KTM-DEL-SFO
 

Has anyone flown Del-SFO (business) in recent months? I'm seeing that the plane they'll be using is 777-300 ER and it's got nothing but rave reviews from everyone.... best long haul offering with immaculate IFE and what not... How ....ed am I?

Also, what's the lounge I'll have an access to in Delhi?

EDIT : I forgot to mention, this is for AIR INDIA.

Is this a parody post?

No Venky. A sarcastic dig at Hair India. I'd have imagined hair india had upgraded their plane to SFO (silicon valley and all). Videos, reviews seem pretty wild.

Suspected it might be.

There are a few interior refurbished 777Ws that are assigned to DEL-SFO route once in a while but not consistently and often substituted at last minute with the old dilapidated planes.

You will survive just fine if you imagine you are flying 20 years ago and overlook worn out things and are not unlucky to find your seat broken. Power outlets may not work. IFE mostly works but not very good. No WiFi of course. It is just getting from point A to point B.

Air India has no planes available to change this situation for US west coast. The full refurbishment of 777ws seem stalled until into 2027. A350X may or may not be deployed on this route this year.

Silicon valley/tech has stopped being a revenue generator for AI long ago whether SFO or BLR. Almost no techie chooses AI out of choice especially for premium classes. It is primarily techie's parents doing this route and a few people who had no choice but to take this flight or only one with mileage awards available. A captive audience. So no pressure to prioritize or change soon until new planes arrive.

You can use the new Maharaja Lounge at DEL International terminal. It is quite good.

appreciate it.

I managed to snag a seat on ktm-del-sfo route for 110k aeromiles plus $120 for fuel. Thought it was too good to pass up because the only other decent option would’ve been turkish but 185k miles plus $1000 in fuel and surcharge is a tad too much, IMO.


Ideally, id have flown qsuites for 170k flexi but qatar dont have flights scheduled to sfo until june 10 or so. i just didnt wanna bother with the hassle of a repositioning flight (dfw, seattle).

I have been watching quite a few videos and some images are simply jaaring. I am just hopeful (been praying, too) that my seats wont be broken.


I guess brand new maharaja lounge is the most exciting part of the trip.

also, apparently, they also used to have boeing 777-200 (old delta) places that looked decent. shame that’s not the case anymore.

I've flown on the old 777s recently & its definitely not a situation I would wish on anyone willingly.

Having said that, if your seat works then its comfortable enough to get you from point A - B. Food is good & if you rely on bringing you own entertainment on your phone or tab or laptop then you will get through the flight pretty comfortably.

The new Maharaja lounge in DEL is nice.

i didnt bring my ipad but ill definitely be downloading at least 5 movies off netflix/prime etc.

the more i think of it, the more hopeful i am of a functioning seat that will allow me to get good sleep. I definitely wish to make the most out of the lounge (wonder if they have a shower) food….

The lounge will be a nice experience. They have showers & the food is good.

DEL Maharaja Lounge has shower rooms. But a bit cramped and uses a common Indian bathroom paradigm of not isolating (or sufficiently damming) the shower area from the rest of the bathroom designed based on the legacy of bathing using a bucket and mug sitting down. So after a shower, you might find the entire floor wet with water in which to change.

You are right about parents using this, it is always generally a good deal price wise and IFE mostly works. For passengers of India origin, there are about 20 odd movies in Hindi and about the same in English and a few regionals, good enough. The seats are as good as any carrier (except may be QR or SQ). Food is probably the best or nearly as good as the best, based on the profiles of the passengers who use AI. Now many techies on business may be forced to use it as companies budgets decrease and if you a FF member of United, it is a good value.

Ive watched at least 10 vlogs/youtube videos. there is no way air india 173 777-er seats are better than Nepal/Biman Bangladesh airlines, let alone “as good as any carrier”. of course, id be happy to be corrected (and much relived, too).

there are people on reddit, fb sharing experiences of being downgraded to economy from first and business class seats on this plane.

please share any videos, pics you might have taken. i hope you’re not talking about air india business on other routes. some seem to be as good as most airlines which is unsurprising because they must be newer planes.

Watch this at 0:48 seconds. how is this even deemed “business class” long haul let alone being comparable to most airlines?

I've flown that model 777 IAD-DEL in business class. The service was great, the food was good, and the seats were a problem. Mine was semi-broken so I needed a FA to help recline the seat and to bring the seat back up. I'm also tall, so that old-fashioned version of seat doesn't support my legs much if I want to sleep, but I did get more sleep than I would have in economy. The ex-Delta and ex-Etihad 777's business class was much better.

A new plane isn't always perfect either. A recent DEL-JFK A350 flight I was on had the IFE and Wi-Fi fail halfway thru the 20+ hour flight. Even the map stopped working.

VT-AEF, the B77L shown on that video, is long gone. Your best bet among the B77W are the 6 ex Etihad frames (VT-AEM thru EQ).

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/indi...ease-b77e.html

The ex-EY 777ws don't fly to SFO.

VT-ALL on DEL-SFO as AI 173 on Wed returned to DEL with a technical issue for a 9 hour flight to nowhere.

https://livefromalounge.com/air-indi...-173-may-2026/