Air Travel, Still a Novelty!

Rati Shankar, 24, is an Accounting and Finance Executive. Her most memorable flight is a Business Class Flight from London to Singapore. What she remembers the most, above the comfortable reclining seats, is the polite and courteous staff. “The fact is that if every airhostess addressed you by your first name or politely, with a Ms. Shankar, you do feel respected! And any service or brand that accords that respect, prestige and status to a flier is bound to succeed! While this flight was a Jet Airways one, I’ve heard Singapore Airlines excels in this aspect.” Rati recounted. For Rati, the experience of being treated as a personal guest in an Indian home is paramount. She says she associates the pleasure of flying with that.

As perhaps the first generation in her family to study outside India, Rati’s frequent international travel still remains to her and her family, a novelty. Unwittingly, she says sometimes, “My expectations from airlines mirror luxury because of the experience is still novel to me”

Rati is driven professionally by challenging herself constantly in the workplace. What gets her to jump out of bed every morning is the expectation that she will solve a new problem or learn a new solution every day at work. When asked to summarize her philosophy of life, she said it was governed by experiences. Her everyday is a basket of different experiences, be it meeting that new guy at work, striking a friendship, trying the new noodles at a restaurant, or joining different conversations with people from different religions, castes and backgrounds.

Rati’s experiences with Emirates were bittersweet. While the service was exceptional, compared to more global audiences, she felt she received second grade treatment. A common complaint for many of those who travel from the subcontinent.