+1

And yes, this is my experience too...AI is def not the cheapest...I just chose not to fly with them...mostly...

As to Jet, yes I complain but they are still my mainline carrier...

As to the apologists, I really don't know what to say there...if you are happy, be done with it. i have flown many miles and I know what service levels should be...it's just not all there with India. We have to live with it, like we have to to live with many things there. Does not make our complaints inaccurate, just we hope improvements will come about.

Some likely, some not. Mostly not.

I too was bothered by OP's mention of "lemon juice". I have been flying AI for decades and they do not serve "lemon juice". It seemed like an attempt to invent complaints. This one is simply not credible.

Nobody has suggested that AI is always the cheapest. But sometimes they are. I just flew SIN-DEL on AI because on that day they were cheaper than other options, which included Jet, Kingfisher, and of course several international carriers. AI was not the cheapest on my return flight and I chose SQ. Malaysian was cheapest on other days but they didn't fit my schedule. So it goes with airfares.

Right. All those people who were filling Air Deccan planes were attracted by what else but an especially convenient schedule. Also there are so few flights along BOM-DEL that poor souls have to take whatever happens to be flying that week. And they are forced to drink lemon juice.

Who cares??? he was referring to the point that they had water in a carton on the trolley and did not want to pass them out...

Anyway, I'll let the OP expand on that.

You know, this is getting quite boring. Fly on!

Best,

Oliver

As for the lemon juice thing, my family and I were served that on LHR-BOM-LHR this past summer. It was more like lemonade, really (sweet flavored). And I think either 6E or SG (or both) also served it on HYD-DEL-MAA.

I don't know if IC serve it on their domestic routes since I've never flown them.

can we buy the AI/IC lemon juice in the United States

Thousands of people read FT and I can't tell you who cares and who doesn't. Speaking only for myself, if 1/2 of a sentence is a fabrication or exaggeration, then the other 1/2 becomes less credible.

Well, I have good news: participation in this forum is entirely voluntary.

I too have been served lemonade and lemon-favored water on many flights, but lemon juice would be something else and certainly not sweet. I don't know if OP in his personal life refers to lemonade as lemon juice; only he can clarify. When one is complaining, it is not good to be caught exaggerating.

Indeed, quite boring, not to mention rude and arrogant. As aktchi has already pointed out, participation in this thread is not mandatory. If you decided to opt out, many here would even welcome the move.

Moving on

Is it your contention that AI is never the cheapest?

Mr. aniruddh77's complaints are silly and a little snobbish. He complains about the Pilot's english-perhaps the pilot was not British educated a but I am quite sure that it was sufficient to communicate with the tower, the crew, and most of the passengers. "Lime water" is actually better for sickness and for swalloing tablets. If Mr. aniruddh77 felt unsafe about kids in exit row, he could have protested to the FAs instead of complaining in this forum-the FAs are not here to defend themselves.
I have travelled by practically every major airlines of the world and you can always find fault with some thing or other if you are in a foul mood. I have had terrible experience with Singapore Airlines, touted to be the best but was treated like a royalty by Aerofloat!
The only point I agree is the unruly running around of kids that seem to be prevelent in India-based airline flights, perhaps reflecting that more Indian families travel by "familiar" airlines rather than by "foreign" carriers (of course unless they are dirt cheap).

Of course, the same is true of Indian weddings, concert halls, political meetings, stores and shopping malls, etc. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, that's what we are. Cheers.

I do think the incessant harping on "lemon juice" is boring. Obviously the OP meant lemonade, not 100% juice from lemons. In any international forum, you can't assume an uniform vocabulary, you have to figure out what people mean.

Are we going to have spelling and grammar flames next?

I have never gone back to fly with AI after seeing a cockroach in the aircraft.

And you get mice on UA, DL and AA ..

http://www.eturbonews.com/732/mice-plane - united, AA
http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/...6-82/index.xml - delta

And this old (1999) article in Salon makes for fun reading.
http://www.salon.com/travel/diary/he...ter/print.html