This is my maiden attempt at writing a Trip Report.
The objective is to share some first hand experience of flying in AirIndia. I am aware that most FTers would probably avoid flying AirIndia if they can help it.
I had very specific reasons for flying AirIndia after exclusively flying NW to India in the last 3 years
a. With final destination being Madras(Chennai- MAA) I can through check in baggage to Chennai. Same goes for other major Indian cities such as Hyderabad, Ahmedabad etc.
b. I can clear immigration and customs in MAA without the hassle of clearing baggage in Mumbai and transferring to domestic terminal - a big hassle on all my earlier trips.
c. AirIndia flies domestic sectors and hence the connecting flight from BOM-MAA reaches Chennai at a comfortable 8 am instead of the typical midnight to 3 am time frame that BA and LH arrive in Chennai
d. Reasonably good vegetarian food. On NorthWest vegetarian meal is a sad affair. Most airlines seem to interpret vegetarian meal as "fill it with mushrooms" . that is a story for another post.
With that justification for choosing AirIndia, let me give some impressions.
a. The flights generally do leave on time.
b. Do not expect anything more than bare minimum service. You will be lucky if you see a FA that comes around more than once offering an extra glass of water or generally making you feel welcome. I am talking coach class here
c. AirIndia flights are full of either old people or children and infants. I know this is an uncharitable comment,I have a 3 year old myself . But coach class is definitely not for the accomplished FTer(who anyway is highly unlikely to travel Air India on coach)
d. The aircraft looked old . On the ORD-BOM via (LHR) leg , the water from the aft toilet flowed into the aisle.
e. Very important, since the US routes of AirIndia only make a technical stop in London Heathrow- the passengers are subjected to some very uncomfortable experience.
On ORD-LHR-DEL-BOM leg, we were ordered to sit inside the aircraft for nearly 2-1/2 hours in LHR . The reason given was the bay was not working. So we had the cleaning crew cleaning the aircraft with all the through passengers onboard.
One needs a lot of stamina to go through a AI flight. I left ORD around 8:45 pm on a Friday and reached MAA my final destination at 11:30 AM on Sunday morning local time. There was a 2 hour layover in BOM . One can imagine what such long periods inside an aircraft can do do children and old people. Hence this comment about stamina.
f. There did not seem to be a drinks selection. My neigbour requested a Bacardi Rum and was greeted with a nasty glare and a brush off by the FA.
g. In LHR, if the aircraft does get in on time, all the passengers are required to carry all their hand baggage , deplane and then queue up immediately for reboarding.
there does not seem to be any consistency here, Sometime, sit inside the aircraft, sometimes deplane in LHR. There were only 3 toilet stalls near the gate in LHR.
I had second thoughts about writing this trip report as no FTer is ever likely to fly coach on AirIndia so why bother. But I wrote it anyway, as I have benefited immensely from FTer tips on a few occasions in the last few months.
I hope that people consider these factors before deciding to fly AirIndia.
B747-437B
Mar 24, 03, 7:15 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hsubbu:
Do not expect anything more than bare minimum service. You will be lucky if you see a FA that comes around more than once offering an extra glass of water or generally making you feel welcome. I am talking coach class here.</font>
Interesting perspective. I've been on 7 Air India segments so far this month and never had this problem. In fact, I find that AI crew are in the aisles a lot more than any other airline.
Air India's B747-437s range between 6-9 years in age, significantly younger than most other airline.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">There does not seem to be any consistency here, Sometime, sit inside the aircraft, sometimes deplane in LHR. </font>
Aircraft parked at remote bays and aircraft westbound to the US keep passengers on board. Eastbound aircraft allow passengers to deplane. This is as per US FAA regulations.
I find it quite fascinating to see that the opinions of NRIs or PIOs about Air India are virtually universally negative, whereas the opinions of non-Indians flying Air India are virtually universally positive. I take it that you fall into the former group?
Thanks for the report.
hsubbu
Mar 24, 03, 8:52 am
B747
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Aircraft parked at remote bays and aircraft westbound to the US keep passengers on board. Eastbound aircraft allow passengers to deplane. This is as per US FAA regulations.
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Actually it was the Eastbound ORD-LHR-BOM leg on March 1st flight, that had the passengers stay on board.
I stopped over in London for 3 days on the return leg and the Westbound passengers were allowed to deplane- AI 129 on March 21 BOM-LHR-ORD- Through passengers did deplane and reboard from the adjacent gate.
One more thing, the gate number I think it was Gate 22 in Terminal 3 in LHR , had no phone in the concourse leading to the gate.The the phones were located inside the gate area. After being in the line for nearly 1 hour when we tried to make a phone call from the gate holding area, the AI ground crew were rather brusque and said that they will close the aircraft door, It took us another 15 minutes in the line in the jetway before we boarded the aircraft.
I am an NRI but honestly that does not have anything to do with my observations in this trip report.
What I reported are simply what I experienced and I have been conscious not to exaggerate and let any negative attitude creep in.
My observation of "aircraft looked old" was influenced by the way the toilet looked . The aircraft I travelled on was Kanishk on the way out and Konark on my return. I maybe wrong with this comment but that was just my feeling.
. There have been other less pleasant experience in other airlines too but I did not know about Flyer Talk then.
Thks
RDU
zoosh
Mar 24, 03, 8:59 am
B747-437B:
I am just wondering if your personal experience(s) on Air India are at all impacted by your father's employment position and long-standing dedication to Air India?
"zoosh"
pk45cu
Mar 24, 03, 9:17 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B747-437B:
I find it quite fascinating to see that the opinions of NRIs or PIOs about Air India are virtually universally negative, whereas the opinions of non-Indians flying Air India are virtually universally positive.
</font>
B747.. your point of view on AI maybe a tad biased. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
There is a perception among many Indians that AI's on-board service is better for non-Indians when compared to Indians.
The one time I travelled by AI, I had no issue with on-board service (my wife's opinions are very different from her experiences) but was very angry at their baggage handling.
I flew JFK-LHR-BOM-HYD. The BOM-HYD leg was on an Indian Airlines plane flying JED-BOM-HYD. AI didn't bother to load the baggage from the JFK flight on to the BOM-HYD flight, saying that the plane was overloaded. I can understand that happening, but what was unforgivable was that they didn't tell us this even after we landed in HYD. We spent an hour watching the baggage belt empty out. A HYD airport employee had to call BOM to find out why the baggage was not there. A simple phone call from AI-BOM to HYD would have helped.
We then proceeded to fill out forms in triplicate, wait for 24 hours for the baggage to arrive by next night's flight, go to AI's HYD offices to get said form stamped by a bureaucrat, and then go to the airport to pick up the baggage to get it through customs.
B747-437B
Mar 24, 03, 9:19 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The aircraft I travelled on was Kanishk on the way out and Konark on my return.</font>
Considering that Kanishka crashed in 1985, I'd seriously doubt that statement.
Konark is desperately in need of her D-Check and has a well documented problem with both the inboard aft lavatories and the C-zone airconditioning system. Because of the extra demand of Hajj operations on the schedule, maintenance has been forced to defer non-essential work. She should be fixed up within the next few weeks though.
hsubbu
Mar 24, 03, 9:38 am
B747-437B
I could have sworn I saw Kanishk , I apologise in advance if I am wrong.
You are obviously very conversant with AirIndia fleet. I think they have 7-8 747. I can bet you know the names of all of them.
Just a dumb curiosity. Is it possible to get a full list of all the 747s that AI has that operate on the India US trip.
thks.
RDU
B747-437B
Mar 24, 03, 10:06 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hsubbu:
I think they have 7-8 747. I can bet you know the names of all of them.</font>
13 747s actually, plus 17 A310s. Totally, 21 747s have been operated over the years.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Is it possible to get a full list of all the 747s that AI has that operate on the India US trip.</font>
India-US routes are exclusively operated by the 7 747-400s.
Thks a lot . The aircraft I traveled on Feb 28/March 1 was Khajuraho and not Kanishk.
I am sorry about that mix up
Thks.
RDU
Yaatri
Mar 24, 03, 10:27 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B747-437B:
I find it quite fascinating to see that the opinions of NRIs or PIOs about Air India are virtually universally negative, whereas the opinions of non-Indians flying Air India are virtually universally positive. I take it that you fall into the former group?
Thanks for the report.</font>
Except Mine B747-437B http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I was very pleased with AI service between BKK and DEL. The Crew were extremely polite and helpful. The beverage service was prompt and generous.
Montys_Mayhem
Mar 24, 03, 12:58 pm
In my experience Air-India is like India -- it can be great or awful, depending on your luck and individual circumstances and experiences. A good sense of humor does help smooth over the bumps though, and what is sometimes lacking overall in apperance and execution is sometimes made-up for by individual niceness and warmth.
I think I have had both some of my best, and some of my worst, flights on Air-India. If consistency is what you are looking for (and is what I suspect most business travelers look for), then you'd be better off elsewhere. Might explain why most India corporate-types that I have come into contact with tend not to fly Air-India if they have a choice. However Indian families seem to like it because they can let their hair down and let their kids run-around much more freely on AI than the would on other carriers.
[This message has been edited by Montys_Mayhem (edited 03-24-2003).]
Babu
Mar 24, 03, 1:23 pm
I am a PIO (Person of Indian Origin), and I love Air India's [First Class] service. Each and every time, the crew has gone out of the way for me. On one of my recent trips, the FA even voluntarily fed my kids for me (yes, it was First Class--but still, not par for the course). Try that on a US carrier.
I've not been in Y class since I was a little kid, and I do realize it's a different experience altogether.
Bretteee
Mar 24, 03, 1:52 pm
Thank you for your interesting report. I flew on Air India in coach from London to New York when I was a kid in 1968; 35 years ago. I recall it was a 707 and the food was good with exotic Indian music playing which I had never heard before, stewardesses in saris, and a nicely decorated cabin.
The inconvenience is that their planes are often late. The fear of terrorism also bothers me after the bombing of one of their aircraft a few years ago over the Atlantic.
B747-437B
Mar 24, 03, 2:15 pm
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Bretteee:
The inconvenience is that their planes are often late.</font>
If Air India's 91.2% systemwide on-time record for 2002 equates to "often" late, then I shudder to see what adjectives you apply to the US airline industry which achieved a 80.75% on-time record in the same period.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The fear of terrorism also bothers me after the bombing of one of their aircraft a few years ago over the Atlantic.</font>
If a terrorist incident perpetrated almost 20 years ago (June 24, 1985) troubles you, you must have many nightmares about flying on US carriers (terrorism victims less than 2 years ago).
Babu
Mar 24, 03, 3:46 pm
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B747-437B:
If a terrorist incident perpetrated almost 20 years ago (June 24, 1985) troubles you, you must have many nightmares about flying on US carriers (terrorism victims less than 2 years ago).</font>
D*mn, you took the words right out of my mouth.
Montys_Mayhem
Mar 24, 03, 8:59 pm
I would be interested in knowing the completion factor for Air-India. They do seem to have a lingering repuation for not being the airline you would want to fly if you "absolutely, positively" want to be somewhere on time. Earlier this year I had to fly DEL-BKK, and the Indian-branch of our corporate travel agency dissuaded us from flying AI and recommended Thai instead, as the AI flight was somewhat unreliable, according to him.
By the way, Brettee appears to be Geneva-based, so US airline stats are probably not so relevant for him (her?).
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B747-437B:
If Air India's 91.2% systemwide on-time record for 2002 equates to "often" late, then I shudder to see what adjectives you apply to the US airline industry which achieved a 80.75% on-time record in the same period.</font>
9V-SMU
Mar 25, 03, 2:48 am
Maybe you guys should read B747-437B's AI trip reports over at www.airwhiners.net (http://www.airwhiners.net) to get a better idea of AI.
Their planes do look old because of their livery. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/323792/M
B747-437B, was "Konark" the plane stalking you on your crazy Airline Security Tour last year?
Btw, does AI have codeshare service with SQ for BOM-SIN-TPE-LAX?
------------------
9V-SMU
The 1000th 747
Currently operated by Singapore Airlines
Bretteee
Mar 25, 03, 10:23 am
Yes Babu I avoid AI and US carriers now on transatlantic trips if possible.
Bretteee
Mar 25, 03, 10:28 am
B747, I should have said 30 years ago the London to New York flight was often late. The reason is that it arrived from India.
The first time because of a loooooooong delay, we were transferred to another carrier. It was easy in those days to transfer to another airline. The second time from New York to London on my return we were also late as the plane was delayed arriving from India. But I do remember it was a nice experience.
I have no clue whatsoever on their on time performance these days.
hsubbu
Mar 25, 03, 10:30 am
9VSMU
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Maybe you guys should read B747-437B's AI trip reports over at www.airwhiners.net (http://www.airwhiners.net) to get a better idea of AI.
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Can you please send the hyperlink again. I could not find B747-437B's trip report when I clicked through the above link
Thks!
pt
Mar 25, 03, 11:20 am
I only have anecdotal evidence based on limited experience, but I would agree that it is rather risky taking AI if you absolutely have to be somewhere on time. My BKK-DEL leg was 15 hours late on the outbound, and cancelled on the inbound. I took three domestic AI flights, one of which was cancelled (not good when there are only 2 flights/week) and one of which was about 5 hours late.
I was a tourist, so it didn't really matter, but I also took Jet Airways, the main domestic competition, and it is far, far superior. I think this is a fairly widely held view.
B747-437B
Mar 25, 03, 12:57 pm
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hsubbu:
Can you please send the hyperlink again.</font>
Try www.airwhiners.net/trip_report/ (http://www.airwhiners.net/trip_report/) for an archive of some reports from this forum (including a handful of my AI reports).
NickP 1K
Mar 25, 03, 6:25 pm
Sean/B747-437B; having flown LHR-DEL in Business last year I can say AI is OK, but not great...
When is the cabin going to see a makeover.? Even though the planes are NOT as old looking as NW's DC-10's I still get the feeling that it was a little ratty.
Also any word on the fleet update in general last word was B777's or A340's were being put to bid. What would AI do with the current fleet? Keep the A310's? Refresh the B747's??
The flight times on AI are normally better than LH and the BOM terminal better but AI has a way to go.
Oh yeah, as a POI I've gotten the cold attitude from the FA's as well. NEVER NEVER gotten attitude like that on Jet/9W. The FA's truly do believe they are "bollywood actresses" or something - as they seem full of themselves.
Sean; You may be getting DIFFERENT treatment than us as I'm sure you get ID's as someone to take care of.
Babu
Mar 26, 03, 11:23 am
Wow, I'm beginning to think maybe my experiences have been isolated, and most PIOs in J and Y class get sh*tty treatment.
Shame on AI if that is the case. Their major client base is Indian, and to treat PIOs that way is self-defeatist.
I did receive this cold shoulder treatment on LH by the Indian crew (the German crew was great). But never on Air India--and I'm a nobody--not a VIP, AI employee, etc.).