People have all sorts of fears. Some are afraid of being alone, afraid of water, heights, small spaces, sharp objects, being touched, and many many more.

Being afraid of flying is also one of the common ones. Some are so afraid of it that they would not even go near an aircraft. But some less-serious ones are only afraid in times of TURBULENCE [when the aircraft goes in bumpy conditions when flying through weather conditions].

I was flying to BKI (Kota Kinabalu) one afternoon, and there were three ladies seated at the first row of the starboard [right] side. And during take-off, my crew and I noticed that one of them were already gripping her friend's hand tightly.

Due to heavy rain over Kota Kinabalu International Airport, we were unable to even make an approach, not to mention to land the plane itself. After holding in the air for about an hour, the captain on my flight that day, Captain Lim Khoy Hing, finally announced that we were going to land, and informed us that it was going to be a bumpy ride in the process.

When the cabin was checked and ready, my crew and I took our seats. Then the bumps got slightly worse, but pretty much like a mild roller coaster ride. And the three ladies just started screaming!

The funny thing was, every time the three ladies in the front were screaming, two little kids seated at row 2 would echo with their childish laughter. The rest of us were trying very very hard to not laugh at the kids' innocence, and I meant we were trying VERY hard!

After a few more bumps, Captain Lim did a BEAUTIFUL landing despite the conditions, and he even got a well-deserved clap from the passengers after that successful landing!

Oh well, the big bonus of having an experienced and good captain on board! =D

A ‘ferry flight’ is one when company pilots go to Toulouse/Sharjah to fly the aircraft home once it’s rolled out from the plant. It’s an experience akin to taking ‘a new car for a spin’. Recently, I had that rare opportunity with Capt. S.A. Tan ferrying 9M-AHG from Sharjah-Kuala Lumpur. Although Sharjah has its fair share of sights and sounds, it was a tad boring for us. So we attempted to ride a camel across the freezing desert while awaiting the aircraft to arrive from Toulouse! This post documents our brief journey and subsequent elevation as certified Airbus pilots cum camel jockeys.

First things first, the 'chain-of-command'. Despite Capt. Tan’s vast experience as a commander, we both decided that commanding a camel is more suited for one as obstinate as the camel itself. So he asked ME to be Captain while HE volunteered to be my FO atop the camel! Since I had no problems accepting an early promotion, we got down to business immediately. After the pre-departure briefing, I commanded my camel to rise. She didn’t! I asked for the checklist again. Nose peg? Check! Hump Seat? Check! Foot Harness? Check! (read more...)

Does AirAsia passively condone smoking on its flights? I've experienced cigarette smoke on at least 3 AirAsia flights including my recent flight Friday from Johor Bharu to Kota Kinabalu and on Sunday from Kota Kinabalu to Johor Bharu.

I reported the problem to the flight attendants in all three flights as soon as I smelled the cig smoke in the cabin and each acted as if they were investigating the problem by going and sniffing around the bathroom where the passenger presumably smoked but then they didn't take any further action such as making an additional announcement to remind passengers not to smoke in flight and didn't make an effort to alert the Captain. It is dangerous and unhealthy for other passengers for there to be open flames and bad air on the flight. Why is it tacitly condoned by flight crew? (read more...)

It's nice to know AirAsia has a blog ^_^ At least I can share my opinion flying with AirAsia.

Well, through this blog I'd like to give some critics and compliments.

First, both of my flight schedule AirAsia from Jakarta - Padang ( July 3, 2008) and Padang -Jakarta (July 9, 2008) was delayed. Delay period is about 2-4 hours longer than flight scheduled stated on Website while I ordered previously. When I ordered by AirAsia Website, there was 2 flight scheduled, I ordered the 1st, but suddenly at the H-Day 1st flight schedule was delayed too long until there's only 1 flight schedule at that day.

Delay time also happened while I got back to Jakarta. I was surprised because the delay reason didn't make sense, AirAsia Crew said "Delay because waiting Flight from particular destination ", not because of urgent matters such as bad situation in destination, or flight repair, etc. Their reasons made me curious, does AirAsia planes limited? Anyway anyhow, I'm really dissappointed because of AirAsia delay time, all of my holiday planning messed up :( Well, how about if I have business trip? Should I used AirAsia? Hmm.. I suggest not . Does low cost fare mean low service to customer? I hope not

In other way. I give an applause to AirAsia Captain who already survived landing in Padang (July 3, 2008), while situations was really really bad.. Thanks Capt!

At the end, through my critics, I hope AirAsia can improve its performance constantly and consequent with flight schedule stated on website.