[V.Narayan]

Indigo's unhelpful new baggage check-in system

Flew Indigo earlier this week Delhi-Bangalore-Delhi with my family of 7 aged from teens to the 80s. Indigo have introduced a new passenger operated baggage check-in system with machines. It is supposed to be automated but basically has the passenger replace the check-in counter staff member at every step without the flexibility of a human staff member. At both Delhi and Bangalore the system was a mess to put it politely, the staff on hand were untrained and unhelpful and floundering as much as us hapless passengers, at least one was stupidly cheeky. He apparently devotedly believed the spin provided by Indigo that this was to "enhance" customer experience. Well it did enhance my blood pressure and frustration no end marrying bag tag to PNR to ID card to bag weight to placement on the carousel. At BLR at least they had kept a manual check-in counter for dummies like me but the Indigo staff there chose not to tell me till I threatened to pull out his teeth!

Indigo have made this compulsory for all routes between metros i.e. 85% of their volume. Maybe the aim is to save pennies by cutting out on modestly paid check-in counter staff. Now these systems I've seen in Europe and USA but at least I never had the opportunity or need to use them on my trips. I can understand this being needed in the West with labour being both scarce and expensive - but India? In our country there is a substantial proportion of air travellers who have flown 5 or less times i.e. new travellers. I dread to imagine the hassle they will face with this unhelpful and rigid system.

Given that flying by Indigo is a depreciating experience of a once great service now crumbling at the edges this was the last straw on the proverbial camel's back. I have three round trips to do in January and literally another 3 in February and I've told my travel desk to stick to Air India and Vistara. My trips require me to carry at least a mid-sized bag which I always check-in and I do not intend dealing with this again till they make it more user friendly and get their staff trained and more helpful.

I'm sure other members on TBHP have faced this system in recent weeks. Would love to hear their views and experiences. Maybe I am getting old and outdated. I lodged a complaint for what it is worth.

Rahul Bhatia is clearly walking in the footsteps of chaps like Ryan Air's Michael O'Leary and Air Asia's Tony Fernandes both known for not being able to distinguish between a fare paying customer and horse manure.

[Aditya]

Indigo's unhelpful new baggage check-in system - Post moved to a new thread.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

new passenger operated baggage check-in system with machines; automated

I use the BLR Airport for at least two round trips a month. My experience has been as follows

Terminal 1 - Airlines used Indigo and Akasa Air

With Indigo, I've gotten used to going to a kiosk, punching in my PNR, last name, and generating my baggage tag. Initially, I used to walk to the counter and an agent would take the bag tag, wind it around one of the bag handles, paste one bar coded strip from the bag tag onto the side of the bag, and handover the stub to me. Now, I'm kind of adept at fixing the bag tag myself. I tag the bag myself, move to the counter, place it on the belt, the agent would take control and roll it on the carousel.

Terminal 2 - Airline used Air Asia (now Air India Express)

Here, I generate the bag tag at a kiosk, move to an "automated" baggage receipt system, which is currently managed manually. There is an agent standing there. She/he puts the bag tag on the bag, hands over the bag tag stub to the passenger, places the bag in the bag carousel in a way that the bag tag bar code can be read, and once the machine takes it in, a bag receipt is generated. The receipt is handed over to the pasenger.

My personal take on the process at both terminals - I have gotten used to it, but for older people/ those not used to this, it is a pain!

[Iyencar]

I flew Indigo from Mumbai to Trichy a few days back and we checked in bags at the counter the usual way. So seems this will be rolled out in a phased manner. I’ve rarely experienced a smooth automation customer facing experience across industries and would hate to deal with this BS. During peak hour they’re probably going to have the same number of staff troubleshooting these machines.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by vigsom

I use the BLR Airport for at least two round trips a month. My experience has been as follows

Terminal 1 - Airlines used Indigo and Akasa Air

With Indigo, I've gotten used to going to a kiosk, punching in my PNR, last name, and generating my baggage tag.

It seems you referring to the earlier system of those small kiosks in the centre of the hall at BLR which we have all become used to? I am referring to a new centre titled W-01 on the far left of the departure hall at BLR with several largish baggage tag and matching machines and a carousel running out from those machines. There is no staff member to take your bags etc. When I passed through BLR as recently as late November this was not there. Similarly in Delhi on my last flight to a metro (Mumbai) in November this was not in place.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Iyencar

I flew Indigo from Mumbai to Trichy a few days back and we checked in bags at the counter the usual way. So seems this will be rolled out in a phased manner. I’ve rarely experienced a smooth automation customer facing experience across industries and would hate to deal with this BS. During peak hour they’re probably going to have the same number of staff troubleshooting these machines.

For now this is only for flights between Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and (I think) Chennai. This is the bulk of their volume by numbers and more than that by revenue and profit. From what I know this is a part of Indigo's efforts to manage the higher volumes expected over the coming 5 years + save costs {pennies??} + become increasingly like Ryan Air and Air Asia in style and content. For those of us who have flown the low cost airlines of Europe and worse still USA know how incredibly poor, rude and unhelpful their customer interface is. I don't think Indigo will fall that far given the basic hospitality DNA in most Indians but knowing a bit about their 'mass production' operating style and robotic attitudes towards vendors this is my best guess of where they are headed. A great pity if my assessment is right. I hope they improve on both quality of customer service and the training of their cabin crew. I used to keenly observe the cabin crew in earlier years to pick up pointers for training of my own staff and I was most impressed by the thoroughness of that training. Post Covid19 I observe, with the eye of some one from this industry, that their cabin crew standards have dropped very noticeably.

[Turbanator]

I think it’s more to do getting used to the system. I hate this whenever I am in Toronto and flying in economy somewhere in Canada, as I can’t even open that baggage tag that the machine prints for me but the good thing is that there are agents everywhere and always eager to help. Perhaps Indigo should have more people assisting people not familiar.

We like or not, this is the future, why to stand in queue for 10-20 minutes or more, simply find the empty kiosk and get your tag printed

[androdev]

Do they call it the new sexy (6E) check-in service?

It took hardly a decade for the Indian air travellers to transition from feeling like royalty to being treated like a cheap cargo package. This will only get worse as we get inspired by the "peanuts" model. Thankfully my regular domestic travel needs are limited to South India with good alternatives like trains and cars.

Does anyone remember the Jet Airways napkin and cutlery?

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by androdev

It took hardly a decade for the Indian air travellers to transition from feeling like royalty to being treated like a cheap cargo package. This will only get worse as we get inspired by the "peanuts" model.

That's part and parcel of getting a service, that was leveraged by a very few and mostly by the well-earning segment, to be accessible by the masses. Pundits keep harping on the opportunity in the Indian aviation market with regards to customer growth.

25-30 years ago (when the silver cutlery on flights was a norm), we used to take the flights once in a year. It was a luxury. Now, it's one option out of many, used when applicable to certain requirements, taken on a drop of a hat.

I think this downfall in service is going towards a point when the market will open up an avenue for a premium flight service, end to end (not just a class). Possibly on specific routes with high occupancy. Kind of what Kingfisher initially was known for.

[AMG Power]

BA had introduced this in Heathrow about 4 years ago. Fortunately wasn’t such a bad experience. Part of the continual cost saving efforts.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Maybe I am getting old and outdated.

Customer service doesn't and shouldn't because there is a difference between passengers and payload.
They are free to try whatever they wish to but with a backup always at hand.
What's stopping them from deploying 20% of their pre-move personnel which are well informed to assist passengers who can't ?

[dragracer567]

Correct me if I’m wrong but there hasn’t been a proportional reduction in ticket prices, right? The prices of domestic flights have really skyrocketed with the average cost of flying from a tier-2 city to a metro costing ₹15,000 easily on average (2 way). The same ticket would’ve cost about ₹6-7,000 about a decade ago. Offcourse, there’s inflation but airline prices aren’t competitive as they used to be versus rail or bus - you pay a solid premium for the time saved. This is unlike in Europe where Ryanair tickets tend to be very competitive versus rail (specifically high speed rail). To put it another way, on a good day, I could catch a 2 way flight from Dubai to cities in the South for this price.

Maybe I’ve lived outside India for so long that I’ve lost track of what constitutes a reasonable price in India anymore.

When we pay such a solid premium, this kind of cost-saving is just preposterous. It’s another story if the ticket costs ₹3,000 one way.

[PGA]

Haven't flown for a while now, but I feel situation is quite similar in some other spheres as well, the mobile cos, the banks especially credit card and loan managing departments, my pension disbursing authority, insurance claims section etc, even car companies. Machine is the only interface one gets if one has any query or clarification about inadequacy of a service provided. It is quite an effort to get through to an individual who can understand the problem, resolution is another task in itself. Post Covid, I feel some very efficient customer service oriented cos and banks have got infected with 'Govt Department' kind of virus.

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

For now this is only for flights between Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and (I think) Chennai. This is the bulk of their volume by numbers and more than that by revenue and profit.

When my family travelled between HYD - MAA in November, this system was not there. It will be a bit tough for them to manage. It seems a new development in the last month.

So essentially the baggage drop counter itself will be made obsolete or in true Indigo style, it will be paid service if you use an agent for bag drop. Arent those guys charge for counter check in too? Seeing their slimness of seat cushion, I used to joke that they are soon going to use just only the exam paper board that students use. Only good thing with them is the on time performance.

[Gaur]

I had used this system around 2yrs back at the T1 terminal of Bangalore airport, don't remember which airline though.

They had the excuse of COVID in those days and were coaxing us to use the automated system, there were a few staff members posted there, being a weekday and a relative offseason time there wasn't any rush.

Though the experience was decent enough there was a machine which got stuck and the baggage had to be shifted to the next one.

If i recollect correctly the system doesn't allow for even a 100gms over the limit and will ask to reduce the weight, i remember someone arguing about it and was then asked to go to the physical baggage drop counter. Is it still the same ?

Overall i dont see any real benefit of this system for Travelers, except for those who are travelling relatively light and are confident/well versed to use it.

Using this system should be made voluntary and not forced else its a recipe for disaster.