RobertS975

DL has announced that it will serve Delhi via AF codeshare through CDG beginning this June. Also, it will codeshare with AZ on the AZ MXP-BOM flight and AF will also codeshare on the DL metal CDG-BOM flight.

[This message has been edited by RobertS975 (edited 05-30-2002).]

ConcordeBoy

The "sudden" interest in India makes one wonder whether AF will re-enter talks on a possible relationship with Air India.

Let's hope that SkyTeam's history of aligning with the world's most frightening airlines (KE, SU, CI) doesnt rear its ugly head again... and we end up with Indian Airways

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Faire du ciel le plus bel endroit de la terre c'est impossible sans Concorde!
~ConcordeBoy

Flying Fan

I wonder what prompted the sudden interest to increase traffic to India. I know UA pulled out of DEL after 9-11 and I want to say NW has cut back. You'd think there are other, new places in Asia that DL could code-share to with its European partners.

B747-437B

Air France and Air India already have a pretty comprehensive relationship in place and AI is their largest codeshare partner outside Skyteam. Additionally, there is award and earnings reciprocity of the Frequence Plus and Flying Returns programs.


For starters, there is no airline called "Indian Airways". Do you mean Air India or Indian Airlines. In either case, why are they "frightening"?

[This message has been edited by B747-437B (edited 05-30-2002).]

theDeltaFlyer

I think folks are generalizing about asian carriers a bit too much. A few (okay, maybe more than a few) have, shall we say, spotty saftey records. So do some European, South American, etc., etc. Folks do need to get their facts straight. Throw stones where deserved, but please do get it right. You'll casue others to miss out on some perfectly fine carriers otherwise.

GrapeDane

B747-437B,
I know that you have a great knowledge concerning India. How would you recommend and rate the airlines of India?

[This message has been edited by GrapeDane (edited 05-31-2002).]

DLBOSFO

DL's interest in India must be related to the amount of traffic (and revenue) they are generating on the Mumbai Route and this ofcourse is related to the large number of Indians in the US who have strong ties to their families in India, flying to BOM (or other indian airports) and their parents flying from BOM (or other indian airports). We fly to Mumbai from Boston regularly on Delta and have always seen the flights in the FRA-BOM sector overbooked, in our last 2 trips we were offered compensation for being bumped both at FRA airport on our way to Mumbai and at BOM airport on our way back to Frankfurt. At one point the BOM-FRA was overbooked for weeks and the senior DL guy at Mumbai was ready to bump us for the next week everyday with $800 in DL vouchers for each day! We could do it only for a day. One should note all these overbookings are happening in the face of following carriers offering service between the east coast of the US and India: United/Lufthansa, Northwest/KLM, Air France, Swiss, British Airways, Singapore, Air India, Alitalia and our beloved DL.

[This message has been edited by DLBOSFO (edited 05-31-2002).]

[This message has been edited by DLBOSFO (edited 05-31-2002).]

Flying Fan

True. The FRA-BOM flights were always packed. Makes me wonder why they pulled out of DEL and allowed UA to get into the market. Some of the European carriers serve other Indian cities directly.

As far as I know, both Air India and Indian Airlines have good safety records.

knit-in

Either the man scares too easy, or it's some kind of "first world" arrogance.

abigail

I'd rate Air India (the international carrier) good at safety and well below average when it comes to service. If things go routinely, the service experience will be average. If anything goes slightly out of whack, don't expect help.

Among the domestic carriers, the private Jet Airways is clearly superior to the govt-owned Indian Airlines. Jet has an excellent network between the big cities (especially Mumbai), superb on-board service, brand-new planes, the works.

Indian Airlines has a bigger network and serves more smaller destinations than Jet, which concentrates on the major cities. Their fleet consists mostly of A300s and A320 series planes. Their safety record is average. The service is spotty; good in some sectors where they compete with Jet, and poor on other routes.

I'd highly recommend Jet for any intra-India travel on routes which they fly.

knit-in

I've had great experiences flying Jet Airways on DEL-BOM-DEL routes. Seat pitch is good but the service is excellent! (FF mileage can be accrued on NW)

I haven't travelled Indian Airlines since 1995 but other than the condition of the last plane I flew in all else was comparable to western carriers. I remember that flight was in three segments (Trivandrum-Cochin-Goa-Del), and lunch service was provided on two of the three sectors.

AI, other than some ground staff in Del, has been pretty nice. I especially remember a BOM based flight crew on a SIN-DEL flight who were amazing. The only drawback was that onboard alcohol had to be paid for ($1 for beer; $2 for hard liquor). This was again back in '95 so I don't know if things are different now.

obscure2k

State Dept. Advises Americans to Leave India
Some U.S. Diplomats Authorized to Depart the Country

(Washington Post 5/31/02)

debo_nair

I have flown DL to BOM and they have a great service. AI maynot be at par with DL but is much better than CONtinental or US air. I have flown Jet Airways within India and they are the best !! Their service is excellent and i would recommend it to anyone. I flew jet BOM - CBT last dec ....."first world " arrogance and ignorance can be noted in some of the postings here.

Flying Fan

I used to fly AI JFK-LHR-BOM many yrs ago, and it was fine. I flew IA in 1996 for nearly a month on an unlimited travel air pass. The service was fine - any flight longer than 45 minutes had a hot meal; flight attendants were friendly. The on-time performance is spotty. Safety wise it seemed fine.

B747-437B

Air India has NEVER charged for alcohol in ANY class of service EVER.