A few days back, we flew to Salalah to check out the Khareef festival and other attractions nearby. For the first time, I had the misfortune of traveling by Oman Air, which according to me is the most horrible airline I have travelled in recent times. The experience has made me realize how Oman Air is worse than Air India, India’s state owned carrier. Here are my observations about Oman Air:

Aircraft: For the Muscat-Salalah sector, Oman Air flies the ageing 737-800 planes, which have worn out/faded seats. The upholstery looks pretty jaded as well. Entering the plane itself is not a pleasant experience.

Service: Cabin crew is mostly made up of Omani and Filipino ladies. An Omani airhostess during our flight to Salalah was sporting the ‘I-don’t-care-a-damn’ attitude. “Your boarding passes, please,” she thundered as we entered the plane. Throughout the journey, she maintained the grumpy look. While serving dinner, we asked for veg food. Voila, they didn’t have any. “Only meat and beef, sir,” the Filipino airhostess murmured. “Oops, we don’t eat beef nor meat,” we replied. We asked her to take off the main course, and give us only the kubs (bread), salad and dessert. On our return flight, veg food was served. Interestingly, the promo of Oman Air holidays for Salalah Tourism Festival was shown during our flight to Muscat. So much so for marketing techniques.

A seasoned professional who works in a reputed hotel in Salalah was saying how Oman Air has the bad reputation of consistently getting it wrong time and again. “Get yourself checked-in as early as possible or else Oman Air has the reputation of sending back passengers who have confirmed tickets,” he warned us.

Peter Hill, the newly appointed CEO of Oman Air, has a mountain to climb to put things in order.

Missing screws in the seat.

Untidy work in covering upholstery.