OPINION: Why Air Travel Is Getting Worse In India? It Is Time To Address The Situation

Catching a flight has become more of a headache than convenience in the past few months. What was once a joyful experience has now become a nightmare specially during winters and while a few airlines have duopoly in this situation, travellers are suffering and have no say at all.

In the past few days, our social media feed has been flooded with posts form agitated air travellers including celebrities and common man about the terrible flying experiences. Flight delays and cancellations are at its peak and while weather condition is one of many reasons, it is time airlines should address what is actually going wrong and use corrective measures before it becomes a disaster.

Infact, many travellers who can afford are now choosing to drive instead of taking flights due to the awful experiences and some are even taking a train journey if they have time in hand but for others flying to a different city is slowly turning into a nightmare.

Let us start with an example. To catch a flight at 9 am, you have to check in latest by 7, which means you should start from home around 5 am - and if you live in cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru, travelling to the airport is a different ballgame all together.

Then, after surviving multiple check points and showing the same ID's repeatedly, sometimes despite having Digiyatra, if you are able to fly after getting stuffed like cattle in the airport buses with almost no ventilation and sometimes no AC, then you are the lucky one.

It doesnt end here. There is almost always a delay for the arrival of your check in luggages. Once you get those, if you feel like winning the airport battle, there is a cab 'war' going on right outside the airport. It is not about only availability of cabs but also the surcharge that you pay unnecessarily.

If you calculate, an air travel will cost you at least 8 hours of your day despite the distance and waiting time.

And that is if it is your lucky day on earth and everything goes smoothly. Let me remind you, if you reach a few minutes late that the cut-off time, airlines can and will deny you from boarding but they can postpone or cancel the flight anytime due to unforeseen reasons.

The airlines will also charge you for a few extra grams and once you are near the gate they will ask you to check in your cabin luggages due to lack of space. As customers, you have to abide by these rules and if you dont, then it may make you ineligible for flying.

Airlines will change gates, make you stand in queues for as long as they want, de board you at their will and most importantly, wont show any empathy. The ground staff behaves as if they are doing a favour to you and once you are onboard, the only thing a cabin crew is interested in is selling their most expensive food.

Experiencing this even after paying a bomb for the air fare and then some extra for seat and food selection is driving consumers crazy but what is the solution?

While so many things are not in the control of an airline, what is under control is their staff's behaviour towards passengers. Specially, when elderly people or differently-abled passengers are on board, is it extremely difficult to serve them with a smile? Sometimes a bottle of water, an extra tissue or few words of empathy can make someone's day.

It is time, airlines revisit their norms and use soft skills along with other changes to facilitate better air travel experience. The whole airport process and regulations cannot be changed but what can be changed is how these airlines handle a crisis.