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Jet Airways – I Love You – I hate You !

31 Jul

Dear Mr Naresh Goyal ;

I have been a loyal Jet Airways customer for the last twenty years. Damania, East West , Deccan, KF have come & gone but Jet Airways has survived.

When it started we were proud of Jet – here was an Indian airline that was world class. I remember a presentation from Shombit Sengupta (Brand Consultant who designed the Wipro Rainbow Flower) which talked about how service differentiated brands – SQ , Jet & IA used the same Boeing & Airbus planes but the quality of service made them ordinary , Great & Spectacular. (Jet was rated Great). Managers at cost conscious companies like Wipro took exception approvals to travel by Jet. You set a new threshold in airline hospitality in India.

Flights were almost always on time , food was great , service was great , planes were neat , lots of variety in the inflight TV shows and movies and leg space was decent . And then like any other business in India Jet started cutting corners.

Lucky for you – Jet still commands a premium and holds on to  loyal customers , but thats because there is no competition today. Lets look at a few things that have changed in the years which makes me sometimes love and many a time hate your airlines.

1. Food is now served in less than 10% of the flights. 9W 2291 is the 7 AM Bangalore – Delhi flight. You wake up at 4 to reach the airport by 6 and land at Delhi at 945. There are many such flights. There is no breakfast served. Can you fix this – when you are rushing in the morning trying to beat the mad Q at the counter & the security there is no time to buy anything at the airport And the paid snacks you serve inflight are a recipe for ill health. Even when you serve food – the quantity , quality , packaging is sub standard. No comparison to what you used to serve in the past. There is no Mint , No ketchup. 

The air hostess glares at you if you even ask for a second bottle of water. A far cry from what you used to serve earlier. Can you try and get some of the old charm back – pls look at your menu – avoid the oily snacks, look at early morning flights where you need to provide breakfast. And please ask your air hostess to be a little more polite.

2. The mad Rush for 10C & 10D  – As a platinum card holder I set an alarm 48 hrs ahead of the flight to book 10C  or 10D.  Those are the only seats ( In addition to 10A , 10F and the emergency Reclining Aisles) where you can manage to sit without your legs getting crushed. I Hope you don’t start charging a premium for these seats – a part of your legs actually travel in Business Class – and these seats get booked within minutes of the online web check in getting started.

The seats are jammed – there is no leg space. Jet can probably win the award among all airlines globally for the maximum rows in a plane. If you are 6 foot 3 and you do not get the few seats mentioned earlier you are in deep trouble. Especially when on a  flight from Bangalore to Delhi which is almost the length of an International flight.
With so many rows – you are still full and yet you supposedly make a loss . I am surprised , more of that later.  Suggestion – can you at least make a few rows at the front  Economy Premier with some additional leg space for your platinum customers

3. Platinum Benefits – The platinum card has a lot of benefits. Special counter to check in , excess baggage , Priority Baggage , web check in 48 hrs in advance. Its great – I pity the people who stand in a  Q for 1 hr to check in ( At BIAL in the morning I wonder why you cannot add more staff to the empty counters). But then some of the benefits of the past are no longer there

a) Getting an upgrade is almost impossible ( 5 years back Platinum car holders got an upgrade if seats were free) – you now need to book in advance for an upgrade against points / Vouchers. Even with a voucher you can rarely get an upgrade at the airport counter.

b) Encashing Points is a nightmare. Even if you book 4 – 5 months in advance you will rarely get more than 1 – 2 tickets on miles. (Fortunately I know a few nice people at Jet Bangalore who manage to get me confirmations on my miles wait listed tickets  – but the Privilege centre always says NO). The process is painful – your website rarely works ( for web check in , for booking miles …. you need to Fix the website)

c) The Citibank Jet airways card is gone.

4. Lounges 

Lounges like this were designed many years back – but soon closed down .

Today most airports have no Jet Lounges. The Plaza Lounge at Delhi is so cramped that there is no place to sit. The one at BBY (G Floor) was closed.  Even the International lounge at Mumbai for Business Class travelers is disappointing.

5. Quality of Air Hostess – There was a time when the job of an air hostess was comparable to that of a model. They were a class in style, graciousness & looks. I guess they were well paid too. What we have today is a bunch of brash, rude, don’t care attitude people with no sense of customer service. ( Maybe they are overworked and underpaid – with no options like us customers)

In a cramped row your leg does jut out at times and many a time the strolley has banged me – but not even a hastily uttered Sorry. Most flights have no newspapers ( the inflight magazine is thicker but 70% ads)  , the AC does not come up  till the plane starts, nobody cleans the restroom  and even if there is a little bit of shakiness in the flight tea is not served ( while the staff keep walking up & down) .

6. Why a loss ? 

I am surprised at why you run at a loss. Your flights are full , your rates are not cheap. Even on Miles tickets you charge us for Tax ( Don’t recollect any international airlines doing that). If Indigo and Spice Jet ( This quarter) can run a t a profit why does Jet run at a loss. Is your purchase of Sahara weighing you down ? You are too shrewd a businessman to run an airline on Charity.

7. Business Class International is Great 

The standards of the past are still maintained in the International sector. You have the best seats and the best food. Which is the reason many of us travel Bangalore to Mumbai to travel to London by Jet. (A request can you please start a Bangalore – Heathrow, or Bangalore Brussels Connection). I understand that your international sector is very profitable – and you command a premium over most airlines. Just shows that there are people who are ready to pay a premium for service. Can you emulate the same in the Indian sector – at least have one full service flight in the key sectors which standards of service of the past.

8. Your Baggage arrival is the best

At BIAL by the time you land and reach the baggage carousel your luggage is there ( If you are priority tagged) its not bad in Mumbai , but Delhi still takes its own time. Great job here – compared to most airlines you guys are the best here.

9. You still have some amazing staff

While the class of the past is missing you still have many amazing people. I recollect  recent case in london Heathrow. I had changed my return dates and the travel agent had not reconfirmed the fresh dates. At the airport I was informed that my tickets to Mumbai – Blr were cancelled and Business Class was full. I was stranded. Fortunately the staff were kind enough to accommodate me on an alternate flight Via Delhi – don’t think any other airline would have done this.

Last week I wanted to book tickets against mile to Goa – 4 months in advance. As usual the Privilege call centre could manage only 1 confirmed ticket – thanks to two wonderful  ladies at Bangalore I managed to get all my 4 family tickets confirmed in less than 15 minutes of talking to them.

In conclusion – all I have to say is , I Love you and I hate You at times. But unfortunately today I have no choice. You are at an enviable position – you can get away with whatever you want – you can grow your business and make profits with unhappy customers , or you can treat a certain class of your customers who are ready to pay for service and recreate the magic of the past.

Thank You

A Loyal Platinum customer of 20 Years

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20 Years of Corporate Life

20 Jun

This month I complete 20 years of Corporate Life.

I started working in 1992. That was the year Narsimha Rao rolled out the reforms in India ( I specify Narasimha Rao –  he was the man who did the job with Manmohan & Chidambaram – but all credit today for India’s reforms goes only to Manmohan Singh). People who have worked since 1992 belong to the lucky generation – we were the luckiest since we did not miss even a year.

We spend l7 years in school ( If I include the 1 year in Nursery) and I have already spent 20 years working –  but it feels like it all started yesterday. As I look at my First Pay slip dated June 1992 – nostalgia creeps in. Here are a 7  things that have changed drastically in the last 20 years – as I look back on how it was in the early days of my career.

1. Salaries 

As an engineering Grad from REC, I started my first job at a salary of Rs 3,200/Month. (At HCL Ahmedabad). We used to line up in front of Bank of India to withdraw Rs 2000 on the salary day. No Debit / Credit Cards . Annual increments were 8 – 10% and those with CTC of > 1 Lac / Annum belonged to Sr Management ( They could afford to own a Maruti 800).

A few years later I remember a colleague with 6 yrs. of work ex ( IIT – IIM) who was working as a Product manager at Wipro – he decided to join Compaq for a 6 Lac Package – 3 reasons for leaving 1. He could now buy a car  2. The company was giving him a landline 3. His PF Savings at Compaq would be 5K / Month.

Circa 2012 – A fresh Grad from REC ( NIT Now) earns upwards of 8 Lac’s / Annum. An IIT IIM Grad with 6 + Years of Experience would be grossing upwards of 25 Lacs. And Sr Execs with 20+ Years of Exp earn in excess of 1 Cr . So our Generation and the current generation should look back and be happy because even with a 9% + Inflation our salaries have grown faster.

2. Communication 

Telex was the most common  mode of communication. IOM (Inter Off Memo) – folloed by Fax. Paper courier was a prevalent mode of communication. Most offices had just 1 PC AT with Mail connection ,  no Mouse , B&W Monitors, 1.2MB FDD , Epson DMP Printers.  The STD Phone with the Manager was locked. STD Rates were exorbitant – and all long distance calls had to be made after 6 PM or even better 9 PM

In 1998 when I got a JTM Cell Phone at Bangalore – it cost 16 Rs / Min . I had to get it because we had no land line at home ( 10 + Years of wait) – and companies did not allow you to reimburse your cell phone expenses.

3. Travel 

Air Travel was exceptional – Train & Bus were the most common modes of transport. Even if the journey was Baroda – Bangalore , you travelled by train from Baroda – Bombay – Bangalore. No problem if it took 3 days to travel back and forth.  Indian Airlines was the  market leader Damania & East West were just making a beginning . With a splash as they had announced free beer inflight – and they had set high standards with their Air Hostesses. ( Jet , KF , Spicejet , Indigo – did not exist). BLR – BBY 1 way fare was just above Rs 1000/- .

In City travel was always by Auto – a Taxi travel required special approval. Hotel rooms were affordable Rama Hotel and Nahar Heritage at Bangalore were Rs 450/ night. Luxury 5 Star Hotels were 3K / Night. Food allowance was Rs 50 / Meal – which was great since a Thali was Rs 12/- .

4. Leading  IT Companies & Technology 

Wipro & HCL were the dominant IT Players . Hardware dominated – software exports were less than 10% of total revenues. ( They seem to be the only survivors from that era with TCS ).  ICIM , ORG , Shiva , PCL …. the other key players have all vanished. IBM , HP, Digital dominated the Servers and Compaq, DELL , Gateway , dominated the PC. Apple was  almost vanishing from the industry. What does Nokia make was a quiz question.

People used to demand premium on PC’s  based on features like Single Motherboard , ZIF Socket and the fact that company A had lesser Chipsets on the MB and hence was more reliable. 80% of the market was dominated by Gray / Unorganized sector. Customs duty was upwards of 50%. The cost of  an entry level PC AT 1MB / 40MB with B&W Monitor   was 40 K ( That price is now 25K).  I remember a program that Wipro launched in 1994 called perfect 10 – to sell 10K PC’s a quarter and achieve 10% MS – they scraped thru on the last day ( Total PC Sales / year in country was less than 500Ku – Thats 12M + in 2012)

The war for servers was between CISC & RISC. Common Operating systems were Novell & Unixware. Bids were won on the value proposition of Arcnet Vs Ethernet networks. Most servers operated with VT 100 Dumb terminals connected on RS 232 cables. Every company had a spur hero sales man in a city / region – who was the scorer for all large deals ( Large deals were a few Cr). Wipro & HCL were like India Pakistan – rarely would there be transfer of people between the companies – the culture was so different ( After 20 years HCL Has become less aggressive and Wipro has lost its old charisma – not much of a difference between the two today)

5. Work Culture 

Work was demanding. Commitment & passion was high. Sense of loyalty to an organization was very high. Resignations were rare. HR was functional – people were taken care of. Finance was still bossy – but not a “Controller” running your business Discipline & rules were firm. Exceptions were rare rather than the norm. If off started at 9 AM – everyone was there before 9AM. Work hrs were long . Sat was 1/2 day working – but people worked till 4PM. Managers were trusted and respected – they in turn added tremendous value to their team and helped craft their early careers. There was a strong sense of team bonding. Induction trainings were long programs stretching to a month. …. I could go on and on, its rare to find these in the best of organizations today.

6. Travel Abroad 

This was a rare perk. Reserved for the HQ people. It was the talk of the town if someone travelled abroad. Credit Cards did not exist – so companies gave you Forex Currency as advance. (1USD = Rs 30). In a foreign city you always used public transport and hunted for the highest exchange rate. Before traveling the Travel Department used to give you tips on where to exchange your currency. Most people took their first flight after a few years at work.

Getting a US Visa was a nightmare – long waits extending 12 – 18 hrs in the US Consulate at Chennai – standing in a Q in sun & rain. Thankfully that has changed

7.Brands 

There was a lot of pride in creating Brands. Ad agencies had great people – every company had a large Marketing Team. There was pride in trading punches – being smart & witty When TISL launched in India – they ran a campaign ” Think TISL Think IBM” – next day Wipro came back with a rejoinder ” Don’t Think – Act , Buy a Wipro PC Now”

I could write a book on how life has changed – but what hits you is the speed at which things have changed in two decades and how adaptable and flexible individuals and companies need to be to survive. Those who could not adopt change have sadly perished.

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Enjoy an iMac for an additional Rs 11 / day

30 Aug

I divorced my PC and got an iMac

My first experience with a PC was in 1989 during my 2nd year at engineering when we were working on Fortran Programming on an AT 286 system (1 MB Ram / 40 MB HDD). I started my career selling PC’s at Wipro and over the last 21 years have seen the evolution and growth of PC’s & laptops closely.

Over the last few months I have been observing a silent proliferation of Apple products – whether its the ubiquitous iPod or the iPhone a lot of people I know seem to be flaunting Apple products.

This week when we went for lunch at Khansama ( UB City) we walked into the Apple Store and immediately fell in love with the iMac (All of us including my 3 year old were enchanted) – there were no Ads , No offers , No tele callers coaxing us to buy – but the allure of the iMac was so enticing that it was almost irresestible.

The sales guy did a great job of demonstrating the product and clarifying all our “compatability” issues and within minutes we had paid 83 K ( that hurt… but see below how I justified to myself) for an iMac ( 21.5 ” Monitor , Intel Core 3.2 Ghz, 4 MB Cache , 4 GB memory , 500 GB HDD, 3 Years of Support). I always thought Apple used to run on Power PC – didint know that they had changed to Intel.

Back home it took me 30 minutes to dismantle all the wires of my HP Desktop and less than 5 minutes to install the iMac. The 1st use is WOW. Its so easy. No drivers to install , No software to be loaded , no configurations to be done ( it autosenses your broadband once you plug in the RJ 45 ) – this was TRULY plug & play.

The best part of the iMac is it has only ONE wire. Everything else is integrated – wireless mouse , wireless keboard , inbuilt speaker , inbuilt camera…. . (They could have kept the power on button and some USB ports infront instead of all of them being the rear) http://www.apple.com/in/imac/specs.html

The Kids wanted to watch ” Waka Waka ” on the screen from You Tube – and the quality of image / sound is superb. I was also told that the OS is so robust that you do not need any Anti Virus protection

iMac

We still need to figure out how we can use all the great features and utilities of the iMac – I have told my daughter that she needs to do a lot more than just browse the net.

Change normally hurts – but this change looks cool.  I am sure a lot of families will now look at the iMac – its indeed the ultimate upgrade to the Home PC.

Few Points

1. Migration of data is not a problem – Apple sends an engineer home to help if required

2. You really cannot an iMac on price with a HP / Dell – its not an “apple to apple” comparision.

3. Justifying the cost of an iMac

  • Costs Rs 20,000 more than a PC
  • Has a life span of 5 years  ( 1825 days)
  •  Incremental cost / day for using an Apple – 11 Rs ( 20,000 / 1825)

So for an addition Rs 11 / day enjoy working with an iMac.

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