Private FM Radio Industry In India

Recently I finished uploading my analysis of Radio Industry in India. It was long due but took some time and some pushing to get this done.

In India the private radio industry is experiencing rapid growth. Though the industry was privatized in late 1990s, the business model was not viable until the phase II of licensing came into force. The phase II fostered competition and brought in new players into the industry.

As part of the overall growth experienced in the Indian economy during last decade, the media and the advertising industry has experienced good growth. While the share of radio industry is far below the international standards, the industry is experiencing good growth. Because the model of the industry is advertisement driven, the radio industry largely mirrors the contours of the advertising industry.

While there are several promising factors that support the growth of the Indian radio industry, there are quite a few factors that might actually delay or dampen the growth. The competition for listeners and advertisers that ushers in price war without any strong differentiating factor among players is not good for the long term health of the industry. The undifferentiated content issue should be addressed immediately and even though the players might be ready now, the regulator has to address the concern.

The phase III licensing will surely enable the industry to move forward and resolve some long standing issues but it is still some time away and the new and existing players should adopt wait, watch and prepare policy until it is announced to make new moves.

The presentation is embedded below.

Feel free to comment and share your feedback.

Private FM Radio Industry In India

View more presentations from Amit Bhargava.

Please fill this survey.

I have been away from the online world for many days now and that has more to do with my work and the job hunt. Presently I am working on a small project to understand the Indian consumer preference with reference to sports, health and fitness market in India. For that a survey has been designed and is available at - http://bit.ly/4AoLV4.

Would appreciate if you could kindly take the survey and help me in my work. I promise to share the findings on my blog once it is closed.

With respect to the job front, I am seriously planning to give it a serious thought. I am in two minds to continue with the hunt or start something on my own. Will post a update soon on that as well.

My research paper

My research paper that I conducted on the diversification strategy of the companies as part of my MBA was due long ago to be published, but paucity of time and other resources did not permit. I am now putting the document online on this blog. It is a long paper and some sections are omitted but still it is long. The document titled - "The case of Diversification: Case Study analysis of the nature of competition in emerging markets" is linked here. This is my main research paper and I will be publishing a concise version of the same soon.

The abstract of the document is available in this blog post

Document Abstract

"This paper explores the nature of competition in emerging markets, specifically in the context of India, in a regulated environment. The paper identifies various contextual strategic factors for diversification and proposes a diversification framework to achieve customer lock-in, in a regulated environment. Through an ethnographic case study, the characteristic of the private Indian Radio industry are examined and various factors that influence competition in such an industry are identified. The main characteristics of the industry are that it is an oligopoly, faces regulatory barriers to entry and witnesses fierce competition.

The heavy competition forces firms to constantly innovate to develop competitive advantage which is temporary – a hypercompetitive characteristic. Various theoretical frameworks besides hypercompetition, including oligopoly and Porter’s competitive advantage framework, are studied to identify the explanation behind the nature of competition.

The literature, despite making rich contributions, does not collectively explain the competition observed in the radio industry raising a new question to answer. If business groups are aware about the competition in the industry then why do they get into it in the first place? Is diversification a defensive strategy by spreading the risk or an offensive strategy to lock-in the customer so as to earn superior rents by monetising every touch point?

The findings suggest that competition observed in radio industry is a function of the process of diversification. The regulatory barriers do act as hurdle when the players are outside the industry, once they get the license the barriers act as insurance against future competition. The players need to be able to sustain operations for long terms before the benefits can be enjoyed. This requires players with large resources who look at diversification as long term hedging strategy to earn superior rents. The business groups, which are resource-rich, do not get into an industry to compete but to lock-in the customer enabling them to mitigate their risks. A locked-in customer presents an opportunity to monetise various touch points of the customer with the business group, representing a long term competitive advantage.

Even though certain other industries may exhibit characteristics similar to radio industry, the diversification by business groups is not a simple phenomenon. Future research can try to identify other factors that prompt business groups to diversify and test the applicability of the framework proposed."

You are welcome to critique the document and also email me if you feel to discuss the same.his blog.

Happy Diwali

It is that time of the year when lights are lit and the colourful display of lights and fire begins all around. Yes, it is Diwali time, the Hindu festival of lights.

To my friends from MBA, I hope they remember the celebrations we had last year during the course of study to celebrate this festival. Wishing all my readers and visitors and everyone a very Happy Diwali and a prosperous new year.

McKinsey survey - Business and Web 2.0. What is social networking?

I was going through the McKinsey survey about usage of Web 2.0 by businesses all around. Few things that struck me were

1. Blogs and Social Networking are highly preferred medium of both customers and employees in the value chain of the business.

2. Videos are extensively used for providing training and customer support.

3. Social Networking and blogs are used extensively by large set of businesses for almost everything.

The usage of social networking and blogs raises an interesting thought. Is social networking (Facebook, linkedin, myspace) really helping businesses do better. Blogs are interesting medium to share, interact and engage with the audience (partners, customers, employers and other stakeholders) but as I understand social networking, which despite being important to individuals and also to companies, consumes lot of productive time of the enterprise. The loss may be argued as an investment by companies but there does not seem to any conclusive study on the benefits of such an investment.

Is social networking hype? How have businesses embraced social networking that provides value. Is this an investment by companies to remain blue eyed within its value chain or is it an investment in anticipation of something better in future?

I don't know the answer and I may be shooting in air. Despite being fan of linkedin which allows personal benefit of connecting with various individuals and facebook which again allows interaction among friends and acquaintances. I am keen to understand the economic value derived by using such 2.0 networking sites by the enterprise.

What next..MBA is done?

MBA is now over. In the first week of September I finished my dissertation, couriered it off to Lancaster and then moved on. Last month has been very relaxed in terms of work pressure and there has hardly been any pressure from any quarter. Relaxed and worry-free, I have spent last few weeks meeting and spending time with kids, family, attending functions and spending lot of nights in the train travelling across four cities in India.

So far, it has been really easy and I haven't found time yet for myself. My colleagues from Lancaster, of whom I learn are sailing in the same boat, have been spending time relaxing and unwinding from a gruelling long year. While the change in the lifestyle has been more than welcome, the uncertainity ahead is worrisome. The job market seems to be non-responsive. Though there are talks about recovery and new jobs being created, the situation still requires planning.

When I think back about the month that has gone by, I think I have procrastinated long enough to give a serious thought about what and where I want to move. My procrastination was the reason was no post on this blog for quite some time as I could not think and hence could not reflect but now as I sit and try to reflect, I feel that I need a bit more time to plan and then move. Someone, on my previous post over this blog commented anonymously, if I have screwed my carrer? Knowing myself, I am certain that I haven't. It is not in the defense of my MBA I say so, but because I am certain that I will get whatI aspire to, what is missing is the execution plan. Next few days should help me plan for the same.

Changes to this blog

I have been mulling changing the theme of this blog to a bit more sedate and a serious tone where I can share my thoughts on not just MBA but about the business world, in the way I see it. I have been observing in the recent past that much of the traffic on this blog is from my colleagues at Lancaster and from few other quarters as well that include my family, friends and thier family. While, I see no reason that people who have followed me over the year will stop following me but these changes to the blog, I believe will enable me to put things in a different perspective.

My MBA is coming to an end. As soon as my electives term got over, I came over to Delhi to start with my internship. The experience of working in a new industry and in a different role has proved to be a blessing so far. It has enabled me to broaden my thinking, come out of silos of older experience, think new and think critically . Moreover, the MBA has done two things - confused me and also given me the clarity as to what I want to do at the same time.

The changes to the blog will refer to the duality. I intend to portray my mind about the vision I have and secondly, the foggyness over my vision will be cleared as this blog will allow me to crytallise my thinking.

Lancaster MBA is about to be over and I still have to chronicle my internship experience. Career 2.0 is about to begin. Wish me luck.

My Delhi darshan (Delhi sightseeing tour)

Ever since I landed here, two weeks ago, I have always wanted to explore Delhi. I stayed at Delhi long time ago (10 years to be precise) but never visited any place worth mention. Like it happens to all residents who are well aware of the city they stay in but never bother to venture out and explore, I never explored Delhi when I stayed here.

This time, I have decided to make mends to my approach. I decided that I will visit places that are well mentioned and hence made a small resolution to visit few places. At my workplace, I asked a friend who willing agreed to take me around. So we decided that Saturday afternoon will be the right time to start the Delhi Darshan project.

Cometh Saturday afternoon, the Surya Devta (Sun God) didn't seem very happy. The mercury scaled the peak of around 44°C and there was no need for a sauna bath. The sweat bath was equally good on the day. Freshly baked and wet, I boarded the famed New Delhi public transport (a.k.a Bus) and started towards Connaught place where I was supposed to meet my friend. This friend of mine is a proper Delhite unlike me and knew places. So after the travel time of 1 hr and 10 min in the bus and another 20 minutes of paidal (on foot) walk I met this very generous and kind friend of mine. The first place to visit was local bhaiya (vendor) on the street who was selling cool refreshments. First price hike experience and no signs of economic recession. Against the maximum retail price of Rs. 20, the drinks costed us Rs. 25. Why? Because the guy had served us the 'cool' drinks and not 'hot' drinks and the difference was his service charge for the 'cool' drink. Two drinks down, now it was the turn to do some shopping.

Shopping in Delhi is altogether a unique experience (and so is in India). The 'High Streets' are frequented by both, the road side vendor who have small shops selling from ladies fashion garments to ultra modern fashion jewellery on one hand to Bose, Armani and Gucci brand shops on the other. All co-exists peacefully and do a brisque business. No one complains and the life goes on.

After the small shopping spree, which was interspersed by a short visit to an ATM, a visit to a book store, we decided to cool down a bit at a Chinese restaurant - 'Tao'. The restaurant reminded me of Mung Mee at Lancaster where the Thai food is delicious and this place offered me similar variety. The restaurant was a typical high street restaurant that I could expect in Cannaught Place. The food was enjoyable and palatable. As long as I was inside, I felt really nice but the moment I walked out I felt as if I was thrown in the burning amber.

As I walked out, I decided to explore the famous footpath market alongside Janpath (an area made famous because it hosts the address of one of the most powerful ladies in the world - Sonia Gandhi). The market typically hosts clothing and fashion accessories shops and since my friend is a shopaholic, I also went along and guess what, I pampered myself with handsome sunglasses - brand Armani (ofcourse the fake ones). That's the fun part of shopping in India. You get whatever you want at the price you are willing to pay.

Our next destination was Dilli Hat (a open air market mainly for handicraft items from all around the country, a cultural melting pot). It was one of those places about which I had heard a lot but never chanced to visit it. This time I didn't wanted to miss the opportunity so boarded the first train err.. the Delhi Metro and began a nice ride. The Delhi Metro is a marvel. The trains are wide, seating comfortable, platforms clean, security all around. To get into the station the security is like airport security with armed guards wielding body scanners and there is also a baggage scanner. Believe me, I was impressed. One of the best things is there is no paper ticket. Once I buy a journey, I am given a plastic token that is valid for the journey and the machine recognises the token and allows me to board the train and even takes it back when the journey is over and I walk out of the station. Good 'green' thinking.

Once at Dilli Hat, I enjoyed the food options. Felt that the prices were a bit on the higher side but I didn't mind. It was authentic and tasty.

When I started back home, again the irony of India struck me on the face. Metro, the engineering marvel, on one side, and crowded, overbearing buses and pathetic state of public transport system on the other. India is indeed a developing country but for all its faults it is an amazing place, place that I love.

Being an Intern - Part I

In my previous post I updated that I am joining radio industry in India as an intern. Now that I have spent some time in the company, I think that it would be the right opportunity to share what I think of being an intern.

Being an intern is first of all an interesting thing. I remain an outsider yet an insider at the same time. I observe things differently. There is always a dichotomy, a struggle to be a part of the team and yet be an outsider. It is a full time job. I know I am intern and I have the liberty to select my role and also the kind of work that I want to perform. The only requirement is whatever role and work I select within the company it should fit in the overall design of the company. At the end of the day it is beneficial if both, I and the company gain something from the experience.

While, presently I am not sure of the end so far, I am quite happy with the way things have worked out. I am finalizing the kind of work/research I want to do for my final dissertation, the company gave me four options to select from the work they want me to do. Needless to say, I have selected the option that suited best for my research and now that it has been decided, I am in the process of laying out plans for both, the work and the research. I think at the end of this internship period, I will have extensive knowledge of how the radio industry function, which I think will be a great plus for my future.

It is also interesting to say that as an intern I can freely talk about my career options to people and tell them that I will be looking for opportunities elsewhere. It is difficult to talk about job search when you are a full time employee. Isn't it?

Apart from the work, one funny question that has been posed by various employees here is that am I doing my MBA from distance education. The concept of a student coming from UK or anywhere else to India to do internship seems to be alien. When I dig deep in the question, the fact remains that Indians still do NOT consider India to be a happening place where opportunities are plenty. People consider foreign degree to be a passport to a better overseas career. While overseas career definitely offers few good opportunities, the fact that India is a happening place and if I have come back for good, I consider India to be a land of opportunities has to sink in.

So far, the period has been exceedingly well. I am also appreciative of two individuals - the top boss and the immediate boss, both have been supportive and suggestive. They are helpful and also leaders, whose first impression on me has been excellent. Needless to say, I am thankful to both of them for all the help.

Updates - Back to India

Recently there have been many updates that I wanted to share earlier but paucity of time and priority did not permit.

Update 1: I have moved to India recently (as recent as last Saturday) to start upon my internship. My internship is with a media house - Dainik Bhaskar (for those who don't know - it is the second largest read Hindi newspaper in India and one of the diverse media houses with interest ranging from Hindi newspaper publication, regional langauge newspaper publication, web based information portals and radio). There is a case study from Knowledge@Wharton on the Bhaskar group. The same can be found here.

I have joined the company in their radio network, which they operate on the frequency 94.3 FM from 17 different stations in 7 different Indian states.

Now answer to the question, why media and especially why Radio, given that my background is in Software industry and I have literally no experience in any other industry.

The answer is simple. I want to experience different industries before I move back to the technology industry. Radio industry in India is still in infancy and has huge potential to grow. The competition in the industry is intense, it is fragmented and there is no clearcut differentiation among the products that the players offer. Given such a scenario, I began thinking wouldn't it be nice and wonderful if I became part of an industry that is poised to grow, which will arm me with a different perspective towards business and also help me to diversify my skill set.

Secondly the position is based out of Delhi. I am quite keen on starting my innings after MBA in north of India and Delhi and surrounding regions seem to be the best place. So, this internship gives me the opportunity to look for opportunities that interest me at the location I think is best suited to me for personal reasons.

Update 2: My farewell from Lancaster and the journey from Lancaster to India was wonderful. I flew AirIndia for the first time and apart from the airhostesses the flight was good. The seats and the decor of the flight including inflight entertainment was nice. The memories are the things that remain and I believe I will cherish the same for a very long time. Wonderful friends, long parties, longer assignments, mid-night walks to Pizzetta (the cafeteria) will definitely be remembered for a very long time. I am sure, I will miss most of the things for a long long time. I get nostalgic but that's what memories are for, esp. good memories.

Now that I have got internet connection at home in Noida and I hope to get time to manage my time, I will have lots to share and write about how I am progressing over my internship.

I want this post also to thank my mentor on my dissertation and one of my close friend whose discussions over phone/email/in-person have proved useful to me in evaluating my research interest, which has helped me in identifying my dissertation topic. Thank you guys.

My answers to the FT Quiz

I could not complete the quiz, but tried and then gave as other things consumed my attention. My submission at the school being the first point of drift. But if you are interested, we can collaborate to solve, I am posting my own answers to the first 30 odd entries that I could attempt. Few are empty meaning, I had no answer for them.

Here is the picture that FT had put as question. My answers are arranged in the order of appearance of the picture.


My answers are tabulated below. As and when I find more, I will enlist them below.

1 Geronimo, Chiricahua
2 Yasser Arafat
3
4 Bill Clinton
5
6 Winston Churchill
7 Dalai Lama
8
9 John McCain
10 Che Guevara
11
12 Queen Elizabeth I
13 Gordon Brown
14 Ruholla al-Musawi al-Khomeini
15
16 Nicholas Sarkozy
17 Vladimir Putin
18 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
19 Malcolm X
20
21 Queen Victoria
22
23 Hilary Rodham Clinton
24 Golda Meir
25 Martin Luther King
26
27
28 Francisco Franco
29
30 Salvador Allende

Want to share 75cl bottle of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut Champagne..

..then help me out.

Financial Times has a quiz which asks to identify 100 past and present leaders. While I have been able to identify many (truth be told - few) but need help to find the rest. I am going all out to try and answer. The last date is May 20th.

Please help me by emailing me the names.

Best wishes to the South African contingent

I wish all my colleagues who are visiting South Africa on a study tour. 

Learn well, visit well and in the end enjoy the safari. And please, don't forget to bring the photographs to share with rest of us.

Good luck to you all.

Recent diary

Last few days have been interesting and disappointing at the same time.

First of all I would like to thank to a special reader/visitor to blog. She is the mother of my colleague in the class and I recently learnt that she has been a regular visitor. Many thanks to her for visiting me and reading into my thoughts. It has been quite an inspirational learning and I wish that my writing invites more such visitors. My friends have off-late complemented me by saying that my thoughts enable them to reflect on their own thoughts. Many thanks to you guys. You all have been a valuable pillar of strength and I am sure I will miss these cherishable moments once the MBA comes to an end.

'MBA comes to an end'. This thought has been exciting and dreadful at the same time. Exciting because it will allow me to head back home, reunite with the family and join the workforce again. India is a happening place and I am certain that there are many opportunities that will materialise in the near future. The thought is dreadful because of uncertainities that surround the economy. Uncertainities are clouding my vision and it appears hazy. I have been trying hard to get an internship in India but the opportunity seems to be slipping away with every new day passing by. I have to submit my partner name (I haven't selected one yet), earn a project (if I don't get anything back home) and then select a title for dissertation and the days are moving by very fast. I just hope that I hear something positive sooner rather than later. An internship in India will enable my transition in the industry easily (that's what I hope).

In the meanwhile, I have created a group on www.linkedin.com for 2009 MBA graduates to top b-schools from UK, US and India looking for opportunities in India and elsewhere to network and identify opportunities to help themselves. I think it will gather steam and become self-sustaining in days to come.

The last piece of information is that Lancaster MBAs have won a gold medal at MBAT, the MBA olympics organised at HEC Paris. It is a tremendous achievement given the fact that we lost other tournaments/matches by a very close margin. It was the first outing of Lancaster at MBAT and though we did not storm the tournament with our superlative performances, we did well enough to come at the 13th position in the overall medals tally. Well done Lancaster MBA.

A state of uncertainity

Ask any MBA student - where do you see yourself in next six months?. The answers most likely will not vary among majority of students. The most common response will be - 'I don't know'. 

This answer stems from the uncertainity that has plagued the job market. What seemed earlier to be a good investment in oneself (it still is), in the short term appears to be one of the not-so-wise decisions. Worldwide collapse of the markets, the recession (Umar Haque calls it a state of compression) and the loss of confidence have taken its own toll on the prospects of finding a job. Students are now dwindling between finding nothing to finding anything so as to pay back the huge loan they have taken. Internships have dried up and the summer projects are not so easy to find. Overall the state of the MBA economy looks not so pleasant. Afterall no one left their cushy jobs to land themselves in this state of uncertainity.

While many will resonate with my claim, I do not claim to represent the entire MBA student fraternity, I for certain falls in the category of uncertain people. Even though all is not lost and there are opportunities to look for, this experience, has certainly allowed me to think out-of-the-box. I do not simply think about the regular profile that I would have got for myself after MBA, nor do I fancy my chances in UK, which I surely considered before joining the course. Now I am thinking more than ever about opportunities in India. Now I am no more looking for a stereotype role in the IT industry (though I may still end up there) but I am considering all types of industries. This will enable me to 

• experience different industry, and
• enhance my profile

I am not so sure if I will be successful in what I am thinking but slowly and surely I am looking forward to apply wherever opportunities arise. If you think you might have something in store for me drop me an email. 

Who said recession was bad, MBA in a recession has definitely made me resilient.  

A brief reflection :)

I have been wondering of late about the frequency of my post on this place. Not that I am too busy, the thought of communicating through this channel has been overbearing. The sense of guilt and the thought that I should be communicating more often has often kept me away from writing here. Today, I take a pledge to write on a regular basis. I hope to honor that commitment.

The past few weeks have been a good experience. I visited home during the Easter vacation and there I was trying to network among older contacts for opportunities. After coming back to Lancaster, the case exam and the assignment submission of the last term consumed entire energy.

Spring has gradually settled in here and as spring sets in I have moved into the electives term. The year so far has moved so quickly that it is unfathomable that MBA started in Sept/Oct last year. It has been an intense journey so far and has thrown open many new options for me. I have decided to concentrate on Strategy and International Business to major in. I never thought strategy would be an option for me before MBA but now I am very confident that strategy is the 'the' thing for me. I am quite hopeful to get an opportunity in that area.  As of now I am looking for projects/internship for the last term, which is due in another 2 months.

As of now, wish me luck.

a quick reflection

I was looking to find some free time today and realised that I have not written any post in a long time. So realised that there is no better way to spend the bits of free time than posting here.

Last few weeks have been really heavy. Loads of coursework, loads of presentation, early morning presentations (these, by the way, are my regular workouts), multiple revisions of same report until I memorise them and then the real world consultancy for which I didn't get paid.

This whole term has been been really hectic (don't know if that is the appropriate word) but equally enjoyable. Good marks (highest) in the case study exam (a three and a half hour exam I wrote in hand after nearly 8 years) and the best presentation award (in Strategy) were the highlight in terms of the academic execellence.

Disappointments were few. Arguments were many. Learnt to say, 'I do not AGREE', with a reason, a logic. Persuasiveness, the art of convincing others is gradually improving so is the listening ability. Ability to reflect has also improved. Overall, I am quite satisfied with this term and happy the way it has turned out to be. I am enjoying this MBA experience (sans the work load).

I have begun sending in emails into my network for a possible internship/job opportunity. If you come across some opportunity do let me know and I will thank you with a hand written email.

Charity

There is lot to write about but right now there is a different need to write this post.

My class is having its MBA charity day on Wednesday (Feb 18, 08) and as part of our contributions to the local charity organisation (YMCA), the Scafell (my) group is organising a day long (12 hrs) squash marathon at the Lancaster University Sports Center.

As the adage goes ‘Charity begins at Home’, you are invited to come and take part in the sport and alongside contribute to the charitable cause. You can also get sponsorship from anyone and play or your sponsors can sponsor themselves to come and play.

The attached brochure describes the event. 

The forms can also be collected from Kanchan or from the MBA office. If you are not playing do consider contributing on the website – www.justgiving.com/mbasquashmarathon

 Your whole hearted participation will make the event a success. Please participate in the charitable cause and make the event a success.

Do contribute.

Corporate Social Responsibility

The big Question is How?

Solution is 'Go Green'.

This is the mantra being preached presently in the class. I agree completely with the fundamental principle behind it. Sustainability has become such a big issue that it requires constant unfettered attention. Globally corporates are paying attention and so are MBA schools, where they view their students as tomorrow's global leaders.

At Lancaster (which got its new ranking of 27 in the world according to Financial Times yesterday), CSR is a major emphasis. There are many lectures talking about sustainability, corporate sustainability reporting, legal aspects, individual and corporate resposibility and many other issues. The basic theme behind these ideas is that tomorrow's leaders need to be aware and informed about the various issues that plague managers.

As I write about CSR, I chanced upon Harvard Business Review Oct 2008 edition that suggests Hippocratic Oath for Managers. It is reproduced below (click on the image to read)

I understand that the oath or the pledges are too simplistic, but they are worth a look. For the risk that managers take and the power they enjoy it is reasonable to assume that the risk generate the rewards and the power is used responsibly. 

The larger question in the context of CSR is how far is this sustainable and to what extent a corporation can go for it. My answer is simple. Companies need to implement CSR and make sure they implement not only in word but also in spirit. For example if customers need to be accounted for and asked for feedback about impact of company's action on them, then it is better to ask atleast 50% of your customers to get some representative data. It does not makes sense if the data is collected from just few customers to be compliant about the guidelines.

There are many such issues which can be highlighted and needs attention, but the most important one is to be ethical and believe one's conscience when working on. Money can be made and will be made, the cycle might be a bit longer.

Why should you NOT fly AirFrance

A lot of people have asked about my travel experience when I went home recently. I have been telling them sometimes in detail and sometime in brief that the total time spent travelling both ways was close to 5 days. 

5 days, Yes. That humungous amount of time that I literally spent on my travel was courtsey AirFrance. It is the time in which I could have gone around the world twice on a non-stop flight. Let me tell you what happened.

I was scheduled to fly from Manchester to Paris and Paris to Delhi and back via same route. Internally within India, I had to take an early morning train from Delhi to Bhopal and back. My flight from Manchester was on 16th of December early morning at 6.40 am. I had been to London and so came back early morning to Manchester. I stood in the first queue at 4.30 am and boarded the flight at 6 am. I was seated comfortably and since I was really tired because of the long night, I was soon sleeping after drinking a glass of water.

Half an hour past departure time, I woke up and realised that the flight was still in Manchester. Upon asking, the reason was, the fog at Paris airport delayed our departure. Reason accepted and I forced myself to sleep again. 45 min. later, I woke up again and this time realised the under the floor, in the belly of the aircraft, a massive movement was taking place. I asked again and I was explained that a passenger had checked in with her luggage, but later checked out while the airline did not knew which was her baggage so they were looking for her baggage. As soon as her baggage was sorted out, we will fly. This was the first time I started getting worried about my connecting flight from Paris to Delhi, which was at 10.25 am local time.

I wanted to clarify if my connecting flight would still be available and I was explained that while I may miss my direct flight from Paris, some arrangement would be met at Paris airport and I will have to wait until we reach Paris. Flight from Manchester took off around 9.30 am and we reached Paris at 11 am local time.

My flight to Delhi had left.

Almost co-passengers had missed their connections and then we stood in the customer service queue. It was 11 am and I got to the counter at 2 pm. It was an excruciating wait of nearly 3 hours in the queue without food and water. In the flight no breakfast was served and at the airport the treatment was "We are doing you a favor, dare you not question us". When my turn came up, I was exhausted and the darn lady at the counter said she could offer me a connection from London on AirIndia flight to Delhi. The flight was at 9.30 pm London time. To drop me to London, my flight was at 7 pm from Paris. She gave me a "Drinks + Sandwich" coupon and said 'BYE'.

I was pissed off. Treating me like a shit is no way to get away. Since I did not wanted to waste other passenger's time who were wearing out like me, I wanted to meet the manager separately. I got to meet him after an hour who, realizing what he was getting into, gave me nothing but a meals coupon. 

After coming down on the terminal, I had my lunch and found a chair to sleep. I woke up again at the departure gate for the flight to London to realise that the same flight was delayed by more than 1.45 hrs. There was no way I could reach London to catch the AirIndia flight. 

I went back to customer service.

The customer service guys had no idea how to help. Their supervisor couldn't even try to help apart from saying that I will have to spent the night at Airport since I did not have the visa to enter city and there is no possibility flying out that night via any connections. Still, I asked her to try to arrange something and later she took my passport, cleared us out of terminal and asked us to wait. Three hours after waiting in the no-man's land in the airport, I asked if my visa/passport has arrived. It had and I was moved into a sub-standard hotel at around 11.30 pm. There was no food or water and I slept hungry.

Next day I came to airport and asked the airline representative about the compensation and he asked me to contact customer service at Delhi who would be able to help. I belived him and boarded the flight.

I fly into Delhi and the airline guys gave me a sales office number to help me with my complaint. My entire reservations of previous day had gone awry and I had to re-reserve my ticket to Bhopal. Call to sales office gave me an email address of customer service in India. I emailed them and their response was

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Dear Mr Bhargava,

We acknowledge with thanks receipt of email dated 23rd December 2008, regarding your scheduled travel AF1469/ AF148/ 16th December 2008 Manchester/ Paris/ Delhi. At the outset, we offer our sincere apologies for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

May we kindly advise you that as you are currently residing in UK, your email has been forwarded to our office at the following address, for their necessary action:

Air France - Europe
Customer Care Center
TSA 13002
60035 Beauvais Cedex
France

Best regards,

Ashwani KUMAR
Customer Relations Supervisor

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So far, I have not heard back from them.

On my way back on 2nd Jan, the flight developed a technical snag and the oxygen pressure in the cabin was not enough to fly high altitude. This required re-routing as the aircraft could not fly over Afganistan. While they waited for a new route and the delay was over 2.5 hr. Instead of flying at 1.20 am, the flight took off at 4 am. 

My connecting flight from Paris to Manchester was at 7.40 am, Paris time and like last time, I missed that too. I had a confirmed train ticket to Lancaster at 11 am, local time. I missed that too. When I reached Paris, the guys gave me a new ticket and I reached Lancaster 8 hrs late in the evening.

My story ends here but I have vowed that unless there is a very compelling reason to fly AirFrance, I am never going to fly with them. I am going to wait for them to respond back to my complaint else I will lodge my complain under EU laws to European Transport Commission and hope that atleast they will redress my complaint.

Their rude customer service behaviour, non-responsiveness to customer issues was agonizing enough. I was not flying free and I understand issues like this do happen but other airlines are more responsive and try to make the experience better and not worse.

If you read this and decide to fly AirFrance, please think again.

Term Vacations - Looking back and forward

I have been really late in posting and updating here. 

I ended my term a little earlier from the official ending. I visited London for a career fair that was a farce if not anything else and then headed home to India. London's visit was a pleasant one as that was my first visit and hence I had a lot to visit as a tourist.

15 days in India were quite memorable ones as getting reunited with the family during the year was never on the cards when I started on this course. It was really a busy schedule with kids, relatives, visits to different places etc., all taking place at the same time. The only pain point was travel back and forth with AirFrance being an airliner to blame for most of it (I will write my travel experience after this post).

Back home, my kids have really grown well, esp. the younger one. He is now 3.5 month old and looks really smart and handsome. As you may believe, most of my time was spent in changing his diapers and helping my wife. I had couple of assignments to lookover but there was hardly anytime and also the undersea Internet cable cut kept me away from my laptop for a very long time. Towards the end, the decision was to open the books only at Lancaster.

I reached here on 2nd of Jan and since then it has been a little relief before the storm. The storm is going to hit on Jan 9 when I have my integrated case study exam covering the entire Term 1. I was given a case book to write notes, but unfortunately that lies in my home in India.