It can't be worth more than SQ R can it?
And, those are almost always available.

I think you missed a thousand somewhere in there... 75 thousand crore might possibly sustain AI for the next 40 years.

You missed the "k" next to 75 in his post.. ;)

as of late upgrades have been really hard to come by for the babus....my source in the civil aviation ministry tells me that the current minister is pretty strict about the misuse of upgrades & wants a report daily on who was upgraded on their international flights....

Not just AI. Two months ago my IXC-BOM was wide open until check when my upgrade was denied. On board were 2 paid pax's and 6 upgrades for Jet family. I know as I made a mini deal with the ground staff who know me quite well.

Another time I was on LHR-DEL and my uncle who had confirmed seat in Premiere for another day was denied a seat and given Y and across my row was a Jet manager in Premiere. :td:

i agree....jet is now doing this a lot more than ai....infact, its getting harder to do this at ai & easier with jet....

There is actually a limited quota of free first class tickets assignable to the babu/neta class. The Civil Aviation Ministry primarily hands out free tickets for economy class, even when it comes to domestic flights. Most of the shenanigans related to the forward cabin on short and long-haul flights is a function of AI staff at the airport.

That is nothing new and has been part of the picture going back more than a decade.

A few civil aviation ministers who were even cognizant of who their political builders were have had to be careful in handing out free tickets even to those who built their careers. Economy class handouts seem to not spark jealousy and bureaucratic maneuvering the way premium cabin tickets/upgrades do, and so the default has been to try to keep the handouts primarily in economy class.

As of now, it seems to be easier to get upgrades on 9W than on AI. Judging from the Facebook posts from some children of Jet staffers (and in some cases EX Jet Staffers), some people seem to be doing a lot of whizzing around the country in Business class (in this spec case, BOM-GOI-BOM) without even taking a ticket! I am not sure how it works, or how they gain entry into airport, but apparently, they just land up at the airport and wait for a free seat on the next flight. its an employee privelege apparently, extended in this case to the son and daughter of a Jet staffer who had just retired.

in another case, a friend posted on his FB wall that he was going to wait for next (W flight to BOM since a J seat was avail on that flight while "only" Y was available on earlier flight. So its quite common.

I have flown 9W just 6 times in 3 months, and i have been upgraded 5 times out of 6. The only time I wasnt, i was dressed in a tacky TShirt and shorts which may have played a role.

AI on the other hand has become quite stingy with upgrades post 2008 or so. I am told (cant confirm) by surly employees that the current minister has been quite anal in monitoring free travel by employees and extended family, going to the extent of conducting surprise visits to airports. He apparently even asks for reports on how many upgrades were given for free and how many were sold and for what reason in case it was free. Which is why you find AI staff trying to sell u an upgrade (4 to 6k per flight) when u ask for one.

In some ways, 9W seems to have turned into our old Air India, the international one.

Wow that's amazing.

I flew 9W 6 times in the past 8 days and didn't get upgraded even once.. :(

were these complimentary upgrades/op-ups or against miles/instruments/cash?

It could be even less so that more people would take the revenue upgrades, like what happened at UA with TODs.

impressive....i don't think i've been upgraded 5 times in all the years i have been flying on 9w....

in 9W's case, they were free: i dont know op-up. 2 times i was told of upgrade while sitting in the lounge: and they wrote my new seat number with a pen on the boarding card. But i didnt pay.

I dont think i should name the station on a public forum, but 4 times out of the 5, it was at the same city from where i fly out often. Second thing is they know I am from the media! :)

this sort of thing was reserved only for Plats earlier who Jet used to treat like Gods. I remember seeing Plat members getting this treatment and thinking "mera number kab aayega!".