Fun and Fiasco in the Sky

Re: # 19

Number one, i am happy someone with authority responded :0)
Number two, i will send in the flight number/date soon.

The following comments were published in DAWN Review today ( 6th July ) in response to this article which was published in the same DAWN section a couple of wks ago. These is by,
General Manager, PIA,
Public Affairs &
Communication, Karachi






POSTMARK: Fiasco in the sky

This is with reference to an article published in The Review (June 15-21) under the title ‘Fiasco in the sky’ by Dr Hadi Rafi.

While there is no date and flight number given, which would have facilitated a thorough investigation, we regret the fact that such an inconsequential article, opinionated to the extreme, should find space in your weekly.

We also regret the fact that all our recent efforts, at improving every possible aspect of the airline, with a concentrated focus on convenience, comfort and competitive value to our customers goes entirely unnoticed in the article in question.

We are engaged in a continuous effort to improve not only the exterior of the aircraft, aligning its corporate identity and brand recognition by endorsing the traditional motifs of all the four provinces of Pakistan, reflecting the unity of culture and heritage in diversity, but we are also engaged in improving the interior of the aircraft in every way possible.

Perhaps Dr Rafi, being too bent upon criticising, has failed to notice the changes being made from the carpets to the seat covers and in-flight entertainment, from the on board cuisine and cutlery, to attitude and service standards of our cabin crew. Our customer feedback monitored on a weekly basis confirms these efforts to be positive.

Let me illustrate: in April 2005, we were receiving on an average 170 comment cards per week in which, besides suggestions, appreciations and observations, as many as 43 per cent of the total were complaints. One year later, in April 2006, the average weekly number of comment cards exceeds 2000 and out of that only 12 per cent are complaints. This is measurable progress in the right direction by any standards.

Capt Hassan Jaffery,
General Manager, PIA,
Public Affairs &
Communication, Karachi

Bongdongs,

Just my experiences and observations speaking thru!

#16

`` The worst tho i have to say are North American airlines, all the staff have grey hair, and they look horrible ... look very young and pretty``

ally-ji, have you considered a career as an airline industry analyst?

PIA (Prayers In the Air) should be privatised. All the useless safarshi aunty ji`s and uncle ji`s should be sacked, its too over staffed, with not much being done by the staff... but that is the same for every Pak Govt. owned enterprise, they all run into losses then expect the Quomi Khazana to pay the bill... I thought their inflight mag was called Humsafar, it was two months ago when i flew them from ISB to LHR... and yes the fact that they fly direct is the only good thing they got going as soon as other do these routes they will be in trouble...

#15 yes, ALL euro airlines are SHIT... AF being really shit, have you ever gone on Iberia, they`re nastier, and look really tired and very cheap third world! The worst tho i have to say are North American airlines, all the staff have grey hair, and they look horrible...

The top ones are all in the far east, Malaysian, Cathay Pacific, Thai, and Singapore... and their crew wear lovely clothes and look very young and pretty

Re: # 4,

How can it be a direct flight if there`s a two hour stopover at Manchester? :)

I`ve been travelling for my studies all over Europe with different European carriers and it has made me RESPECT PIA. Air France is pathetic, extremely pathetic. They won`t give food even if a mealtime is smack in the middle of a 2 hour flight. So I always eat something at the airport before going onboard. The seats are TINY and uncomfortable and the inflight service is non-existant.

But that was still much better than my recent trip to Finland with Scandinavian Airlines. Those jokers actually make people BUY the food onboard. I had to pay for a bottle of mineral water because I got thirsty on the 3 hour long flight.

PIA could definitely use some improvement, but at least they give you that passable biryani every time they take off.

Cheers,
Irfan.

Re: # 13
thanku sir. And i am definitly looking forward to posting here again.

Great work Hadi....
loved the way u have penned it....

particularly the reasons that have kept me at bay from PIA for at least half a decade now... but still they aren`t THAT bad... in light of the fact that you don`t have any other references to compare to, don`t assume that others are better... gulf air for one is worse, provided that u r not travelling on a westbound flight from dubai/abu dhabi... while travelling within the gulf, one has to get along with all those ``khattas`` and it really takes a toll on u

and considering that u were on a westbound PIA flight which have more or less the best carriers at their disposal (with `personal` LCD screens), i wonder what will your predicament be if you chose to fly to saudia from lahore...

On another note, I`ve heard that in the good old days of PIA, Prince Charles once said that he wished the BA was as good as PIA

Great article though... keep them coming

#10 Author

Ama author yaar, my #5 was made in juts in jets!

I mean in just in jest!

You have every right to carp - be my guest!

Just don`t start taking your own carping too seriously - like mian Manto does. (Psst: You will end up decorating pigs with a lipstick for life!)

And what a life THAT would be!

i had sent this thing to DAWN`s Review section. It was published after considerable editing and snippeting in the 16th June Review.
Thank you all for ur feedback.

Re: # 5

:0)
I totally am desi. This infact was my first ever airline journey. And, the irony of the situation is, that how i first timer, rookie like myself was able to see flaws in the service. Plus, i had no references that i could have compared my experience with. But somehow, there are a few things which only require common sense to judge to right or crooked.
ur rambling, its something like u know, the glass being half full or half empty. So, instead of stating that, a couple of chairs were broken, i should have noticed, Yes, most 98% of the chairs were ok :0) I see ur point.

Re: # 4
I totally agree. Its not the staff that is to be blamed. Its the managment that makes the staff answerable to the passengers.

re: # 3. is he really ?
I hope he doesnt send burly blokes after me and later force me to gulp down huge amounts of jet fuel as a correction therapy.

Re: # 1
true. I mite do that the next time. IF a next ever comes :0)
number one, only a fews days ago, i watched in sheepish angst huge Etihad Airlines billboards. they are offering direst flites from Lahore to Manchester.
and number two, i didnt find the staff lacking professionaly or otherwise. They were doing their best in the resources at their disposal.

``the crux of the problems with PIA are the passengers, not the staff! ``

Indeed! I have seen passengers make the most unreasonable demands and argue incessantly with the staff. And these are the same people who quietly do as told in a `gora` airline.

Ama author yaar, you are so nit-picky – are you sure you are even desi?!!!

Give those PIA folks a break!

And why didn’t accentuate the positives on that survey form!

(1) A feeling of being incredibly “close” to your fellow passengers! The airline brings people together like few things can!

(2) There were no technical problems with most seats!

(3) The Audio feed music was like no other you had ever heard!

(4) The flight path graphics were easy to understand!

(5) Free newspapers!

Not to mention the beauties who served you – tea, coffee, juice, you-name-it! They did serve you, didn’t they?

Aah, those beautiful ladies in shalwar-kameez (or was it burqa) in their flying machines!

They go up till up, up!

They go down till down, down!

And another BIG benefit of such travel is.

It motivates people to look back and think of the larger purpose in life as it makes them think of the afterlife!