Mumbai airport cabbies trained to be more courteous

Cab drivers operating from the swanky Terminal 2 of Mumbai airport shall be more courteous and cooperative with passengers, thanks to a new initiative by the airport authorities and tourism department, officials said Tuesday.

The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) organised a training session for 25 cab drivers to emphasise soft skills, appearance, language and behaviour with passengers.

The initiative covered cab drivers plying the regular non-airconditioned and cool-cabs outside the Mumbai airport.

"A passenger's travel experience begins the moment they hire a cab at the airport and this training session would enhance the quality of service provided by the cab drivers," a MIAL spokesperson said.

The participating cab drivers expressed enthusiasm at the initiative and termed it a "good" experience.

"It was a good training session and helped improve our understanding of the importance of customer service. I shall implement it and also participate in similar future programmes," said cab driver Ravi Singh.

An MTDC official said that with the positive response from the participating cab drivers, they would explore the possibility of more batches in the future.

Welcoming the initiative, Bombay Taximen's Union chief A.C. Quadros said around 3,000 taxi drivers ply on the domestic and international airport sectors.

There are another 39,000 city cab drivers in Mumbai but they may not be covered as the authorities are targeting tourist arrivals at the airports.