Quo Vadis Jet Airways… trip reports / complaint letter!

[Stij]

Together with friends we decided to head to New York for a long weekend. Based on our previous experiences we decided to fly Jet Airways and pay more than an alternative that offered non-stop flights as well…
We regret this decision. I don’t know if this is a trip report or a complaint…
One of these friends is a travel agent. He booked the tickets 5 months in advance and arranged a pre-seating and all this was confirmed a week ahead.

Flight: Jet Airways 9W228
Date : 17 May 2012
Aircraft: A330-200
From-To: Brussels - Newark (BRU-EWR)
Seat: 21H
Scheduled Time of Departure: 10:10
Scheduled Time of Arrival: 12:30
Scheduled Duration of the flight: 8:20

The pre-seating…

My wife and I arrived 1:50 ahead of schedule to check in. a bit later than the rest of the group who were already being checked in. They informed us that the pre-seating had… disappeared… and that they were seated a bit everywhere.
When it was our turn it was even better: we were on stand-by and were requested to go to the ticket counter. We explained the problem of our group to the agent who was VERY friendly and understanding. He asked for half an hour to get things fixed. After half an hour we returned and we were much better seated and two ladies of the group ended up in Business Class. OK, a bit of a hassle, of no harm done! Everybody’s seat was changed, who was on stand-by got a seat written on the boarding pass and of we went to the gate.

The gate agent…

After all the hassle boarding was almost complete when we arrived at the gate. We presented ourselves and the VERY unfriendly gate agent said/yelled to my friend, “But you’re on stand-by!”. Reply “No, we were cleared and seated as written on the boarding pass”. Reply “Who did that?” Well, the guy at ticketing.” Reply: “Which guy, there’re so many guys here”. Etc. etc. etc. anyhow, eventually the gate agent found out we weren’t lying and let us on the plane. However, when we asked for her name to write a complaint, we couldn’t get it. So be it, it wouldn’t ruin our trip.

The flight itself…

The seating is still the same, and that’s it… the rest… That the quality of the meals have slipped in this competitive world I can understand, but that a lot of the AVOD boxes and some toilet panels were held together with together with white duct tape reminded me of Regi’s stories about a carrier from India’s neighbouring country. But what has stricken me the most is how in 2 years the attitude of the crews has slipped from “excellent” to “I don’t care”.
Oh yeah, the main task of the crew is our safety… That’s probably the reason that girl on the other side of the aisle was watching her Ipad on her tray table during take-off.
On the bright side: we left and arrived punctual, immigration, luggage retrieval and customs went perfect and on our way we were!

Flight: Jet Airways 9W227
Date : 21 May 2012
Aircraft: A330-200
From-To: Newark - Brussels (EWR-BRU)
Seat: 36H
Scheduled Time of Departure: 18:30
Scheduled Time of Arrival: 7:50
Scheduled Duration of the flight: 7:20

The pre-seating… revisited…

After a long and refreshing weekend in NY (I can recommend “Birdland” for the Jazz-lovers). We arrived 1:30 in advance and the check-in area was empty, we checked-in immediately… to find out our pre-seating
again again was removed, however, the group was only divided in two, so we didn’t make a fuss about it.

Boarding…

Nothing to do with Jet Airways, but the boarding areas in the B terminal are dreadful… As always we boarded one of the last, so there wasn’t a line!

The flight…

Because we were seated on the but last row, of course the meal selection was gone… as was the crews interest… my plate got thrown on my table and if you didn’t ask, no drink was offered…
An hour before landing a muffin was handed over to the passengers that were fast enough to catch it, so fast they were moving down the aisle. Later little bottles of water were distributed and when those were finished, plastic sealed cups of water were distributed… Tea? Coffee? Forget it!!!
15 minutes later they started collecting the garbage… and when the trolley was full they disappeared… never to return…
15 minutes later they started to check the cabin and tell/yell to everybody that the tray tables had to be in the upright position. When asked what to do with the garbage I was informed I had to put it in the seat pocket in front of me. And from that moment (30 minutes before landing) only a lot of laughter was heard from behind. I feel sorry for the cleaning guys and ladies that had to get half eaten muffins out of the seat pockets.

In retrospect…

Jet Airways, what happened?

Word has it that the value of a pre-seating on Jet is worth... nothing... and that they overbook more frequently and heavier then other trans-atlantic carriers... leading a lot of trouble at check-in in Brussels. Apparently we were not alone.

The cheaper alternative we regret not having taken was Delta. I recently flew them across the pond to Atlanta and was amazed by the progress in… well… about every field… not up to the level Jet used to be, but that was very high. Now Jet has dropped so much that they are now lower than well… any full-service carrier I’ve flown before.
We’ll never fly them again and a not-so-small travel agency will stop promoting them. Delta, I look forward flying with you (or maybe Brussels Airlines, I’m a Belgian after all!)

The last word... If the ticketing agent would read this... I appreciate all your efforts... you saved the day and the name of the company until the other ruined it for good.

P.S. No I didn't exagerate...

[wernerrav4]

I fly 9W twice a year to YYZ; I had never problems with pre-seating so far but I recognise the story about the crews. Some times they gave me a very non professional attitude and some are very unpolite even for the least question. I remembered from one of my last flights that I asked for a coffee after the meal and I received it with yes breakfast , but I know it is not funny and you expect more from them
My alternative is AC to YYZ, I know them quiet well and it is not always a 3 star carrier either but I will try them in September maybe I am lucky.

[KriVa]

Jet Airways is superb... If you can afford to fly on Premiere or higher. Most of us (like me) can't or don't want to hand over the extra cash to be seated upfront... Sadly, everything behind up front has become a pretty mediocre service on 9W these days.
Unless on a cheap J ticket, I don't think I'll be flying 9W again.

[OO-ITR]

I had the same experience flying 9W from YYZ to BRU in March...

[regi]

It can not be accidental that I just read some days ago a negative report about India in general which is disappointing what concerns economic growth, distribution of wealth, malnutrition, corruption, job loyalty ,labour stability and other related subjects. ( in the group of the BRIC countries: Brasil, Russia, India and China )
And this is translated in such a negative travel report. There is a lot of dissatisfaction among employees in general.
Remember that I mentioned some time ago that Indian business people I know very well don't travel Jet Airways because of high prices? ( they neither fly Air India )
They rather take Air France, BA or LH.
I do remember from a long time ago that Air India had a similar bad reputation when it came to service, attitude, reliability. Maybe this is typical for national carriers from the past. To be honnest: Sabena did not have the best reputation as well in the old days...neither did BA, AF and KLM.
Those politically protected / influenced airlines are just sitting ducks for aggressive companies such as Emirates.

I just read the report about the sacking of the boss of TG. Another example of politically motivated counter productive actions.

[Duke]

Maybe a bit off topic... but on Brussels Airlines you're not sure about the pre-seating either...
My confirmed seats had also disappeared when we checked in (2 adults and 4 children) for our flight from Kinshasa to Brussels last month...

Regards,
Duke

[convair]

Matabich...

[Squelsh]

Flew them in 2007 to NYC, in B777, (economy of coure ) and it was all nice, tidy, friendly, clean, and perfect on time. Real smooth flying. To NYC, plane was about 4/5 full, workload on attentands was high, but nothing in the whole chain of check-in, boarding, flight itself, caught my eye in a negative way, only positive. Was good service & memories. We even got a nice business class meal from one of the attendants.
For the flight back, the 777 was only 1/5 full, or even less. Needless to say that this was a comfy flight, and we got all we asked for, also sleeping was good on three seats lateral
.
Flew them again in 2010 to NYC, in A330. What a difference. Good check-in, except that the agent could not place me and my friends together, this due to the tickets being booked with different credit cards Ok, no biggie, as long as we get there. Full flight, starting off with engine problems and having to return to stand, taking off STD+3hrs. For economy service was good to my standards, got what I needed when asked for it, and all friendly faces from the crew.
.
Then the flight home. Again, not able to configure seats for everyone in our group to be in close proximity, due different credit card booking. The girl of AA groundstaff did her best, but the system would not take it. No sweat, at least she tried, the 9W rep also tried his luck on the system, to no avail.
Cramped gate at NYC, people sitting on the floor because not enough seating. It felt embarassing that this was a regular scheduled flight, it made me more think of certain charter companies at the satellite in BRU in the eighties-nineties. Businessmen sitting on the floor, and dozens of them. I had never seen this before, only with tourists.
Boarding was ok. We got onto the plane, waited an hour or two at the gate because of, again technical difficulties. Started taxying, took about an hour, then engine was put down to spare fuel. Overall we left NYC with a delay of about 4-5 hours.
Then the full full flight with burping/farting Indians around me. Got an ordinary meal with one drink, no chance that I could get my hands on a second drink, or I had to go to the galley myself. The girls were on auto-robot, no hint of a personal touch at any stage of this flight. They took away empty glasss from my table without even asking anything.
Breakfast, same story, quick meal, a very small amount of coffee (so she doesn't have to go refill so fast), and before I knew it, she took the empty cup away from my table. She didn't even do a second tour for refills. I held on to it and asked very seriously, frank even, "Can I have another sip of coffee, please?" This is common simple knowledge for anyone who serves people drinks/food and takes away their glass.
.
As form that point, seems silly over a cup of coffee, I said to myself; not anymore. Maybe to go to India and back, but NOT for NYC. West is West and comes with certain attitudes/policies and professionalism. Unless you want to go with FR, but that's a different story because you know what to expect from that "airline".

[airazurxtror]

West is West and comes with certain attitudes/policies and professionalism. Unless you want to go with FR, but that's a different story because you know what to expect from that "airline".

Really ?
It's always a mistake to pass a judgement on something one does not know anything about. One does look a bit of a fool...

[Squelsh]

Good to see you immediatly play it personal when your FR fetish is being negatively judged in here.
.
Tho, fun to see you anonymously sitting behind a bush, hiding like a child, ready to fire off another useless reply within minutes of a post's appearance.
.
Please, don't forget to sign out and refresh the page so you can immediatly jump in with another non-contributing comment to the main topic, ending with 'wise-guy' personal remark towards the poster. You remind me of somebody

[airazurxtror]

Always doing my best to give you satisfaction, Sir.

[regi]

Maybe a bit off topic... but on Brussels Airlines you're not sure about the pre-seating either...
My confirmed seats had also disappeared when we checked in (2 adults and 4 children) for our flight from Kinshasa to Brussels last month...

Regards,
Duke

happened with me as well on Emirates ( 10 year old son been seperated from us, 5 rows apart, and the FA's did not even want to try to ask a passenger to move seat ), Etihad ( the famous saga with Connections, when Etihad gave back the leased airplanes with the economy plus seats AFTER my booking. )
It did NOT happen with BA because the only remaining seats available were in the middle
If you want to know the Arab interpretation about human rights, reserve a seat on Gulf Air.
Good chance that somebody orders you to move - doesn't matter where to. If an Arab family boards, they simply assume that they will all sit together: women (plural), children ( plural ), babies ( multi plural) and nannies ( Filipino or Indonesian ). The paying husband - who definitively didn't bother to reserve seats - first handdles the seating of the extended family and moves than forwards to the business class section alone. No kidding, seen several times. Without any exception: that Arab family will always get the seats in Little Screamer Ally ( The Wall with the baby basinets ) . The non-Arab family of smaller size , but with the baby already in the basinet will be obliged to move or even disembark. No excuses, just like that.
But that doesn't count for all Arabs. Situation: 2 Belgians sit confortable at an emergency exit. A western clothed Arab says that he wants to sit there. The Belgian says he has a seat confirmation blablabla. Flight attendant been called by that Arab. Belgian simply shouts "Fxxx Arab, move your ass to your assigned seat , Fxxx off". Discussion over, flight attendant disappeared, Arab person took his middle row seat and remained quiet for the next 6 hours.
Seems I am not the only passenger who feels treated like that. From Airlinequality:

GULF AIR customer review : 3 March 2010 by David Eyles (Bahrain)
Trip Rating : 0/10
Recommended:
Value for Money:
Cabin Flown:
Economy
I reserved seats together for my wife and 2 sons but the seats had been given to 3 adult male Bahrainis and my family were expected to be separated. After an argument they were given seats together. The plane was grubby and service lousy. On the return journey the steward gave the impression that serving a woman was beneath him and he treated my wife with ignorance and disdain. They have lost us as customers even if they are the last plane out.

And having been reminded about my great experiences with Biman, the proud of Bengalia, I repeat this story again: my wife and I sit next to eachother in business. A Bengali looking person shouts at my wife that she has to go away My advice: grab the little stinker, tell him to copulate with himself and remain seated ( I think that I told the purser that if they wanted my wife to move, that they would have to touch my wife, which I disliked according Islamic rules ((me, Islamic? )). He nagged a bit, than a bit more and finally shouted at the head purser. They made him quiet with a big bottle of Pouilly Fumé that he finished in 10 minutes. But no excuses to me...I know, me as a westerner am only a second class citizen in Bengalia.

[Jet Airways]

Dear Mr. Stij,

Our Guest Relations team would like to connect with you; however they are unable to do so, in the absence of your contact details in your booking PNR.

Please can you share your email ID & contact number at guestrelations@jetairways.com.

Thanking You

Jet Airways

[Stij]

Thanks for everybodies comments... the good news is I'm not anlone... the bad news is... 6 long haul flights a day out of BRU stink...

Cheers,

Stij

[HighInTheSky]

Thanks for everybodies comments... the good news is I'm not anlone... the bad news is... 6 long haul flights a day out of BRU stink...

Cheers,

Stij

I flew with 9W in December 2008 when they still were proud to fly to Europe, the US and Canada. However now they have become used to it and don't bother about anything anymore...

Several of my friends have flown with 9W in the last months/year, and all of them give me the same story as you guys just told us. Rude cabin crew, no drinks if you don't ask for it, etc...

I even had a friend who's one of the managers of a very large corporate travel agency who was so disgusted with the service and way of working that he told his colleagues to book with 9W only if there were absolutely no other options available.

Also the SN pax who have had a connection from the US to BRU and on to Africa keep complaining. I think something is seriously wrong at Jet Airways.

[regi]

Dear Mr. Stij,

Our Guest Relations team would like to connect with you; however they are unable to do so, in the absence of your contact details in your booking PNR.

Please can you share your email ID & contact number at guestrelations@jetairways.com.

Thanking You

Jet Airways

Hello customer department: as you post this publicly, and not as a PM, we can ask you questions as well.
Why does this customer needs to give his details to you? To blacklist him? or to give him a reward? We are eager which reward he will get
If it is a standard letter with excuses, you could also post it here.
Or put it on your website for all complainers. That is the cheapiest option.

[WC_EEND]

Well, I think 9W deserves props for taking the effort to register here and trying to help out.

[regi]

Well, I think 9W deserves props for taking the effort to register here and trying to help out.

Euh, I didn't read that they would help somebody. They ask his details. And now that they register as a member, they don't reply to an open question from another member - me.
I wouldn't trust it for a second. It is up to Jet Airways to prove they are reliable. Guilty untill proven innoscent

[Wohowbagger]

Stij, any word on the Jet Airways post above? I mean, have you contacted them, and what do they want from you?

[regi]

Stij, any word on the Jet Airways post above? I mean, have you contacted them, and what do they want from you?

Exactly: we are waiting...not really for Stijn his reply. But what Jet Airways is doing.