jasepl

And again!

As if they were rummaging through the back of the last cupboard in the guest room and discovered they had surplus aircraft.

Vintage Air India!

sowhatwegetdrunk

Seeing a few cancellations and crazy departure delays (10+ hours) on SFO-BLR route. Booked business class on this route using turkish miles hoping to catch the delta one cabin (leased by AI from Delta). If my flight were to be cancelled, do I have to deal with Air India or Turkish? Its a Friday flight (SFO-BLR) so the next one wont be available until Monday. Do they have access to reroute me in a United flight (EWR-DEL) for example or any other Star alliance partners (say SFO-FRA-BLR or something on Lufthansa)? I am not a fan of non-delta-one AI business cabins

PiperAtGatesofDawn

Depends on when it's cancelled. At the airport AI. I've not heard of these flights being cancelled... but yeah crazy bad delays for sure.

AI it's terrible with IRROPS so while they could put you on a different plane... it would be an uphill battle to get them to do that if your flight was cancelled and not just delayed.

peasant

Yep. I mean, why give competitors and customers a heads up on what you might be doing until the last minute? Keep them on their toes.

the UK merger is rumoured to be sooner rather than later as well. Who knows

jasepl

Which competitors? For what exactly? Scheduling flights to Europe less than 6 (ish - didn't count exactly) weeks impacts no "competitor".

peasant

I may have left off the sarcasm emoji! Or think of it as AI gift to last minute backpackers who haven�t booked their tickets yet.

I do feel sorry for them a bit, a big fleet of 788 without enough seats to be economical vs larger aircraft, and a terrible business product at the moment must be hard to schedule. Probably �how can we lose the least money� comes into it.

Anish

They will most likely rebook you on SFO-BOM/DEL with a connection to BLR.

CaliguyNYC

It�s peak summer season to EU. I think AI knows how much they can make/lose rather than keeping an extra plane not flying. Remember the first few months of any flight probably lose money so might as well do it over peak season. On one forum someone mentioned Indian school holidays not matching EU summer. Let me tell you Indian tourists were all over Europe last summer - I was in BCN, AMS, LHR, CDG 2 times each over the dull summer. Saw Indian tourists in amounts haven�t ever seen. OF AI�s product the 788 J seats aren�t bad (not up to today�s standard) but same as what Turkish offers on many of their planes.

peasant

All valid points, which is why almost all airlines would want to launch/ increase long haul routes at least 6 months in advance, to give as much time to fill the early flights.

actually I suspect the spare aircraft were meant to be in the hanger for the interior refresh, and now that has been delayed might as well fly them as long as covers the operational costs

PiperAtGatesofDawn

See AI does look to FT for strategic advice on route planning etc. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com...le68167891.ece.

They don't when it comes to their FFP or baggage allowance and stuff... but at least they do this.

peasant

Meanwhile, QF announces more BLR flights for December, giving plenty of time to sell. So also taking advice from FlyerTalk! 😄

oliver2002

Airlines with stable established fleets announce schedule updates well in advance and firm the schedule as the start of the winter/summer schedule draws near. For example the Summer 2025 schedule appeared in the systems last month and the winter 2024/25 schedule is being updated and firmed in late may.

AI has the complex challenge of new aircraft joining the fleet, crew training for the new types and retrofits not happening as per schedule. It seems the A359 is taking over some midhaul B787 routes as crews pass their line checks. This and other B787 becoming available (as new B777s come into the fleet and crews pass their checks for the B777) has led to some B787 routes being added at short notice. Since the EU3 are similarly constrained with crew and aircraft shortages these routes are low hanging fruits waiting to be picked. The money spinners would be extra capacity on the nonstop India-US routes which is currently totally underserved. But for that you need crews and rated aircraft (ETOPS, polar route etc) which are in real short supply.