Travelling by air has become more affordable these days. Before Air Asia made its debut, there was only Malaysia Airlines and everyone had to fly MAS to get from one place to the next within Malaysia.
I still remember it used to cost an arm and a leg to fly between Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur, one month's salary to be exact. Thus trips back home to Kuala Lumpur were a once-a-year treat which had to be saved up for. That was why I missed most of my siblings' weddings, especially when they didn't fall during the school holidays.
Air Asia has made it possible to make more trips back to Kuala Lumpur with its cheap fares and no frill flights. Its online bookings have also helped people become more computer literate.
MAS lost out to Air Asia because its fares were comparably more expensive. Unless their tickets were paid for by the company or institution or the Government, people opted to fly with Air Asia, especially when the company brought in new airplanes.
Then MAS decided that if it couldn't beat low cost airlines, then it would be wiser to join in the fray for passengers and they introduced the different air fare tiers. A passenger could select the fare he could afford to pay.
In the beginning it was a good bargain, as the fares were considerably lowered and you had free meals plus 20kg baggage checked in free and seat numbers were issued so that you needn't rush to queue up in order to get the seat you wanted. Plus the train direct from the airport to KL Sentral is a time saver.
Travelling by Air Asia means that you have to get the bus from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal to KL Sentral and that takes almost an hour. My grouse is that the buses never leave according to the schedule. They only move when the bus is full. The driver never helps the elderly passengers to retrieve their bags from the luggage compartment. Many of the buses are not in tip top condition. This is something the management should look into.
Well, good things seldom last. MAS has increased its fares. Where it was once possible to pay RM136 for a return flight ( Kota Kinabalu-Kuala LUmpur) a one way trip is now at least RM144. I can only say that MAS will lose more passengers to Air Aisa. Its current full flights may not be full for much longer at the rate that they are increasing the fares.
I managed to get a return flight to KL by Air Asia ( all in, including food, baggage, seat selection & the bus round trip ) for only RM142.
Forking out less money for a ticket means more trips so from now on, Air Asia will have my patronage.
One criticism of Air Asia is that its staff are not well-trained to handle passengers who tend to take advantage. Passengers pay to select their seats and the Hot Seats cost 5 times more than the other seats. Then when the plane is airborne, those who did not pay for the hot seats move there and the cabin staff just keep quiet, especially when the culprits are the Mat Sallehs. The double standard here has to be stopped. They subscribe to the policy that you get what you pay for but in this instance, it is not so. This makes other passengers, including myself feel peeved.
The announcement that all passengers have to keep to their allocated seats falls on deaf ears. The management should just do away with hot seats and let passengers pay for the seats on a first come first served basis when they go online to book their seats.
Another negative point is that flights get mysteriously cancelled or delayed. A well-placed source said that if the flight is not full, the company would reschedule and the passengers are bumped off to a later flight. This is bad practice because it inconveniences the passengers.
Well these are the things that have got to be resolved. Malaysians are a ver tolerant lot but we do have our rights and certainly the right to good service and attention.
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