First Impressions:Jet Airways will go places

Well my first blog from Boston !. Reached here yesterday evening after a 22 hr long journey. And luckily the flight journey turned out to be a really good one. Kudos to Jet Airways for starting a service from Mumbai to USA and setting high standards in terms of service and convenience. Having already travelled in the likes of NorthWest Airlines(NWA),Lufthansa and Air India, I can very well claim that the service which Jet offered was the best among these. So what did Jet so differently ?

For starters Jet Airways is using a Boeing 777-300 ER, which is a brand new long distance aircraft from the Boeing stable. Apart from offering a 3 class configuration, the best part was the ample leg room which it provided for the economy/cabin passengers. That Apart , the aircraft has personal LCD screens for every individual. Now this is not new of course, but the quality of the screen and the movie/music collections was amazing. ( Especially for we Indians, loads of Hindi movies both old and new). Again the in-flight cabin crew were the best ( both in looks and the service which they offered :)). The flight attendents were really courteous and helpful. This is really required on flights originating from India. Quite a few of them are travelling in flights for the 1st time and are not even sure as to how tighten the seat belts.(The Flight attendents of NWA were the worst I would say. They never respond to any of your requests).

We were given Menu cards for the food/beverages and the beverages on offer were really good. Like how many of the airlines offer Old Monk Black rum on flights ? Also the Indian Food on offer was really tasty and edible(by Airline food standards) when compared the stuff which other airlines offer. Another convenience is a small kit which contained the essentials like Toothpaste and brush. (These may be Small things but go a long way in improving the overall service). All in all, a long international flight where I did not get bored at all. (And No, there was no pretty gal sitting next to me in the flight.).

Full marks to Jet Airways and I do sincerely hope they maintain the same service levels in the years to come . Interestingly, by the next year , Kingfisher Airlines will start off it's international operations and going the benchmark Kingfisher has set in India's domestic flight service levels , I think the stage is set for an interesting battle between the two India based Airlines to grab a pie of the growing travel on the India-USA route.