Jet Airways is the second largest airline in India, behind IndiGo. Flying in India is a different experience to many other places in the world, and so Johnny Au takes us on an adventure to find out exactly what it’s like…
Airline: Jet Airways
Route: Mumbai to Kolkata, 9W 0615
Seat: 38B (Middle)
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Class: Economy
Flight Time: 2 Hours 40 Minutes
On Schedule? Yes
Frequent Flyer Program: I’m a member of the QANTAS Frequent Flyer Program and would have been eligible for points had I flown a more expensive class, as they are one of the airline partners (though do note it’s not part of the OneWorld network). The airline’s own frequent flyer program is called Jet Privilege.
Lounge Access: None
Web Check-In? Yes
Mobile Check-In? No
Points and Status Credits Earned: No (Only available for certain ticket classes)
Meal Service: Hot breakfast was served, with a vegetarian option or a meat option. The vegetarian meal included an omelette, baked beans and curried potatoes. This came with fruit, a bread roll, a bottle of water and coffee or tea. I skipped the coffee and didn’t touch the bread roll as it was hard as a rock, but the hot meal did its job, especially at 7am. The meal is included with your ticket.
In-Flight Entertainment: None.
Comfort: Standard comfort – comparable to a budget airlines internationally. 30 inches pitch with a 17 inch width. The airline holds 162 seats for economy and 8 for their “Premiere” cabin (which has a 40 inch pitch and 21 inch width). Headrest was able to move up and down, which is probably the only thing worth mentioning.
Customer Service: They were polite and did the minimum they needed to do. They delivered the food, picked it up again and I’m sure if you pressed the call button they would have come. Once the plane lands though, you’re on your own. People will jump up and get their bags while the plane is still moving and the staff will watch it happen. This is definitely the Indian standard. Is it a national pastime? Frequent flyers will end up waiting a bit longer as the masses rush off the plane – just try to avoid the aisle seat. It turns out you can fit a lot of people into an aisle if they’re falling on top of the person sitting in the aisle seat.
Baggage: I was flying with a group of Australian bands taking part in some festivals and SongHubs in the region. With included baggage allowance of only 15KG (in domestic economy), this made things difficult once you started including all the musical equipment – and even my bags with camera gear. It’s possible to pay more to fit it all in, but that does turn what is essentially a budget flight into a more expensive affair. Though do note you can carry on up to 10KG + a laptop, which is more than other countries (Australia, for instance, is traditionally 7KG).
Johnny flew courtesy of Sounds Australia with a bunch of rowdy Australian bands. Larry Heath contributed to this article.
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