Flying to India

2023-12-25

I have done a few trips to India over the years. I am not rich enough to fly business, so it's pretty much cattle class every time. Over the years, i have flown Singapore, Emirates, Air India and British Airways. This list is ranked from my most favorite to the least. I can rant about British Airways and why I don't like them.. but that's not worth it. Instead, I want to talk about Singapore and Emirates and my opinions of them.

I used to be an unabashed fan boy of Singapore airlines. The service, the airport and that they are usually on time are why. The food is usually pretty decent as well. However this experience is from the pre pandemic days. You could be flying cattle class, but they would still bring out hot towels during the flight, check on you during the flight and the cabin crew used to be generally super attentive.

Post pandemic though, I feel like stuff has slipped. They also started following other airlines and carve up the economy class into micro classes, they stopped the hot towel service in economy and the crew definitely feels like they just want to get through the flight. Mind you, they are still extremely professional and nice, but they don't seem as attentive anymore. The food I think has stayed the same, so that's still a positive. The airport (Changi) however seems to have stepped up the glitz and the shopping. In my opinion, it is still one of the best airports to kill a couple of hours between flights.

Emirates is no longer the up and coming player in the market (I have heard that Qatar is the latest middle east airlines trying to impress the heck out of everyone). Their service is also very professional and almost feels warmer than Singapore these days, but I always get the feeling that they do just enough to stay on the good side of the ratings, but not enough to be great. The airport (Dubai) is on par with Singapore for brand names, but lacks the crazy food courts of Singapore. Dubai unabashedly is all glam, while Singapore presents a more nuanced glam. Changi airport tries hard to make the insides feel more harmonious with nature and manages to have a ridiculously expensive shopping at the same time! The publicly documented safety issues of Emirates atc and pilots should also give you pause when you fly with them. There haven't been any accidents that I know of, but I have heard of enough close calls with Emirates that I am a little wary.

One of these days, I will fly Qatar and report back.

PS: I wrote this on the way out, and on the way back - I saw a glimpse of the old Singapore airlines. The staff was super attentive, and the hot towels are back! I sure hope this continues.