Scratched seats, ripped seats, cracked screens. How is this allowed to fly?

Absolutely unacceptable, and really unfortunate that you got one of the older aircraft here. Please make sure to highlight these issues in the feedback form they will send you after the flight, and highlight these images on Twitter (where they are more active).

I hope the soft product was better (which generally is the case with AI).

As long as the aircraft is safe to fly, they don't care what condition the interiors are in. This is the course of action they have decided to take till their new planes arrive.

if they can't even keep a seat clean and functional how can the engines be 100%. I have been on subways cleaner than an Air India first class. They really are a disgrace to star alliance.

Simple: anything to do with safety, flight instruments, engines, and fuselage is maintained and handled by an entirely different team of people, who have to get specifically certified to work on the parts that they work with, with internationally coordinated oversight and monitoring efforts. Being lax on these would mean the airline is deemed unsafe to fly, and hundreds, if not thousands, of people would lose their certifications/jobs/credibility.

Inside the aircraft, as long as the seats allow for evacuation within a stipulated time frame, have enough space in between them, and do not lead to weight distribution changing significantly, an airline can do whatever it wants without a aviation safety regulator stepping in.

This might be under the purview of a consumer rights regulator, though.

Aircraft safety is at 100%. They have taken a decision not to put in any money to repair the old seats because they are going to be replaced soon. In fact, for most of these seats, they won't be able to repair them even if they wanted to as the spare parts would no longer be available.

I'm avoiding AI as much as I can during this period. I don't expect the seat situation to change till the new planes are put in service.

Apparently it is luxury experience. Luxury to who? Anyone who pays 6000+ for this garbage or redeems 100,000+ points is not going to find this luxurious.

But surely you had heard about the state of AI's cabins etc? It seems like you were surprised by the state of things.

It's awful for sure and some of the problems of their making and some are from external factors, but surely you knew that things aren't well at all in front of the plane, unless you're flying an ex-EY plane.

What were your expectations going into this flight?

No I relied on the website and didnt do google searches for the quality of the product.

So whether you paid cash or miles it's a huge sum. You should have looked up a couple of reviews. You can't say I'll buy something that costs $6000 and depend only on what their own advertisement says. AI or not that's asking for trouble.

Mind you, I'm not excusing AI's B777s & 787s. They have become absolute dog do do and should be avoided. I think they're mainly flying them out of corporate greed. At the same time doing a massive public service because of the high volume of IND-USA direct travel and there's no other airline that could step up and pick up this load. Prices and travel efforts would increase significantly if they just stopped flying those broken down planes.

Two recent reports of absolutely disgusting states of AIs F cabins. And a flop show on the service delivery as well.

I'm surprised (going by 6 F flights this year, most of which were excellent) yet not surprised (it's still Air India).

That said, if I were either of these two people, I would have walked right off the plane.

Hi all. Just wondering if anyone has an idea of how/when Air India releases F reward availability (specifically to partners - Lifemiles or Aeroplan). I've been consistently checking for seats next week and there has been nothing for a while, but today a F seat popped up for the 23rd. Ideally would like to fly 24th or 25th instead so wondering if they usually release when it gets to less than a week or this may have just been a cancellation/luck.

Have a bunch of miles sitting in Lifemiles I'm trying to get rid of so thought this would be a good way to do it!

It would have been a cancellation. They release seats about T-350 days and don't release additional seats later.

Good to know, thank you!

Any experiences with the Asian Vegetarian meal in F out of BOM?