Follow-up on Air Deccan

Finally, Air Deccan (after the news item appeared on the TOI after a week) responded to the repeated request by the mother by simply stating that their on-board staff had 'requested' an 8 year old boy, and, obviously thought their job was done. I suppose they request you to fasten your seat belts, set your chairs straight and close the over head luggage bins and will henceforth not bother whether you complied with their request. Silly.

They 'noticed' that the child had dis-embarked and 'alerted' the ground staff, who incidentally when the the mother met them to ask for an explanation weren't aware of the minor travelling on the said flight! Now, the airline not only shifts the onus of the incident onto the child, but, also the parent conveniently by stating that the staff 'requested the handover formalities which was refused'!! Here is a mother who for a week has been saying that the airline has not bothered to do the hand over procedure, and now the airline conveniently blames the mother for that act of negligence on their part!!! In the earlier communication of course, their own ground staff do not refer to this 'refusal' by the parent!?! I think the casual and dismissive way in which the airline has dealt with this case shows their attitude and professionalism. This is a straight case of negligence of service to the consumer and will be seen thus in any consumer court in this country. But, either the low-cost airline cannot afford a lawyer or they don't have a good advisor for them to have come up with such a shoddy response after a week which even an 8 year old will not believe in.

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Dear Mr. A C Batibrolu,

At the outset we would like to thank you for choosing to travel- Deccan.

This is with reference to your email dated 11^th May 2008, with regard to your son’s flight reservation with us on Dn616, from Coimbatore to Mumbai sector, for 11^th May 2008. At Deccan we try and ensure that every guest who travels with us has a positive experience to narrate. We sincerely regret that your overall experience with us has not been very pleasurable on account of the incident at MumbaiAirport

.We would like to clarify that your son was briefed by the cabin crew to remain seated after landing until all other guests disembark and one of the ground staff comes to escort him. We have learnt in the course of investigation that your child left his seat along with other guests got off the aircraft. The Cabin crew on board immediately alerted the ground staff and the child was traced in the arrival hall within a matter of minutes, by this time the child had met with his mother. Our staff in fact asked for the handover formalities to be concluded which was refused. Please be assured that unaccompanied minors are accorded high priority by us on board and at the airport. Our staff at both Coimbatore and Mumbai Airport and the crew on board took utmost care right from the check in till arrival at Mumbai. We do hope the above comes as a reasonable explanation to you

We look forward to your continued support.

Thanking you
For Deccan CEO

Shilpa Nathan
Customer Relations
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Follow-Up: TOI reports the Air Deccan Goof-Up

Follow up to the earlier post on the Air Deccan goof-up, here is an article in this morning's Times of India, Mumbai edition.
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Child walks out of airport, alone
16 May 2008, 0407 hrs IST,Manju V,TNN

MUMBAI: Children who fly alone are usually pampered silly by the cabin crew, but last week a Mumbai mother got a rude shock when she saw her eight-year-old son walk out of the airport unescorted and alone except for his baggage which he tugged along.

But while the mother may have gasped at the lapse, little Aniruddh was quite calm. After all, he was a frequent flyer and knew his way around Mumbai airport as well as any attendant. "He deplaned on his own, got into the passenger coach, walked into the terminal building, located the conveyor belt, picked up his luggage and walked out all alone. I shudder to think that he was in that crowded airport unescorted for over 30 minutes," says Anandhi Batibrolu, whose son flew Air Deccan's Coimbatore-Mumbai flight on Sunday. "The airline is supposed to take my signature after handing over my child," she adds. "I have registered a complaint with them."

The airline admitted that things had gone wrong. "We have a strict policy for unaccompanied minors but this lapse did take place and we have initiated action against those responsible," the spokesperson said.
A fortnight ago, Aniruddh, a third-standard student, had flown to Coimbatore on the same airline and was escorted right up to exit where his uncle waited to receive him.

"That was the first time I sent him unaccompanied. They charged Rs 500 per flight for the service and all went well when he flew to Coimbatore. He even bought sandwiches and cold drinks on the flight," says his mother.

According to her, things went wrong on the return flight after it landed in Mumbai at noon. The cabin crew apparently forgot that there was a minor on board and the other passengers, not noticing anything amiss, did not bring it to the staff's notice. Says Aniruddh, "I have flown a number of times with my mother and so I was not scared. When the others started deplaning, I got up and went with them." His mother is less stoic. "With the airport renovation on things are changing every day. In fact, he has not used the new 1B arrival. We always land in 1A," she says, heaving a sigh of relief that all had ended well.

For most airlines the rules for minors flying alone are more or less the same. When the air ticket reservation is made, the child is marked an unaccompanied minor. The parent/relative accompanies the child to the check-in counter and fills out a form of addresses and contact numbers. The airline takes the signature of the parent/guardian while taking and handing over the child. The adult accompanying the child is told to remain in the airport till the child boards and the aircraft departs from the gate. Some foreign airlines do not allow unaccompanied minors to travel on the last direct or connecting flight of the day.

While airlines do not have ready data on the number of unaccompanied minors they have flown, sources say that the number is going up.”Until two or three years ago, one came across only a case or two every month. Now, every week brings about four or five cases," said the airport manager of a domestic airline.

Source: Times Of India, Mumbai pages

Deccan Goof-up: Air Deccan's handling minor travelling alone...

Air Deccan in many ways has changed the way people transport in India and not to take the credit has contributed significantly to make many people believe that they can afford to fly now. I am one of the beneficiaries of the Air Deccan fuelled revolution of the Indian airways.

But, Air Deccan also has contributed significantly to the sense of risk and uncertainty associated with air travel in India. Many novel and earlier un-heard of errors are possible through Air Deccan. One of the recurring problems is the utter carelessness or irresponsible handling of issues by its staff. I have witnessed in quite a few airports and in-flight the staff looking completely clueless and nonplussed about how to handle a situation. I often wonder whether they are adequately trained and equipped to handle a situation.

Here is an instance of what happened to a young boy of age 8 a few days back travelling alone from Coimbatore to Mumbai. Deccan charges extra fee in the case of minors travelling alone to take care of them, which means to ensure that the child reaches and is back with its people safe wherever he / she is supposed to land. What would be a normal work for other airlines is charged (Rs. 500/- currently) and provided as a 'service' by Deccan, fine if people are willing to pay and the do a good job.

In this instance, the kid was permitted to de-plane at Mumbai on his own, board the bus to the lounge, collect his baggage and leave the airport. This on a day when the flight landed 10 minutes in advance. Thankfully, his mother had reached the airport in advance and could immediately sight him and take charge. But, the apprehension of the mother as to what exactly constituted this 'service' and why were the staff of the airline not to be seen anywhere and how could they allow this to happen elicited nothing more than a routine response from the airport authorities (see text below), and even worse when she spoke to the PR people in the airline company, they promised to get back to her in a week with a response!!!
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Dear Mrs. A B,
This is to acknowledge your mail and to tender our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and anxiety caused to you and your son. Please be assured that we shall get back to you within 48hrs. with our detail findings and action taken.

Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,

Rajan Karnik
Sr. Manager - Airport Services
(an email received by the mother)
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The questions posed by the mother are as follows:
1. What are the steps that the airlines take to ensure that a minor child travelling is taken care of, what constitutes the service?
2. How are the records pertaining to such travel maintained; despite her protesting, the staff of the airline did not bother to get her to sign the form filled-up during check-in at Coimbatore, so according to their own records, the child has NOT BEEN handed over to the guardian on arrival. But does this record matter, is it audited, how frequently and by whom?
3. How are the staff of the air line instructed/ equipped / trained to handle minors travelling alone?