why do they say AI food and cabin service are good?
Jul 22, 2012, 1:29 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,632
why do they say AI food and cabin service are good?
I flew AI in J last week, ORD-(FRA)-DEL-CCU. My last time on AI was in 1985.
First the good: check-in was efficient, flights were on time, assisted by high tailwinds (except for DEL-CCU which was one hour late taking off, because of late arrival of the previous flight, but adequate information was given at the gate and profuse apologies in flight---a big change from many years ago). I am not sure why the J seat on the 773 is neither flat nor horizontal, but it is close, and comfortable enough. For the price, one can't complain. My luggage arrived safely, and emerged very quickly in CCU.
I must say, though, that the food and service were not what I'd expected.
For the first meal there was no menu, only a surly FA saying "veg or nonveg?" When pressed she admitted that they also had "continental" (I haven't heard that word in years).
The food came all on one tray, the items still in their aluminum containers (i.e. not plated). Certainly there was a large quantity, but otherwise the food wasn't distinctive in any way. Just as an example, the hot item was a rectangular reheating container with rice in the middle, vegetable on one side, chicken on the other. The quality was comparable to economy class---edible, definitely not memorable.
I was woken up ~2.5 hours before landing in Frankfurt; apparently the fact that I might prefer to sleep rather than eat hadn't occurred to them.
No choice offered for this meal, just a tray put in front of me. Starting with this second meal we got real plates. No choice after takeoff either, just a breakfast tray consisting of convenience-store-grade baked goods. Finally, 3 hours before landing in DEL, we actually got a menu with 4 items to choose from. Again, large quantity, mediocre quality (lots of potato in the cooked dishes, lots of rice, bread). I would guess they wanted to feed us so far in advance of landing so that they could finish their work and relax.
No kits were ever handed out.
Much of my J flying is on AA these days, because I have miles and status. No one will accuse AA of being a top airline, but J meals are served course by course, with some attempt at putting on a show (e.g. sundaes). When they still had ORD-DEL, their Indian entrees were produced by Vermillion, an upscale Chicago restaurant. I'm not saying the food was great, but it was certainly better than AI.
The AI 'lounge' in Delhi T3 is the Dare Devils sports bar. The national airline can't operate its own lounge in its biggest hub? You can't even see a flight departure screen from the bar.
The former-IC domestic flight was better, perhaps because I was expecting less. Service was definitely more attentive and pleasant, and while there was less food, it was better tasting and better presented on plates, which is a great tradeoff. But my last time on 9W there were menus and options in domestic J (same route); nothing like that here.
So my overall experience was the reverse of the conventional wisdom: no irrops, but forgettable food and service.
First the good: check-in was efficient, flights were on time, assisted by high tailwinds (except for DEL-CCU which was one hour late taking off, because of late arrival of the previous flight, but adequate information was given at the gate and profuse apologies in flight---a big change from many years ago). I am not sure why the J seat on the 773 is neither flat nor horizontal, but it is close, and comfortable enough. For the price, one can't complain. My luggage arrived safely, and emerged very quickly in CCU.
I must say, though, that the food and service were not what I'd expected.
For the first meal there was no menu, only a surly FA saying "veg or nonveg?" When pressed she admitted that they also had "continental" (I haven't heard that word in years).
The food came all on one tray, the items still in their aluminum containers (i.e. not plated). Certainly there was a large quantity, but otherwise the food wasn't distinctive in any way. Just as an example, the hot item was a rectangular reheating container with rice in the middle, vegetable on one side, chicken on the other. The quality was comparable to economy class---edible, definitely not memorable.
I was woken up ~2.5 hours before landing in Frankfurt; apparently the fact that I might prefer to sleep rather than eat hadn't occurred to them.
No choice offered for this meal, just a tray put in front of me. Starting with this second meal we got real plates. No choice after takeoff either, just a breakfast tray consisting of convenience-store-grade baked goods. Finally, 3 hours before landing in DEL, we actually got a menu with 4 items to choose from. Again, large quantity, mediocre quality (lots of potato in the cooked dishes, lots of rice, bread). I would guess they wanted to feed us so far in advance of landing so that they could finish their work and relax.
No kits were ever handed out.
Much of my J flying is on AA these days, because I have miles and status. No one will accuse AA of being a top airline, but J meals are served course by course, with some attempt at putting on a show (e.g. sundaes). When they still had ORD-DEL, their Indian entrees were produced by Vermillion, an upscale Chicago restaurant. I'm not saying the food was great, but it was certainly better than AI.
The AI 'lounge' in Delhi T3 is the Dare Devils sports bar. The national airline can't operate its own lounge in its biggest hub? You can't even see a flight departure screen from the bar.
The former-IC domestic flight was better, perhaps because I was expecting less. Service was definitely more attentive and pleasant, and while there was less food, it was better tasting and better presented on plates, which is a great tradeoff. But my last time on 9W there were menus and options in domestic J (same route); nothing like that here.
So my overall experience was the reverse of the conventional wisdom: no irrops, but forgettable food and service.
Last edited by SeeBuyFly; Jul 22, 2012 at 7:31 pm Reason: kits
Jul 22, 2012, 8:23 pm
#2
Used to be shahadil
Join Date: Mar 2012
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Posts: 805
I flew AI in J last week, ORD-(FRA)-DEL-CCU. My last time on AI was in 1985.
First the good: check-in was efficient, flights were on time, assisted by high tailwinds (except for DEL-CCU which was one hour late taking off, because of late arrival of the previous flight, but adequate information was given at the gate and profuse apologies in flight---a big change from many years ago). I am not sure why the J seat on the 773 is neither flat nor horizontal, but it is close, and comfortable enough. For the price, one can't complain. My luggage arrived safely, and emerged very quickly in CCU.
I must say, though, that the food and service were not what I'd expected.
For the first meal there was no menu, only a surly FA saying "veg or nonveg?" When pressed she admitted that they also had "continental" (I haven't heard that word in years).
The food came all on one tray, the items still in their aluminum containers (i.e. not plated). Certainly there was a large quantity, but otherwise the food wasn't distinctive in any way. Just as an example, the hot item was a rectangular reheating container with rice in the middle, vegetable on one side, chicken on the other. The quality was comparable to economy class---edible, definitely not memorable.
I was woken up ~2.5 hours before landing in Frankfurt; apparently the fact that I might prefer to sleep rather than eat hadn't occurred to them.
No choice offered for this meal, just a tray put in front of me. Starting with this second meal we got real plates. No choice after takeoff either, just a breakfast tray consisting of convenience-store-grade baked goods. Finally, 3 hours before landing in DEL, we actually got a menu with 4 items to choose from. Again, large quantity, mediocre quality (lots of potato in the cooked dishes, lots of rice, bread). I would guess they wanted to feed us so far in advance of landing so that they could finish their work and relax.
No kits were ever handed out.
Much of my J flying is on AA these days, because I have miles and status. No one will accuse AA of being a top airline, but J meals are served course by course, with some attempt at putting on a show (e.g. sundaes). When they still had ORD-DEL, their Indian entrees were produced by Vermillion, an upscale Chicago restaurant. I'm not saying the food was great, but it was certainly better than AI.
The AI 'lounge' in Delhi T3 is the Dare Devils sports bar. The national airline can't operate its own lounge in its biggest hub? You can't even see a flight departure screen from the bar.
The former-IC domestic flight was better, perhaps because I was expecting less. Service was definitely more attentive and pleasant, and while there was less food, it was better tasting and better presented on plates, which is a great tradeoff. But my last time on 9W there were menus and options in domestic J (same route); nothing like that here.
So my overall experience was the reverse of the conventional wisdom: no irrops, but forgettable food and service.
First the good: check-in was efficient, flights were on time, assisted by high tailwinds (except for DEL-CCU which was one hour late taking off, because of late arrival of the previous flight, but adequate information was given at the gate and profuse apologies in flight---a big change from many years ago). I am not sure why the J seat on the 773 is neither flat nor horizontal, but it is close, and comfortable enough. For the price, one can't complain. My luggage arrived safely, and emerged very quickly in CCU.
I must say, though, that the food and service were not what I'd expected.
For the first meal there was no menu, only a surly FA saying "veg or nonveg?" When pressed she admitted that they also had "continental" (I haven't heard that word in years).
The food came all on one tray, the items still in their aluminum containers (i.e. not plated). Certainly there was a large quantity, but otherwise the food wasn't distinctive in any way. Just as an example, the hot item was a rectangular reheating container with rice in the middle, vegetable on one side, chicken on the other. The quality was comparable to economy class---edible, definitely not memorable.
I was woken up ~2.5 hours before landing in Frankfurt; apparently the fact that I might prefer to sleep rather than eat hadn't occurred to them.
No choice offered for this meal, just a tray put in front of me. Starting with this second meal we got real plates. No choice after takeoff either, just a breakfast tray consisting of convenience-store-grade baked goods. Finally, 3 hours before landing in DEL, we actually got a menu with 4 items to choose from. Again, large quantity, mediocre quality (lots of potato in the cooked dishes, lots of rice, bread). I would guess they wanted to feed us so far in advance of landing so that they could finish their work and relax.
No kits were ever handed out.
Much of my J flying is on AA these days, because I have miles and status. No one will accuse AA of being a top airline, but J meals are served course by course, with some attempt at putting on a show (e.g. sundaes). When they still had ORD-DEL, their Indian entrees were produced by Vermillion, an upscale Chicago restaurant. I'm not saying the food was great, but it was certainly better than AI.
The AI 'lounge' in Delhi T3 is the Dare Devils sports bar. The national airline can't operate its own lounge in its biggest hub? You can't even see a flight departure screen from the bar.
The former-IC domestic flight was better, perhaps because I was expecting less. Service was definitely more attentive and pleasant, and while there was less food, it was better tasting and better presented on plates, which is a great tradeoff. But my last time on 9W there were menus and options in domestic J (same route); nothing like that here.
So my overall experience was the reverse of the conventional wisdom: no irrops, but forgettable food and service.
Jul 22, 2012, 10:00 pm
#3
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Goa, India
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I agree with the OP.. AI's J service is pretty much a premium economy service with decent wine and good seats.
Jul 23, 2012, 12:40 am
#4
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: bombay
Posts: 1,408
Blasphemy !
How can you even say something like that ? It is a scientifically proven* fact that AI's premium everything is the best the world has ever seen. Calling the hardware, catering, presentation and crew fantastic is also an understatement; they're all that amazing.
*I flew AI economy on BOM-AMD. Then I extrapolated that experience (by putting on my AI-stained glasses and reading a textbook which was provided to me by my "source"). That is the scientific basis for concluding everything about Air India is far and away better than what even the likes of Cathay and Singapore can dream of offering.
QED, my friend. QED.
____________________
Okay, ridicule done, I'll be surprised if AI don't have their own lounge at Palam. If nothing else, they've been rather quick to get lounges in place (eg: they had their new Heathrow lounge ready before they even moved into T4) and even at Sahar, which is basically a spoke for the now, they were putting the finishing touches on a new airside lounge.
Maybe they have one (their website claims it's on the first floor of T3) and it was - like so much else at Air India - not currently functional.
In terms of food quality, I have found AI to usually be good. But even the single best meal I have had on Air India does not match up to several meals I have had on Jet or Delta or Swiss or Air France, to use just a few examples.
And in terms of presentation, it's rather like what a BMC school will give the children on a picnic to Rani Baug. Even a much-maligned American carrier such as Delta does a rather good job with presentation and service style.
Do AI still hand out packaged wafers as hors d'oeuvres?
How can you even say something like that ? It is a scientifically proven* fact that AI's premium everything is the best the world has ever seen. Calling the hardware, catering, presentation and crew fantastic is also an understatement; they're all that amazing.
*I flew AI economy on BOM-AMD. Then I extrapolated that experience (by putting on my AI-stained glasses and reading a textbook which was provided to me by my "source"). That is the scientific basis for concluding everything about Air India is far and away better than what even the likes of Cathay and Singapore can dream of offering.
QED, my friend. QED.
____________________
Okay, ridicule done, I'll be surprised if AI don't have their own lounge at Palam. If nothing else, they've been rather quick to get lounges in place (eg: they had their new Heathrow lounge ready before they even moved into T4) and even at Sahar, which is basically a spoke for the now, they were putting the finishing touches on a new airside lounge.
Maybe they have one (their website claims it's on the first floor of T3) and it was - like so much else at Air India - not currently functional.
In terms of food quality, I have found AI to usually be good. But even the single best meal I have had on Air India does not match up to several meals I have had on Jet or Delta or Swiss or Air France, to use just a few examples.
And in terms of presentation, it's rather like what a BMC school will give the children on a picnic to Rani Baug. Even a much-maligned American carrier such as Delta does a rather good job with presentation and service style.
Do AI still hand out packaged wafers as hors d'oeuvres?
Last edited by jasepl; Jul 23, 2012 at 1:09 am
Jul 23, 2012, 2:58 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Delhi, India
Programs: Air India Silver Edge, Jet Airways Silver
Posts: 271
On AI international, what i have seen is that the quality of the service a lot is directly proportional to the personality of the IFS: inflight supervisor. usually a male on AI (though IC intl has some women doing this role), the IFS determines what happens and where and when (i think).
Generally a good IFS results in good service: properly spaced out etc. if you see a fat, balding Anglo-Indian fellow onboard as IFS, a lousy service of the kind described above should be expected. the aunties are usually good at this sort of thing.
That said, i dont think they have a plated from cart in J: never seen it. That seems to have been in F only. Most of my travel has been on A310's on regional only. My only time on 747 i remember was similar to 310 service: larger portions than Y and individual courses in tray.
>> Do AI still hand out packaged wafers as hors d'oeuvres?
last flight with them, 777 to NRT, we were served some strange warm toast with onion/tomato salad on top. dunno what that is called, it was ok but it seemed to have been dipped in olive oil or something.
Generally a good IFS results in good service: properly spaced out etc. if you see a fat, balding Anglo-Indian fellow onboard as IFS, a lousy service of the kind described above should be expected. the aunties are usually good at this sort of thing.
That said, i dont think they have a plated from cart in J: never seen it. That seems to have been in F only. Most of my travel has been on A310's on regional only. My only time on 747 i remember was similar to 310 service: larger portions than Y and individual courses in tray.
>> Do AI still hand out packaged wafers as hors d'oeuvres?
last flight with them, 777 to NRT, we were served some strange warm toast with onion/tomato salad on top. dunno what that is called, it was ok but it seemed to have been dipped in olive oil or something.
Jul 23, 2012, 3:29 am
#6
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Jul 23, 2012, 3:45 am
#7
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Blasphemy !
*I flew AI economy on BOM-AMD. Then I extrapolated that experience (by putting on my AI-stained glasses and reading a textbook which was provided to me by my "source"). That is the scientific basis for concluding everything about Air India is far and away better than what even the likes of Cathay and Singapore can dream of offering.
QED, my friend. QED.
*I flew AI economy on BOM-AMD. Then I extrapolated that experience (by putting on my AI-stained glasses and reading a textbook which was provided to me by my "source"). That is the scientific basis for concluding everything about Air India is far and away better than what even the likes of Cathay and Singapore can dream of offering.
QED, my friend. QED.
Jul 23, 2012, 6:23 am
#9
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Jul 23, 2012, 9:10 am
#11
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: bombay
Posts: 1,408
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/5.0.0.822 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)
Well, its good if AI have discovered what canapes and appetisers are. Hopefully they have also learnt that one should remove the film before plonking the bowl onto the First passenger's tray table. And that poking and going "Vheeg or Naan-Vheeg saar" belong in a dhaba not in a First cabin.
That said, even if AI's inflight service quality suddenly became better than Cathay and Singapore (it's won't, but let's pretend for a minute) they suffer from a much larger problem, that of perception. And AI seem to not be concerned about that at all. No matter what they do in terms of service quality, unless they acknowledge and address their disgraceful image, most people won't choose to fly AI over the competition, if all else were equal.
The truth about Air India lies somewhere in between : that they're not as bad as we imagine (or remember) and nowhere as good as some claim.
In spite of that, no matter how wonderful AI become, they will never be able to so much as break even. That alone is the only reason needed to justify AI's immediate winding up.
Well, its good if AI have discovered what canapes and appetisers are. Hopefully they have also learnt that one should remove the film before plonking the bowl onto the First passenger's tray table. And that poking and going "Vheeg or Naan-Vheeg saar" belong in a dhaba not in a First cabin.
That said, even if AI's inflight service quality suddenly became better than Cathay and Singapore (it's won't, but let's pretend for a minute) they suffer from a much larger problem, that of perception. And AI seem to not be concerned about that at all. No matter what they do in terms of service quality, unless they acknowledge and address their disgraceful image, most people won't choose to fly AI over the competition, if all else were equal.
The truth about Air India lies somewhere in between : that they're not as bad as we imagine (or remember) and nowhere as good as some claim.
In spite of that, no matter how wonderful AI become, they will never be able to so much as break even. That alone is the only reason needed to justify AI's immediate winding up.
Jul 23, 2012, 10:43 am
#12
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Let me admit that I am among those who have felt and said that AI cabin service/food was better than AI's reputation or ground service (should you be unfortunate enough to experience an irrop).
However, I never flew AI in premium cabin. It was always in coach. So a case of apples and oranges.
PS. We all feel the loss of AA's ORD-DEL nonstop. I hope it will return after chapter11 is sorted out.
However, I never flew AI in premium cabin. It was always in coach. So a case of apples and oranges.
PS. We all feel the loss of AA's ORD-DEL nonstop. I hope it will return after chapter11 is sorted out.
Last edited by aktchi; Jul 23, 2012 at 11:47 am
Jul 23, 2012, 11:43 pm
#14
Join Date: Jul 2005
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bah. what happened to the AI of old .. they used to have salvador dali designed tableware back in the day. And even in the 80s / early 90s there was this ad "the cheese, camembert, the tableware, silver, the airline, air india". AI was still no great shakes in terms of irrops back then but if you flew business class longhaul (NOT their AB3 to singapore / kl / dubai) then you would end up treated like a king.
Jul 24, 2012, 8:38 am
#15
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I must say, though, that the food and service were not what I'd expected.
For the first meal there was no menu, only a surly FA saying "veg or nonveg?" When pressed she admitted that they also had "continental" (I haven't heard that word in years).
The food came all on one tray, the items still in their aluminum containers (i.e. not plated). Certainly there was a large quantity, but otherwise the food wasn't distinctive in any way. Just as an example, the hot item was a rectangular reheating container with rice in the middle, vegetable on one side, chicken on the other. The quality was comparable to economy class---edible, definitely not memorable.
I was woken up ~2.5 hours before landing in Frankfurt; apparently the fact that I might prefer to sleep rather than eat hadn't occurred to them.
No choice offered for this meal, just a tray put in front of me. Starting with this second meal we got real plates. No choice after takeoff either, just a breakfast tray consisting of convenience-store-grade baked goods. Finally, 3 hours before landing in DEL, we actually got a menu with 4 items to choose from. Again, large quantity, mediocre quality (lots of potato in the cooked dishes, lots of rice, bread). I would guess they wanted to feed us so far in advance of landing so that they could finish their work and relax.
No kits were ever handed out.
), so I can't really comment.However, contrary to your experience, the meals were plated, and the amenity kit was decent.
Choices were described ("chicken with rice, and vegetable") instead of veg, non-veg, continental, etc. (and on that note, "continental" isn't that uncommon).
Meal quality usually ranges from edible to great, but I've never had a bad meal on AI.
Seems like the experience depends a lot on how hard-working the FAs are, and it looks like you unluckily got some lazy FAs.