ULH AI flights from/to SFO
 

According to several media sources, Pakistan has just extended the overflight ban for Indian aircraft by a month to morning of Oct 24th.

The CCU fuel stops for SFO flights will continue.

Air India seems to have already factored this in into current schedules until first week of Dec, so there shouldn't be any impact on schedules unless Air India now extends the fuel stop schedules to Jan affecting Dec flights.

The next update from Pakistan in a month.

They should let people traveling to CCU get off the plane at the fuel stop. It's cruel to make them fly to BOM and then go backwards.

Not only is it super inconvenient for passengers, its really strange that 3 days of the week AI flies BLR-CCU-SFO and 4 days of the week its BOM-CCU-SFO. If pax were allowed to onboard in CCU, AI could offer pax from DEL, BOM, BLR (and other cities connected to CCU) a one stop connection to SFO on all days. If Pak airspace will continue to stay restricted, AI should look at creating a scissor hub someplace midway.

I am not sure they can on board additional passengers or partially disembark passengers without disembarking all passengers and cleaning the plane along with safety checks.

This would essentially make it further away from being sold as a nonstop (with diversion for fuel). Nobody expects the overflight ban to exist indefinitely and once they receive the new ULH aircraft, they will be reverting to nonstop which is one of the primary competitive advantage of Air India from NA to India.

So, I don't see that being converted to a regular one-stop operation.

Each plane from SFO to BOM/BLR make a SFO-CCU-BOM-CCU-SFO-CCU-BLR-CCU-SFO cycle that repeats. It allows a flight every day from SFO to one of BLR/BOM with minimal numbers of planes necessary to be assigned to that route and no downtime for aircraft.

I m suggesting something like what SQ does JFK-FRA-SIN where technically its one direct flight but pax can onboard and de-board in FRA. The layover time remains the same and the number of planes required to do the routing too remains the same. It just gives added options to travelers without increasing travel time. Not that CCU-SFO is a very important market but its not as small as a rounding error and this way AI would be the only nonstop from CCU - basically trying to make a bad situation slightly better.

Probably because CCU stop is seen as temporary.

But there is another dynamic. A not insignificant portion of AI loads come from unaccompanied elderly or first time Indian travelers precisely to avoid a one stop where they have to deboard and board again that makes them uncomfortable. Even to the same gate and plane.

So, adding that necessary deboarding might make AI lose that advantage.

Refuel cost at FRA and LHR are high, so most of the flights to N America have fuel stop in Vienna. Also these flights are parked in remote areas at Vienna, only crew changes using stairs.

Before COVID, Air India used to have "domestic" international passengers. For example, ORD-DEL-CCU passengers would stay in transit in DEL and then complete their immigration and customs formalities at CCU. Those with DEL as final destination would do that in DEL. If that is reintroduced, AI can have CCU passengers get off at CCU.

I would fly from the east coast to SFO if a direct SFO-CCU flight existed.

The update next month will be yet another extension for another month & there is no end to this in sight.

Only flight from Delhi to Toronto is stopping at Vienna for fuel stop. All the flights from Delhi to NYC are flying directly. :confused:

New York City and Toronto are about 350 miles apart.

Why is that relevant?

YYZ is 70 miles closer to DEL than JFK is (DEL-JFK 7319 miles, DEL-YYZ 7246 miles).

Direct miles are misleading. DEL-YYZ direct approx 7200m, actual miles for non-stops over Pakistan approx 8400 miles. Add another 200 miles for avoiding Pakistan. Flight hours are also longer going West from headwinds.

That puts it out of range of 777 300ERs unless configured lightly. Hence the Vienna stop with 300ERs.
Same thing with DEL-ORD when AI uses 777W and has a Vienna fuel stop. But when they use the 777L it is non stop to ORD with over 9000 actual miles.

JFK actual miles are similar to YYZ but the A350 can do it nonstop.

I always use this little chart from a 2018 United investor conference:


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fade5f750.jpeg

The A359 has a better range than the B77L and B77W. AI can't use the Vistara B789 to the US because they don't have a decent crew rest (Vistara got SQ regional B789 configs for some reason as they never contemplated ULH flights to the US when they ordered those aircraft)