. But then, smaller planes and their operators get less media attention and slightly less scrutiny from regulators. 

How to save on aircraft charters?

1. Find a flight returning empty- just like how airport taxi drivers are happy to pick up a ride for cheap money one-way (after dropping off a paid customer), if a charter company is flying a plane back to its base empty, then you can negotiate a bargain deal. For this you will need right contacts, high flexibility (to travel whenever an empty charter flight is available)

2. Negotiate directly with nearby operator: Team up with anyone else looking for similar service and bargain directly with aircraft operator. On weeks having low demand, you may get good rates. If your trip is from Coimbatore to Rajamundry, an operator based in Bengaluru/Hyderabad/Chennai can be lot cheaper, than having to get the plane from Delhi/Mumbai.

3. Plan to use round trip if possible. Cost is usually same either one way or return, because aircraft has to return to its base. Hire from a nearby operator to reduce empty flying or plan such that you can fly back too on same aircraft same day/next day, instead of hiring another charter few days later.

What are your thoughts? Fancy hiring an entire plane for yourself?

Vistara Delhi-London booking opens- Can we fly?

 Air Vistara has announced its flight to London Heathrow from Delhi starting August 28. Here's what we know.

Vistara has recently got delivery of its dreamliner, Boeing 787 and that widebody aircraft is being rightly deployed for London flight. You can enjoy an excellent aircraft with Vistara Hospitality for sure.

Can we really fly? The schedule is still subject to regulatory approval. Indian airspace is currently closed for international flights except few repatriation flights being operated under Vande Bharath mission or through air bubble arrangement between select countries. There's no word on resuming normal international flights as of now. Hopefully normal international flights can resume from next month but we will know only after Govt opens up the skies.

Looks like a case of UK trying to fly to UK without Govt OK

Economy Lite: Meals seem to be included in Economy Lite fare (they are usually buy on board for domestic flights). Assuming meals included, only difference between Economy Value and Economy Standard seem to be in excess baggage fare. If you need to carry a 2-5 kilos extra paying 1000 Rs more for Economy Standard would pay off. I would have liked a cabin baggage only fare for 2-3k less, but then Vistara is full service airline and not many fly around the world with just cabin bag as I might do

Vistara's advertised price for UK is 55k for a return ticket. Most dates I checked had pricing about 60k INR, which is not cheap but reasonable under current circumstances. If you are not particular about a direct flight you should be able to get one stop flights cheaper.

We also need to factor UK Visa processing timeline and quarantine rules.

Vistara is the only airline other than Air India to fly to London. Kingfisher and Jet Airways that used to fly to London are not in business now. Indigo had plans of one stop flight to London but didn't materialize. Spicejet has leased a widebody aircraft, let us see their next move.

Are you excited about flying to London? Do you think normal international flights will resume from next month?

Meanwhile, if you fancy going to London by bus, check this post. 

Similar: UK& Ireland trip expense report 

AirAsia Malaysia to exit India business? Impact?

As per this and this news on Business Standard, Air Asia's Global boss Tony Fernandes has lost interest in India business and is looking to exit India venture. This probability was looming over past few years because of multiple factors

• Indian authorities levied corruption charges against Air Asia India and Tony Fernandes for getting license and approvals related to Air Asia India
• Tatas hold majority state (51%) in the venture but Tony Fernandes's style is to control everything from Malaysia. Air Asia India's booking, pricing, sales etc were being managed on the unified global website.
• India business hasn't gained significant market share and profitability is distant dream after current covid-19 crisis.
• Tatas have already geared up to take over management of Air Asia India. News is that Tatas have commissioned TCS to build a separate website, inventory management and other solutions for Air Asia India.

It is just a matter of time before the crisis deepens or reaches a separation, making Air Asia India a separate entity from Air Asia Malaysia & other countries such as Thailand, Indonesia.

What this means for me and you as a potential passenger of Air Asia (India & International combined)

#1 Main challenge will to use credit shell. If the websites get separated, we need to see what happens to credit shell. For Indian customers, will credit shell remain with Air Asia India or Air Asia MY or will there be a split? At present if we have credit shell we can use it for domestic or international flights. Going forward, we may not be able to do that- we may be forced to use it only on India/International flights, which means less options and more chances of credit shell going waste.

#2 Big Sale: Air Asia is popular for its dirt cheap big sales. I had booked several super cheap tickets because of big sales, such as

• INR 502 one way between AMD-KUL
• INR 7800 return ticket Chennai-Brunei
• INR 200 one way KUL-Penang
• INR 5800 Vizag-Australia (Avalon Melbourne) etc.

However I don't think India management will have similar appetite for deep discount sales. With India business separated, Air Asia Malaysia also may reduce focus on India market- less flights, less sales etc.

#3  Two separate customer cares

Call centre is already separated. Indians can't call India customer care to sort out issues on AK/FD flights.  But website, chat support was unified. With separation, both will be different entities, more running around to fix our issues.

#4 IP: At present there's a unified experience across the board. This will split- we have to see if things improve for better or worse. Will new Air Asia India management keep the low cost experience as is? Will it merge air Asia India with Vistara? will they do further cost cutting? We have to see

What do you think?

AirAsia Support n Credit account process July 2020

I had written earlier that Air Asia’s refund process is unnecessarily complicated. There was a promise to fix it by Air Asia management but nothing happened (person who responded left job).

In 2020, given the covid crisis, airlines are in even bigger stress. Most airlines around the world are not giving refunds and fighting tooth and nail with customers demanding to be refunded in cash.

Air Asia has also changed its policies accordingly and will no longer give your money back if they cancel the flight.

I had to deal with them recently for some of my tickets and this post shares m experience.

1 Cancel option now added inside ‘MyBookings” but it won’t work.

Other airlines have a cancel button next to booking reference and if clicked, ticket cancellation/refund request can be processed without much effort. Air Asia has now added this button, but it doesn’t work. The cancel button only triggers a chat window with AVA chatbot and you’ve to give all details again- name, PNR, email etc and in most cases chatbot won’t process it and ask you to contact a human allstar (manual chat)

2 Flights cancelled are still shown as “Check-in Open”. Don’t know why- for example, my AMD-KUL INR 502 flight for 18^th July is not going to fly. 

Would have been lot easier if Air Asia automatically process credit account for think booking. But NO. The website will show “check-in open”, chatbot can’t process refund/credit, no numbers to call, twitter handle won’t reply. Your only hope is to try connect to manual chat support.

3 AVA Chatbot won’t process credit notes.

AVA is an AI powered chatbot, setup to reduce call centre cost (less humans, more work by bot) but it is still not perfect. It can’t figure out if a PNR’s flight is cancelled and if it qualifies for refund/credit. It will mostly redirect you to manual chat support.

4 Manual Chat is near impossible to connect

If you try to contact manual support, you will be shown a static screen that your wait time is several minutes. There is no live counter- this timing won’t come down automatically to let you know that you may get connected soon. So if it shows 24 minutes you’ve to sit and watch it for 24 minutes. Because it may connect anytime and if you don’t respond immediately, chat will disconnect and you’ve to begin from scratch again. There is no popup to alert chat has connected, there’s no email/callback, no waiting for couple of minutes. Try your luck. I tried connecting at 5 AM, had 24 minutes wait and finally managed to connect. During day time peak hours, you will mostly give up in frustration.

Best way out: Train your dog to keep looking at the chat screen and bark as soon as it connects.

5 No more telephone support for Indians flying abroad.

Air Asia’s India telephone call centre is now only for I5 (Air Asia India) flights. If you have a flight out of India or some other flights with Air Asia Malaysia/Indonesia or other group companies, no phone support for you. You’ve to deal with useless chat bot or impossible to connect human chat support. Earlier I could give a call and get my international bookings sorted. Late 2019 they started saying “this can be done on AVA/Chat support only”. Now the entire provision of voice support has been removed.

As such all airlines are in survival mode. Airlines are doing whatever they can to cut cost and survive.

I asked support person what happens if flight is cancelled but person doesn’t ask for credit- She didn’t give a direct reply, but hinted that airline will pocket the money. Simple.

Air Asia has been in news recently for multiple reasons

• -          A sacked pilot went viral by raising safetyconcerns at Air Asia India
• -          This business standard news claims Tony Fernandes, Air Asia’s supreme boss, has almost lost interest in India business now

-        Meanwhile AirAsia is offering chartered flights if you can afford to pay for entire flight instead of booking individual tickets. But with near zero customer support, it will be nightmare to deal with them for any changes. 

Only consolation is Air Asia has increased validity of credit account from 90 days to about 2 years. This is essential as there’s no sign of recovery in terms of international tourism returning to 2019 levels any time soon. But Air Asia can really simplify the process further by using following steps

• Auto credit for bookings that can’t per performed because flight is canceled.
• From mybookings I should be able to ask for refund/credit directly, without having to go through chatbot or manual chat

Tips to deal with Air Asia support if your bookings are affected

• Try early morning hours for maximum probability of connecting to human chat
• Try the AVA chat, but don't expect it to be perfect. Follow all onscreen instructions diligently and see if you can get lucky
• While waiting for human chat support to connect, be sure to check the screen every 1 minute. Else it will time out or support person will promptly disconnect after waiting for 59 seconds.

• Be sure to raise credit request before your travel date. If not able to contact support, send them msg on twitter, email and other mediums so that there is clear evidence that you have initiated a request before travel date
• Rescheduling option is mostly waste of time and effort as there's no sign of recovery. But it is good option if you want to buy more time and sure travel won't resume anytime soon.

Many desperate people are leaving comments on my blog posts asking for refund. Feel sad for them. [Check this post]

One good thing I would like to appreciate is Air Asia's support staff are very helpful, as long as your demand is aligned to their company policy.

Air Asia India flying beast (Gaurav Taneja) case

Major news this week in aviation circle is Air Asia India’s termination of a pilot. While most pilot terminations go without notice, this time the terminated pilot happens to be a youtube star, so he could put out his version of the story online and cause some major PR issue for the airline, at least on twitter momentarily.

Captain Gaurav Taneja (Flying beast on twitter) has made 3 major allegations

• -          Not granting enough leaves
• -          Forcing 98% Flap 3 landings which save 8 kg fuel but are more difficult and risky
• -          Violation of safety norms
• -          Asking him to take down a private video

You can watch Gaurav's video here or watch below. Gaurav has 3 million youtube subscribers and 2.4 lakh twitter followers so he carries lots of clout online.

Below is my personal assessment of the situation, with one sided info I have from Gaurav's video and without any official response from airline.

Leave policy- this is always debatable-employees want maximum leaves while employers want the exact opposite. It is hard to say who is right and who is wrong. But whatever policy promised during recruitment should be followed. Pilots need rest and a stress free environment-this is non negotiable. Right now with every airline having more staff and less flights, a more liberal leave policy will help everyone. In his video Gaurav says if he avails sick leave airline was cancelling his next weekly off or planned leaves. May be from airline’s point of you “If you’re sick and have rested you don’t need another weekly off after 2 days and should fly”.  Looks unfair to me but airline will have its compulsions like shortage of pilots so this is best resolved with a mutual discussion in my opinion.

Flap 3 Landing vs Full Flap landing.
Flaps are metalic extensions hidden under the wings during the flight and are extended to various positions as needed during take off and landing, to provide extra lift. If you are sitting close to wings you can see them roll in after take off and extend just before landing.

Extending flap to max gives aircraft more lift and facilitates slower and smoother landing. But consumes more fuel. Flap 3 is slightly less extension, so less lift, less drag and less fuel consumption. As per Gurav Taneja Air Asia India expects its pilots to land Flap 3 98% of the time. Each flap 3 landing saves about 8 kg of fuel (ATF costs about 40000 INR per 1000 litre, so 8 litre is roughly INR 300-500, small amount compared to 4-6 lakhs passengers would have paid (say 120-150 passengers paying 3000-5000 Rs each) compared to full flap landing. From airline's point of view tiny drops make mighty ocean. But Flap 3 landings are difficult/risky at short runways, tabletop runways or in terrains where there’s very little buffer for plan B. Gaurav says he managed 7 flap-3 landings but 3 were full flap landings- 2 in Imphal (Manipur) and 1 in Bagdogra (WB)-bringing his score down to 71% from target of 98%- for this he was given memo. Prima-facie Gaurav’s argument seems fair to me. We don’t know Airline’s version of the story so let us hold the judgment.

Flap position dashboard display indicative image from http://www.opencockpits.com/

Violation of safety norms:

Apart from 98% flap 3 landing rule Gaurav hasn’t elaborated on other non-compliance. We don’t have enough info in public domain to discuss this further. Saw another tweet that another senior person (Amit Singh- tweet here)  resigned refusing to compromise on safety. On this aspect we’ll have to wait till more things come to light.

Private videos:

Gaurav’s private vlog in which he feared loss of his job, without any direct mention of his employer was probably final straw. Corporates don’t like their employees going public- it is unnecessarily bad PR. We see this all the time- an IBM Employee had to quit after IIPM came down heavily on him for criticizing the institution. Hundreds of people loss jobs because of their social media statements that offend someone somewhere. Right now airlines just need an excuse to fire people, so these incidents just added up and made a strong case against the Flying Beast.

Is Air Asia India wrong in firing?

It is lot easier to say they are wrong and they should take it back. Right now situation in Airline Industry is very volatile-GoAir has terminated many pilots, Spicejet is struggling to pay salaries, Air Asia group is also cutting jobs. Airlines just need an excuse to fire people now. Same with other corporate- big corporate cut 1000s of jobs overnight to conserve cash- because those individual employees are not popular online their voice goes unnoticed. Once relationship is strained it is very hard to patch up. Even if the sacked captain is restored due to public pressure or govt order, company can find some other reason, even stronger one and terminate later. I think it is best to separate with mutual respect.

How is Air Asia’s safety record?

Air Asia India hasn’t had any major accident since its inception. In fact last major crash in India was the Mangaluru incident of Air India Express 10 years ago. Since then there have not been any major accident (involving loss of entire aeroplane and hundreds of passengers). To that extent DGCA, Airlines, pilots, maintenance departments and all stakeholders should be given credit.

Air Asia Indonesia had a full body loss over Java sea. Other than that even Air Asia Group didn’t have any accident over the years. If there were major violations there would have been more incidents for sure. May be everyone just got lucky all the time or the calculated risks have been paying off for the airline- hard to tell. Till a former investigation completes, let us hope deviations/violations if any were minor.

So airlines in India are putting public safety at risk?

The answer is tricky. Life is always about calculated risks.  Think of your car or bike tyres- they are rated to last about 4-5 years, 30000-40000 kms. It is definitely safer to keep changing them every year or every 10000 kms, but that comes with a cost, so most of us prefer to use the tyres as long as we can, or as long as we feel safe. Same with airline industry. No one wants their planes to crash-that is too much bad publicity, lost revenue, reputation and money. There are hundreds of rules and regulations- I believe some airlines will find workaround to bypass some of these regulations which they think is unnecessary or unreasonably expensive. Quantum and severity of these violations will be known only after detailed investigation, which DGCA has initiated as per news. We will know if they were life threatening or minor. Airlines world over face regulatory action all the time- a game of who gets under carpet and who gets under Rangoli!.

Will people stop flying Air Asia India now?

Unlikely. Indian are driven by fares and those who offer low fares will get enough passengers. There is always someone to grab those seats even if a few decide not to.

An year ago when an Indigo employee was in news for beating passengers so many people said they will never fly Indigo again, after Kunal Kamra incident also many pledged to boycott Indigo- Is Indigo bankrupt now? No.  All airlines in India have one issue or another, so flying public in India have limited options. Very small % of flying public make their decisions based on temporary twitter trends. This AirAsia India incident also will soon be forgotten and next AirAsia Big sale people will rush to book (assuming Corona is in control by then)

Not every employee/individual will have the courage to speak out- Many suffer in silence. Gaurav has spoken out and taken a stand. Best wishes to him.
Gaurav Taneja: Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/flyingbeast320

We'll have to see if AirAsia responds or DGCA makes its audit public or Flying beast's social media outcry will have any impact on Air Asia India management.

India Domestic Flights- new top 10 FAQs

Since India has allowed domestic flights since 25th May, below are some of the most common questions floating around in Social media. I am providing a quick reference so that all your questions will be answered in one spot.

Q1: Will I be quarantined? Home or Institutional?
Almost all states are enforcing home quarantine on domestic passengers, which is bearable as it doesn't cost money, you will be close to your family and can work/enjoy some freedom.

But what is worrying passengers more is the forced institutional quarantine. This costs money (2000-4000 Rs per day for 7-14 days + testing ext = 16 to 60k depending on category), you're confined to whatever options, facilities  & food given to you and you can't access your family. The need for institutional quarantine changes based on
- Which state you are landing
- From which state you are originating from
- Purpose (like Karnataka exempts short visit businessmen from quarantine if they have -ve certificate)
- Exemptions- Most states exempt pregnant women, elderly people, small kids etc from quarantine. Karnataka also exempted politicians after a minister was found skipping quarantine.

If you are flying from a high risk state to low risk state, expect more stringent rules. This Indian Express report has current quarantine rules, statewise but rules are dynamic, so keep checking once a day if you are planning to travel.

Q2: Do I need Pass?
Most states require you to register in their respective portals. Not aware of any passenger denied a pass to fly, but check destination state's rule in this regard. As of now you don't need any pass from transit state if you have connecting flight.

Q3: Is cabin baggage allowed?
Yes. One piece. Some airlines like Air Asia have reduced cabin baggage allowance from 7 KG to 5 KG

Q4: Do I get airport transportation?
You've to arrange your own transport to and from airport. Public transport is not available. Limited taxis will be available at destination airport to reach home but again if you are crossing a district/state border do check for pass requirements

Q5. What all should I carry?
Yes. Carry your own mask. Sanitizer will be available at airport, some airlines may give face shield. Some airports are also selling PPE kits.

Carry your own food. No food is being served on flight, airport food counters operating not guaranteed.

Most airports are introducing contactless boarding, assisted baggage drop etc.

Q6. Can everyone fly?
Passengers with following conditions can't fly

• Arogya Sethu doesn't show green status
• Those coming from containment zone
• Having any covid symptoms like high temperature, cough etc
• Senior citizens are recommended not to fly, but not aware of a ban

Q7. Will flights really operate? Can I book?

There's no way of being 100% sure. you've to take a chance. For less popular cities, airlines are reducing frequencies. For example, flight from Chennai to Mangaluru is being operated only twice a week while it was planned daily earlier. So there is a possibility that your flight will be cancelled for various reasons such as

- destination state not giving permission

- Not enough passengers

- Someone found Covid +ve on previous flight now crew had to be quarantine and airline is not able to operate the next flight right away

Be ready to be rebooked on next flight.

Q8. Is it safe to book for a future date- like late June?

No. It is a dynamic situation, no one knows what is next. For example will there be an extension of lockdown, will Govt as private airlines to stop flying if Covid cases go through the roof, will any airline go bankrupt in next few months, no one knows.

You book now, but say develop symptoms on the day of flying- refund process is not clear- you will mostly lose the booking amount as you will be treated as No show.

So advise is keep monitoring, if you really have to travel book some 3-4 days in advance once you are reasonably sure that you qualify to travel. 

Q9. How are the fares? Expensive?

Govt fixed an upper and lower cap on the airfare. After initial few days, fares now appear reasonable, closer to lower limit set by Govt. So overall fares are reasonable as of now.

Q10: Should I book a flight or if I wait till June bus n train will be available?

We don't know yet. Last news is that Railways is planning 200 trains a day from June- but more details are awaited. Similarly we don't know if lockdown will end completely on May 31st (unlikely) or will be extended again. So no one can give perfect answer right now. Use your best judgement.

If you really really have to travel and a flight is available- Book.

if it is not urgent, wait for some clarity on June 1st

Are there any other queries? Let me know. 

Don't miss the 10 point checklist here.

Status Update-world's top 110 Airlines

Last month I had published a detailed report on how World's top 110 airlines are doing.

Here's a quick update for this month- as of May 28.

Major updates:

• Avianca and LATAM, two South American airlines have filed for bankruptcy. Avianca is world's second oldest airline. This makes about 10 airlines bankrupt so far out of 110.
• There was a news of Thai Airways going bankrupt, but latest updates suggest that Govt has provided support so airline seems to be fine for now.
• Lufthansa has been offered a Govt bail out
• India has opened up domestic flights, so all airlines can do some flights and make some money for now. Go Air has decided to start only from next month (June 1st). Check this 10 point checklist.
• Europe is considering opening some travel within Europe- this could result in more flights next month.
• Virgin Australia has got some interested parties, including India's Indigo- so mostly the airline will be saved
• Corona Virus situation remains grim world wide, with no solution/flattening in sight.
• Quarantine rules and expenses and various new regulations now await air travelers, making it more expensive, less comfortable and less convenient. 
• Most South East Asian countries are doing fine w.r.t Covid-19.

A quick map- Limited operations remain at 58 because while I've removed two (Avianca and Latam), two have been added (Air India and Vistara)
I've put Indigo under "Doing well" category- flights have resumed, they have paid all salaries on time and are even looking to invest in Virgin Australia.

Below: Avianca HQ in Bogota Colombia (saw it last year)

Bengaluru Airport ready for new normal-Here's how flying will be from now

Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru is ready for resuming domestic flights from 25th May. Here's how the new normal will look like.

Key highlights

• Technology enabled Parking-to-Boarding contactless journey to minimize physical contact
• Minimum touch and exposure; touch-free sanitiser-dispensers across the Terminal
• Contactless Food & Beverage as well as retail experience
• Increased focus on sanitisation; Arogya Setu app mandatory 

New Process:

Pre-Entry Process

Face mask is mandatory along with  electronic/printed boarding pass

At the Departure Gates, the passenger will undergo thermal scan and must show that the Aarogya Sethu app on the passengers mobile phone has the ‘you are safe’ (green) message. CISF personnel will verify the boarding pass and Government-issued Photo ID using an electronic device or through a magnified glass screen.

Staff attending to passengers with special needs like wheelchairs, as well as unaccompanied minors, will wear protective gear. Wheelchairs and baby strollers will be sanitised after every use. Trolleys will be sanitised after every use.

The door mats will be soaked with bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite Solution) at the Terminal entrance to disinfect the shoes.

Check-in Process

Once inside the Terminal, the passenger will scan the boarding pass at a contact-less self-service kiosk, collect the baggage tag  before proceeding to the airline counter to drop-off luggage. Passengers also have the option of using the assisted baggage drop counter to print and tag their baggage. Initially, a maximum of one hand baggage and one checked-in baggage will be allowed, as mandated by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

At the airline bag drop counters, a transparent partition has been installed, to ensure the safety of both airline staff and passenger. In addition, the passenger will have to follow the safe distance markers placed on the floor. The passenger will scan the boarding pass on a sensor and show their ID and airline staff will accept the bags, ensuring at all times that the boarding pass does not touch the glass screen.

The automated Self Bag-Drop facility will be available as applicable to the airlines. The passenger will be assisted by Airport staff to avoid touching the machines themselves.

Security Check Process

At the Pre-Embarkation Security Check, the passenger will scan the boarding pass at a kiosk and put all belongings in the tray before going through the body scanner. Trays will be sanitised after every use.

Under the new contactless process, body scanning will be done using Door Frame Metal Detectors (DFMD). Stamping of the boarding pass has been suspended, as directed by the DGCA. Hand sanitisers will be available before and after security check.

Boarding Process

At the boarding gate, the airline staff will hand over a kit containing a face mask, face shield, and sanitiser to the passenger, who must put on the new mask and sanitise hands before boarding. The passenger will scan the boarding pass on the sensor. Airline staff will do temperature screening and then permit boarding.  

Across the terminal bio-waste collection bins are placed so that passengers can dispose their used mask and other personal protective equipment.

Touch-free hand sanitisers have been placed across the Terminal for the safety of passengers.

 

RETAIL & DINING 

Passengers can experience contactless dining and retail, with almost total elimination of human contact at outlets. They may reduce queue time by pre-ordering F&B through their smartphones using the QR code displayed at the FSTR by BLR kiosks. The food can be delivered at the passenger's place of choice within the Terminal. The payment would be made digitally at the time of ordering.  For lounge access, passengers are advised to book their lounge lots online to avoid manual processing at the Terminal.

PARKING

At parking zones, the ticket dispensing machine will print a ticket after recording the time and date of entry, thereby reducing human processing. At exit, the ticket will be scanned against a machine and the payment can be made digitally. Cash and card payment options, too, will be available, and be carried out with due precautions.

ON ARRIVAL

Passengers must follow the safe distance markers at the baggage collection area. Transit passengers will not be allowed out of the transit area.

TRANSPORT

At the taxi boarding area, fumigation will be done at regular intervals. Taxis will be sanitised and drivers screened before every trip. Masks are mandatory for drivers, as well as passengers. Passengers without masks will not be allowed to board a taxi.

As per a GoK advisory, each taxi will accommodate only the driver + 2 passengers. BMTC Vayu Vajra buses will operate at 50 percent capacity. (Not sure about Flybus yet)

Sanitization & Other Measures

Apart from the contactless process, BIAL has also introduced a slew of other measures, including frequent sanitisation and disinfection of baggage and trollies, and fumigation of the Terminal for safe travel. All touchpoints will be sanitised regularly at a predetermined schedule.

Repeated announcements will be made to maintain social distance and wear masks. Information related to social distancing and personal hygiene will be displayed on the Flight Information Display System (FIDS). Seating across Terminal, including at F&B outlets, has been rearranged and marked in a manner that promotes maintaining a safe distance.

The Terminal will be well ventilated with minimum reliance on air-conditioning to avoid the spread of disease.

 Happy flying.

10 point checklist before booking your next domestic flight

Govt of India has indicated that domestic flights may begin from May 25th in a staggered manner. While more details on this order and airline's plan to resume domestic flight is yet to emerge, if you are looking to book a flight, then there're several things you should be considereing,

Here's 10 point checklist you should worry about before booking a flight.

1. Schedule: Will there be flights between origin and destination you wish to travel? Given that reopening will be in phases, you need to be doubly sure that cities you have to go is being served and probability of flights being cancelled again is very low. Government can go back on its word or introduce new restrictions any time, so some level of assurance is better before spending 10-20k on a ticket. Spicejet for example is accepting bookings even for May 22nd, full 3 days prior to Govt suggested May 25th. Will they operate the flight, will you get refund, no one knows- they are desperate for any cash.
2. ePass requirements: Would you need a pass from home state and destination state? What will be the validity of such pass- Get ticket first and then apply for pass or apply for a pass and then get a ticket?
3. Quarantine Rules: Will there be a mandatory institutional quarantine upon arrival? Where? In arrival city or close to your final destination? What would be the cost of such quarantine (paid ones). Would your neighbors/colleagues be scared of you after your travel?
4. Last mile connectivity: How to reach your home from airport-  Will there be buses/auto/taxi? What would be the cost of such transport? Have to factor flight timings and local curfews also (example if flight is at 8 AM but you need to reach airport by 5 AM while there's curfew till 7 AM in the city, what to do? Will there be exemptions)?
5. Ticket Refund rules: What would happen to your ticket money if you develop some symptoms between now and travel date? Would you qualify for refund/free reschedule? 
6. Risk profile: What are the chances of catching infection during the journey? Do you want to desperately take that chance? Do you have good immunity?
7. Preparing for the new normal: Do you have everything airline is asking you to bring? Almost all airlines will make it mandatory for passengers to bring their own masks. You may be asked to bring your own food etc. Chennai airport is not providing any trolleys now, so many other changes are being formulated.
8. Your plan B: Say you manage to reach the destination but not able to get a return flight, or your flight is cancelled for some reasons on the day of departure, or say one person is found positive so everyone on the flight is sent to isolation ward- are you prepared for these eventualities?
9. Ticket Price: Ticket prices are very likely to be high during initial days as airlines anticipate high demand. You've to decide if you have to pay this high price or wait for a week for tickets to get cheaper or try other alternatives such as train or postpone your journey for a while.
10. Airline's financial health: If you're booking for a travel date several weeks from now and the airline is known to be have severe financial crisis, you might lose all your money if airline goes bankrupt before your travel date.

Happy journey.

Policy decisions challenges to airlines in post covid19 world

As of now it looks like there's no hope that Corona Virus will get to Zero worldwide. No one seem to have the patience to continue lockdown till virus is eradicated. Most companies are preparing to open up and making up plans to live with Covid-19 risk.

Several measures are already being planned- like leaving middle seat empty, screening before boarding, social distancing in airport and so on. Along with these, airline management need to make some policy decisions as to what to do in various new scenarios arising out of Covid-19. Here're a few of them:

1. Refund/rescheduling policy for symptomatic passengers:
Flight tickets are often booked in advance to save money. Leisure travelers book their tickets months in advance. In the new world, if customer was all fine while booking ticket but has developed symptoms since then or tests positive before travel date what will happen? Will it be treated as 'No Show" or will airline give a refund/rescheduling option?

What happens if authorities decide to quarantine everyone for 14 days and someone who had a return ticket after 7 days is unable to travel?

What happens if a passenger is denied entry into a country due to symptoms? Airline needs to fly them back to home country for free while ensuring he is isolated on the plane?

2. How to retain confidence of first class/business class passengers?
Would First class/business class passengers be happy everyone passing through their cabin? Is it viable to send economy class passengers via a separate door and never mix them with premium cabins?

3. Crew roster issues
- Should crew be given a right to refuse if they are not comfortable flying to a city known as hotspot?
- If on a given day 10 flights have reported 1 positive case each and say 40-50 crew are now required to be quarantined, how to staff the plane for next day?
- Paying staff during quarantine

4. Is hub & spoke model safe?
In case of direct point to point flights, contact tracing and control is easier. In a hub n spoke model, how to track with whom all a passenger came in touch with at the transit center? During a 4 hour transit, a passenger might get close to hundreds of other passengers who would be flying to a dozen different destinations.

What other challenges can you think of?

Never take customer care numbers from Google

I am getting repeated spam comments trying to push fake customer care numbers of airlines.
This looks like an attempt to trick Google and public into believing this fake number, call them for refunds etc. Once you call this fake number, in the name of refund the fraudster will collect your personal info, bank details and steal your money.

When we have some issue and want to contact customer care, we usually google. Googe returns results like below. 

As of now this number is genuine, but Google also allows users to edit any info and provide updates. This feature is there for a good purpose but some fraudsters use it for their advantage. If they manage to change the customer care number and then you call that number, you are inviting trouble.

So the right approach is always to go to airline's website and take customer care number from there. It is much difficult and near impossible for ordinary fraudster to hack an airline website and change the number. Even if they do, it is noticed instantly and corrective action can be taken.

Be vigilant, be safe.

Suggested approach to reopen Indian domestic flights

In this post I am sharing my idea on how India's domestic flights can be reopened in a step by step manner.

Stage 1: All flights within a state
Wherever state government is comfortable, allow flights within a state. For example, from Bengaluru flights can be operated to Belagavi, Mangaluru, Hubballi, Bidar, Kalaburagi. Those who wish to and afford to travel by flight can go to their hometowns or those stuck in home town willing to come back to Bengaluru can fly back.

This way people can relocate within state as per the comfort of state governments. Some load will be taken off road and rail networks as those who can afford will prefer to fly.

These few flights will also give opportunity to perfect the social distancing norms during air travel.

Stage 2: Flights between states with mutual consent.
Allow flights between two states only if both states are comfortable. For example, Odisha may be fine with receiving people from BLR or Kochi but not Mumbai and Delhi.  Only if both state governments are comfortable then allow flights between the states.

Stage 3: Allow regional flights
If North East is deemed safe, allow flights in between airports of North East region.

If South India is deemed safe, allow flights within South India region

Stage 4: Allow all domestic flights except worst affected cities.
For example it might make sense to hold flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad till virus scare settles down in these cities.

Stage 5: Allow all domestic flights
Could take 2-3 months if required but once deemed fully safe all airports can be opened up.

AirAsia drops cabin baggage allowance to 5kg in the name of social distancing

Air Asia has just announced its new policy post covid-19 and a major change is that cabin baggage allowance has been dropped from 7 kg to 5 kgs.

To me this looks like a trick to make people buy check-in baggage which is chargeable.

• I don't understand how weight of a bag is related to corona virus spread. 
• What does wrong if I carry 7 kgs in my closed cabin bag? 
• How exactly 2 kg less will help avoid unwanted contact?. It doesn't.
• Would AirAsia allow a free check-in of 2 kg bag to compensate? No
• Why apply this retroactively to customers who have booked in the past hoping to manage with 7 kg cabin baggage allowance?

If you agree with Air Asia or can explain how exactly lower cabin baggage weight helps please comment. I travel mostly without checked bag and this lower limit will complicate my travel plans and make me more hesitant towards AirAsia, as cost of checked-baggage is often almost same as ticket price. No other airline in the world has reduced cabin baggage allowance in the name of social distancing.

Other factors seem reasonable. Passengers need to bring their own masks else boarding will be denied.

There's no commitment to leaving middle row empty. AirAsia will try to follow seat distancing when occupancy allows.

Also no mention of "bring your own food policy". I am guessing Air Asia would still want to sell their meals n make money.

StarAir New routes Belgaum-Indore-Ajmer flight

Star Air has announced a a few new flights which I didn't notice earlier. Of course this was done before lockdown was announced.

These flights are -

• Ajmer (Krishnagarh airport, 27 kms from Ajmer) to Indore
• Indore to Belgaum (Belagavi, Karnataka)
• and Belgaum to Bengaluru

From Ajmer you can fly one stop to Belagavi via Indore but not two stop to Bengaluru (via Indore and Belagavi)

I find these destinations a bit odd-are there lots of people flying direct between Indore and Ajmer or Belagavi and Indore? May be not, but then, Star air operates a smaller plane, a 50 seater Embraer 145, so finding 50 passengers 3 times a week is not that difficult. For those who really want to travel, the direct flight on star air is a lot of value add- saves time and money otherwise having to fly via Delhi or Mumbai.

Hopefully Star Air will survive this pandemic and resume these flights once lockdown is lifted. 

How are world's top 110 airlines of 2019 doing now due to Covid-19 Crisis?

What is happening with World's top 100+ airlines as of now? How many are bankrupt, how many are flying? I've made an attempt to give you a summary in this post.

Method used:

1. I took SkyTrax World's top 100 airlines list of 2019 as a base
2. I have taken liberty and added about 10 airlines I felt major ones missing in the list (Air India, Srilankan etc)
3. Did an analysis on these 110 airlines of the world under multiple parameters
1. Have they declared bankruptcy/entered administration
2. Have they stopped all passenger flights? (Cargo & repatriation flights not counted)
3. If still operating have they cut 90%+ of their schedule?
4. Major news updates w.r.t this airline (job cuts etc)

Below are the major findings:

1. Only 3 airlines seem to be doing fine right now- USA's low cost airlines such as SouthWest, Spirit and Frontier- they have largely domestic operations which are not banned, getting Govt bailout money and do not seem to have any immediate distress.
2. Eight airlines have gone bankrupt in past 3-4 months. This includes Flybe, Atlas Global etc which closed before Corona Virus breakout. Many other airlines are on the blink of collapse but haven't declared bankruptcy officially. 
3. One third of world's airlines are fully grounded. (Cargo operations and repatriation flights excluded)
4. More than half of the airlines are running skeleton schedule- most of them operating less than 10% of their normal capacity.
5. A few airlines I couldn't locate any useful news. I am assuming they are operating a limited schedule and are in no imminent danger.

I have personally flown only one third of these 110 airlines. Still a long way to go.

Regional breakup here- bear with me as I've kept Asia and South East Asia separate and have tagged central america with South America.

Detailed listing below. Let me know if you have any updates. I will try to update this list end of May 2020 again. (remember CAPA report that lots of airline may go bankrupt by end of May if there's no external support?)

Disclaimer: All information as I could find from public domain at the time of compiling the post. If you find this study useful please support by sharing this in your social media accounts.

Also read: Airline recovery phases as I see it.