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Post Info TOPIC: Paramount I7 409 ---Coimbatore to Chennai


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Paramount I7 409 ---Coimbatore to Chennai
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Sorry no pictures again as it was the height of Al-Qaeda threat.


Chennai, Nov. 11.06
A one-day break was all the leave that could be got. The boss still made a face.  The return ticket was WL 58 and the Volvo bus doubtful.


Looking at the options, for Sunday night (Nov.12), it was Air Deccan (full), Paramount (I7) and Jet. Since Jet and DN were ATR-42/72, HERE was the chance to fly the Embraer 170-200.
A dash to Paramount's head office. The booking staffer at Paramount's head office was efficient and quick. E-ticket. Software also displayed cabin layout to block the seat of choice. (Paramount has only First --- 1x2 and Executive -- 2x2). Opted for 5F in Executive (on I7409) and was blocked in a pink highlight!! Paramount and its Pink obsession. Agent then reconfirmed details thrice and asked me to check once more the print out. Confirmed allowance for hold as 30 kg and cabin as 7kg. Ticket handed over in thick waterproof adhesive cover with the I7 logo. Came to Rs.2975. But still appeared too steep. Jet was Rs.3500. '
IA was also considered, but it was only on Nov 13, at 0430 am as Sharjah-Cochin-Coimbatore-Chennai. Fare was Rs. 2100 (A320). This is a flight in the news many times for faulty nose wheel steering and then passengers getting stranded. Seemed dicey as Boss made it clear that I had to be back on Monday. Conjunctivitis had reduced the workforce by 65%!              


Nov.12.06
Got into Coimbatore early at 4.50 am. After a super time with family (including riding triples on a Bullet through sugar cane fields), visiting an as yet unknown mountain shrine in the Western Ghats on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border (with a great view) with all 25 cousins, aunts and uncles, the new bride and groom, and their reception, it was time to get back to Chennai.


Checkin was 90 minutes before STD of 8.50 p.m.
Left the hall (where the reception was) on time but car broke down halfway in a desolate part. No other transport available. Cousins got a call taxi service to agree to a rescue. By this time it was just under 75 minutes for checkin. Taxi driver (Omni) covered the 28 km in 20 min flat, knocking off the mirror of a Hyundai Sonata while overtaking and scraping a speed breaker which sent us into the roof.             
Managed to call Paramount that I was running late. Huge relief as they said not to worry.   
Coimbatore is one of the five target airports in a specific Al-Qaeda plot. Taxi had to get around three rows of security barrier tape with commandos, CRPF and TamilNadu police in full strength who stopped each vehicle and checked inside.
Had to use a walkin door explosive detector in the car park that was wired to a main box detector and backup generator. No beep for me. Passenger behind was detained after a low beep and flash for him.


Paramount uses 9W's x-ray machine, with a Paramount staffer telling security at the other end, which are the Paramount bags. Bag took 17 mins to emerge after a detailed check on the screen. Strapped and carried away. Checked in by one of the two staffers using HP 2410 laptops. Asked for identification, offered lounge service and asked for seating preference. When reminded that it was blocked, said he knew but still wanted to know if I wanted a change. Said that there would be a good meal service. Asked to check in camera. 
Security was  announced immediately and was in for a shock. Lounge is small and was overflowing with DN passengers. Many were firang backpackers and first time travellers.
Boarding was announced for DN. Stampede and the lounge was quite empty. Pushing and shoving before CISF and DN staff wearing yellow Tees ("We are now a new experience" was the big print on it) restored order. A mother tried to calm her wailing child who then promptly threw up on a CISF SI. Made more mess on the floor as it decided to pee and crap and which sent a firang freak skiding across.


Sweeper was summoned over the walkie talkie --- as "Vaamit, Vaamit."
Appeared in a few minutes with phenyl and a mineral water bottle to clean up. More backup sweepers with newspaper and water to clean up the kid, the CISF guy and the firang. 


Lounge had 45 I7 and about 25 9W passengers now.
Boarding for I7 announced in 15 mins at 8.30 p.m. Three more checks and a ladder check before actual boarding --- mobile and keys had to be x-rayed also.
Had to walk to the Embraer. Air Deccan ATR was blasting off Coimbatore's 7,500 ft runway before a gentle right bank towards Chennai, confirming the flight path.
9W ATR was on the ground after having arrived from Chennai. Passengers were walking to the terminal and it seemed a full flight.
The I7 Embraer (VT-PAE) was parked near the 9W ATR (VT-JCG) and is definitely taller. Turbofans appear a bit small for aircraft size and have good clearance. Looked neat and new in the deep blue and pink corporate colours. Paramount staff around the aircraft alongwith commandos. 
Boarding though stepladder and I7 staff wishing you a good flight.
The 4 cabin crew in white shirt with pink collars, black skirt, pewter "two wings" and you guessed it! .... pink eyeshadow, pink nail polish!!!
Cabin-in-charge made an exaggerated "Vanakkam" with a deep bow. Almost expected a head butt!
Cabin is quite wide and Paramount highlights this in "Windows & Aisles" (its inflight magazine). Compares it with the ATR, Boeing and Airbus.
cabin was very clean and fresh. Bright cabin lighting made it look so. Still had a faint smell of new leather. First has 4 rows (seating is A,B,C), with an average recline.
Executive is (A,B and D,F)


Executive starts from Row 5 and 5F is behind the cabin divider with the I7 logo and basic safety instructions on it. Small leather pocket holders on it had the Indian Express, Eco Times and a few Tamil dailies. Safety card mysteriously had safety instructions that were clearly for the cabin crew (in the case of ditching, looking out to see if the water level was above the window sill and then deploying the emergency equipment). Seat was just before the engine. Windows are large but to look out, you have to use the window of Row 6. which is closer.
Life jacket was under seat. Controls are a damn easy reach. Air vents have full blast and rate better than the A320. PA was above. Bins fairly deep. Stowage under this seat is tough as there is a metal barrier. Leg room top class and recline great. A small handrail runs under the bins and with a continuous a/c vent. Bins in Row 5 also curve a little to create a clever impression of more space.
Embraer gets "A" for its plane.


Few seats empty but passengers in every row. Pasenger in 5D.
Galleys are front and rear.
No boarding music. No IFE.
Hostess Averil M. brought cold towels on a tray.
Passenger in 4A (First) had his boarding card checked suddenly. Asked to move to his alloted 6A! First was quite empty. Six including 2 dead-heading cabin crew.
Averil M. was back this time with tender coconut and sweet lime in 40 ml Borosil glasses.
"Head butter" Kanwaljeet W. came back for the cold towels.
PA by Brazilian Captain Cruz at 8.40 asking ground crew to disembark. "Please cabin crew, arm slides."
Felt at home with the very distinct A320 noises.
Kanwaljeet's fake accented intro in Hindi and English tell us its Captain Cruz and cabin leader in charge Archana Patnaik.
Flight time of 45 minutes to Chennai.


Hostess Priyanka pulls out 4F half into the aisle to place the safety equipment for the demo. Life jacket for First is in a small box behind each seat.
Demonstration of the life jacket which is strange for Coimbatore to Chennai. No time to start again for the English demo, so Priyanka continues to wear the life vest. Hurried and shabby with the O2 mask being pulled out of a plastic bag on the floor.
Demo over, 4F is pushed in.       
Two chimes, two chimes, one chime, one chime.
8.45 p.m. One chime again.
Engines spool up and seem A320-like. Cabin soon has the A320 noise. Being next to the engine is not a worry Its quiet.


What happens next is a surprise, a big mistake to have underestimated those turbofans. Almost thought it was the take-off run!!!
The Embrear SPRINTS.
Runway was lit up by the powerful landing gear lights.
Indian co-pilot tells crew to prepare for take-off.
A quick 180 at the end of the runway and detected a peacock in the grass!!! Aligned for take-off.
8.51 p.m. A powerful and smooth burst from the twins and we clear the runway in 15 seconds. A sharp bank to the right after following the Coimbatore-Chennai Highway and it was off to Chennai. Climb was for about 20 minutes and the twins were now sounding like overstrained  Kitchen mixies!!
Dinner started at 9.05 p.m.
No carts but tray service.
Kanwaljeet confirmed meal choice again ("Veg or Non-veg?") 
                                                           ***


It is here that I7 seems a rip-off. (IA, no doubt, has the best food).
Too little for a steep fare.
A handful of Fried rice and channa in an deep aluminium casserole (from Mogo Mobile Gourmet) and on a heavy china plate base; salad in plastic bowl with clingfilm and on china bowl base, Rosagulla; Sabol water bottle in cling film on a China plate base; metal cutlery and .... a cheap plastic cup on a china saucer!!! (looked more like the top of a vacuum flask).
Salt. pepper, aftermint, tooth pick, tissue that looked like toilet paper from Taj catering but appeared like it had been whacked from the Taj Resorts and Palaces (it had that logo). 
Salad was bad with an overdose of carrot (!!!closest colour to pink?), rosagulla like a stone. The syrup spilt everywhere.
Looked out to see the lights of Salem town.
Priyanka arrived for tea/coffee. Unlike the IA expert aunties who can pour the T across the aisle even three-seat deep, this one is a Big zero. Had to hold the cup.


(This is an airline that has only F and J. So it is making a big mistake by charging high and getting away with placing plastic stuff on chinaware),
One chime at 9.15p.m. there's turbulence. Spoon on the china plate base starts to rattle. Move it away but when placed back, it starts to rattle again.     
Descent starts.
Attendant bell locks in with a deep chime. Kanwaljeet passes on newspaper to wipe the syrup.


Time to go through "Windows & Aisles". Vol. 1, Issue 4 (NOV. 2006). The editor is the founder and MD M. Thiagarajan's Mom. So Mom's (Kamala Thiagarajan) articles  appear all over. But there is balance ---travel, trivia, cinema news from south india, news from the world of music, web site news, fashion, tech, cuisine, conquering jet lag, horoscope news, an article on the rise of aviation in India, and the padding with the route map, schedules and fleet news. Much about how I7 is a business class experience.
Kanwaljeet is back to clear the trays and ask that the tray tables be stored in the seat arm.     
Tray clearance is a mess. Crew hang around and then start snatching it away as you finish. (IA's younger crew also seem to be getting into this habit of late.)


Captain Cruz announces landing in 8 minutes. Archana Patnaik then tells cabin crew to get to stations!


The lights of Chennai appear and we bank to the left.
Two chimes and the cabin is dimmed. Descent is fast and the flaps get to 8F, before locking in at 14 F.                                
Landing lights come on and there is a slight drizzle that blurs the windows. Hear the thump of the landing gear.
A very rough landing from the Kancheepuram end of the runway, so it's straight on the path!! Lucky, no circling over the Bay of Bengal!!!
Roll till almost the end of Chennai's 10,050 feet runway and then sharp braking. Inflight announcement leaves out the outside temp (PA is excellent and cuts thorough the cabin noise. Must add that the cabin is quiet).


Embraer then backtracks and starts SPRINTING to the terminal.
A DN A320 waiting at the  end begins its take-off roll.
Step ladder moving to the DN ATR from Coimbatore!!! IA A320 from Kolkata docking into the aerobridge.
The Embrear rolls in next to another I7 Embrear (VT-PAD).
Traffic at Chennai is light. Air Sahara 737, IA A320, 2 DN ATRs, Malaysian A330, SQ 747-400 and a private Lear Jet.
Kanwaljeet begins her "Thank you for being our guest" to all. 
Deplaning through the front by step ladder and into an I7 bus. Comfortable seats. I7 also uses a Kingfisher bus and is supposed to share some of King;s ground equipment. (I7's booking software is also derived from King's.)
Baggage on carousel in 20 minutes.
Out of the terminal before passengers on DN's Coimbatore flight.             


                                                                       ***


Though the experience was very nice, from the time of booking to end of journey, I7 has to clearly offer much more, even if it's a Tier-2 city and South India based airline (Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Madurai, Cochin, Hyderabad). For the steep fare I7 charges, especially on the chosen sector, IA would have been a better choice.
                       





-- Edited by karatecatman at 12:13, 2006-11-14

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Excellent TR with pretty hilarious incidents in air and on the ground.


Great Work.


Regards,


Mayank



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Missed the pictures.....but then nice detailed report and liked ur specifics

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Very nice TR, fun to read and detailed felt like sitting in the plane :)

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Very nice and funny trip report!!!!

Just 1 question:
Did they give any reason for asking you to check your camera.

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Nice and Detailed TR.


By the way you were lucky enough not to have a Zidane "head-butt" .


Can you please rate I7 in terms of service, aircraft, food, etc out of 10 points



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ArtofZen wrote:



Just 1 question:
Did they give any reason for asking you to check your camera.





First, a big thanks for the feedback.


Zen,


Was specifically told to check in the camera, and that there should be no battery operated equipment in hand baggage. Check-in staff said the same thing. 


But have read elsewhere that the circuitry in an electronic item can be used to trigger off a device,  which could be the reason for the order. 


This was also day 2 of the Al-Qaeda threat and Coimbatore was a specific target. Security was very tight and commandos were all over.  


 





-- Edited by karatecatman at 23:15, 2006-11-14

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Rocking trip report KCMan!


You should put it up on Anet if you haven't done it already!! You have a good writing style and an eye for details.... 



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the_380 wrote:



By the way you were lucky enough not to have a Zidane "head-butt" .


Can you please rate I7 in terms of service, aircraft, food, etc out of 10 points







380,


Suddenly there was this loud "Vanakkam" and the deep bow!!! Thought I was in for a Zizou!!


 


Aircraft comes first and gets A+++. Beautiful aircraft. Cabin is very comfortable, quiet and great with the 2x2 layout. The windows are big and ideal to take photos. Technically, very athletic and just sprints. Really impressed. It's a Flo-Jo-Go. I7 has been brilliant in chosing the Embrear. Do hope IA picks it up. Will fit in smoothly with the A320 family. I7 crew were very comfortable with it.


                                              ** 


Service is next. Gets A. Paramount's MD Thiagarajan has picked a good team. All the staff I saw (ground and flight) are young, smart, very enthusiastic. May be it's got to do with the fact that passengers can nominate them for company awards. Suggestion card (in deep pink again!!!) has a line for this. Under the category "Special Moments", you can name any staffer you felt was good. Could be even the baggage handler.


Starting from booking to the end, everything was smooth and good. Booking software is top class and Paramount hasn't scrounged on technology. Laptops are used for checkin. At booking they ask you to double check everything and repeat it for you. All details are again SMSed (esp the PNR) and emailed. Choosing your seat is another facility. At checkin, you can still change your seat. Schedules are convenient and are with the business traveller in mind -- but I7 only flies around the South. 


I7's ground service gives a tough fight to its inflight service.


But Paramount seems obsessed with pink. Pink makeup for crew, deep pink suggestion cards, pink highlighters in the booking software, and pink liquid soap and pink tissues of various sizes on the aircraft ....


                                  **  


Food is D. Paramount clearly calls itself a business class airline and fares are steep. So you expect better stuff, and they say so. Inflight mag is full of how they are not a "cheap" LCC. 


Initially when the pre-departure drinks came in Borosil glassware, thought there was going to be a lot of pampering. But saw through the game soon. The airline has this weird idea that by just attaching a porcelain/chinaware base to everything, it immediately denotes "class". So even your ordinary 200 ml water bottle comes clingfilm wrapped and on a china plate base. Same with the food. Cheap aluminium casserole attached to a china plate base. Result is your tray looks full when there are just 2 items to eat. In contrast IA gets top marks for food. They really stuff you.


Overall, Paramount is an airline worth trying/flying if you aren't too bothered about the fare.  


Food =3/10


(Ground+inflight) Service/Punctuality = 9/10


Aircraft = 10/10 (No doubt!!)     


                     









-- Edited by karatecatman at 16:50, 2006-11-15

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Thanks Vivek.


Unfortunately no pics for Anet!!



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Thanks for the info on the food from I7.


Id settle for IC anytime.



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Some information i could lay my hands on


Paramount Airways is continuing its expansion thanks to the delivery of its 5th Embraer jet.


 


The airline has introduced a 4th service between Hyderabad and Bangalore, a mid-day flight between Chennai and Coimbatore and an early morning flight from Chennai to Kochi from 15th Nov 06.


 


Paramount will also introduce a new direct flight between Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram from Nov 18th.



-- Edited by JumboJet at 16:11, 2006-11-16

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Just an update.


Aunts were on the I7409 flight tonight (Coimbatore-Chennai, Nov.16). Business class and seats were 5D/5F.


Flight was late in taking off by 20 minutes. Ground staff refused to let them handle their baggage and insisted on a "valet" service.


Flight details pretty much the same as in the TR. Same menu. And a full flight this time. Captain was a woman/Brazilian.


Aunts liked the aircraft and commented on how clean it was. Each woman passenger was given a rose. (Pink again!!!)


Once aunts reached Chennai, ground staff ensured the "valet" service. As it had started to rain in Chennai and we were late in picking them up, I7 gave aunts umbrellas and made a staffer wait with them till we reached!!! Said if we were not turning up, that I7 would even arrange for a taxi acompanied by a staffer!!!!    



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karatecatman wrote:



Just an update.


Aunts were on the I7409 flight tonight (Coimbatore-Chennai, Nov.16). Business class and seats were 5D/5F.


Flight was late in taking off by 20 minutes. Ground staff refused to let them handle their baggage and insisted on a "valet" service.


Flight details pretty much the same as in the TR. Same menu. And a full flight this time. Captain was a woman/Brazilian.


Aunts liked the aircraft and commented on how clean it was. Each woman passenger was given a rose. (Pink again!!!)


Once aunts reached Chennai, ground staff ensured the "valet" service. As it had started to rain in Chennai and we were late in picking them up, I7 gave aunts umbrellas and made a staffer wait with them till we reached!!! Said if we were not turning up, that I7 would even arrange for a taxi acompanied by a staffer!!!!    




SAHI HAI BOSS........

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Nice report.

I flew that aircraft type sometime back and was impressed with the leg room and with the huge windows.

Speaking of technology, their website does not seem to be set up for fire fox!

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Seat 13A wrote:


Speaking of technology, their website does not seem to be set up for fire fox!




Seat 13A, as you pointed out, the Go Air website is also not compatible with FireFox.

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Nice TR man, would've really loved the interior pictures.

karatecatman wrote:

Kanwaljeet is back to clear the trays and ask that the tray tables be stored in the seat arm.     
Tray clearance is a mess. Crew hang around and then start snatching it away as you finish. (IA's younger crew also seem to be getting into this habit of late.)





lol, agreed it sometimes looks like snatching away the trays but its all pressure. Crew members are supposed finish off their service before the seat belt sign appears for descent, and it really doesnt help them much if it takes 20 minutes to climb and the seat belt sign to go off, on a 45 min flight.

After clearance of trays they would've had to secure the galley and the cabin, which is quite a challenge considering the time left to be seated & straped.

Securing the galley and cabin include:

  • Securing all galley equipment in its place.
  • Latch all trolleys and anything thats lying outside.
  • Make sure everyone's seated and strapped.
  • Baby Bassinet (if provided) be stowed back.
  • All Jackets be given out to respective owners.
  • Stay focused and on the lookout for anything wrong in the cabin.
  • Finally, seated and all ready for any unanticipated emergency.


All thats needed for the "younger crew" is experience

aM

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