Yup exactly although I don�t remember the trolly in J for many many moons.

As far as first - I think Tata�s are determined to own the pax originating in India - having something to upgrade their best FF traveling on non discounted tickets is a great way to build locality and move people over from ME3. Jet did this really really well (only issue for them was their F used up a lot of space and was very heavy)/ The fact that AI�s F seat doesn�t take any more space and uses the same spares as J is a total bonus for AI. Also many global MNCs do allow their top tier to still fly paid F as do certain govt employees and NGOs. I think AI will be fine especially on LHR, NYC and SFO.

How does EY or EK having already got something similar detract from this being stunning. The new J is absolutely a big win for AI.

Now if you beetch about the PE or Y seats I could join you for that.

In the landscape of non-stop India-EU/US flights, closed door suites in J most certainly are a game changer.

Will have to see how the new seats and doors are maintained especially in J. The doors will not hold up to people leaning against it or putting their heavy carry on bags to rest on the frame.

Retrofitting is an one time expense, maintenance is usually 2x that amount depending on your customers.

Awful color scheme. Instead of a calming cabin, blood red seats for 15 hour economy flights. Unbelievable. Looks like a 90s motel.

Its not likely that anything is really going to get fixed on their old planes. They will make sure all aspects of safety are up to date but things like broken IFE & seats are items they are not bothered with as their new planes will be arriving soon. All repair work will be like putting on a band-aid. It may work temporarily but is likely to fail again soon.

The age-old question about AI is, can they do one without the other, or does the "chalta hai" mentality regarding the IFE and seats carry over to safety and maintenance generally? Tata was expected to change the mentality but the sorry state of the cabins suggests that not much has changed in over a year.

Sure, there have been no accidents...so far.

They are running Vistara very well so I have no doubt AI will be run the same way. I guess time will tell.

It has been nearly 20 months now since Tata took over. For the first year, they were somewhat hamstrung as they had to retain all employees per the purchase agreement. But now they are free from that. By now the IFEs and seats should have been fixed, especially on ULH routes. There are no more excuses. They need to step up big time to fix these issues even if it costs them money on the short term.

Unfortunately that doesn't work in their business model for the time being. No point fixing things that are going to be changed 6 months down the line. The situation sucks but they feel then can get away with it for now.

These kinds of refits/upgrades typically take years. Even if they wanted to burn money both in terms of seats they would end up changing again and revenue and other loses... it's not really something that's feasible. Even this mid 2024 timeline for refitting their 77W cabins - that's just a start date. We'll see what the end date for that upgrade will be. I'm sure it will be a minimum of 2-3 years before the entire fleet is upgraded.

10-20 years at this rate

The B77W seats have run out of spares and the original seat manufacturer is unwilling to provide any. The IFE is in a similar state.

Aircraft interiors are never high on any operators agenda, critical items are usually taken care of first to make sure the aircraft keeps flying and earning cash for the company.

If I am reading the news reports correctly, they will merely start refurb this summer, it's not that the whole fleet will go for refurb this summer (they don't have enough substitute planes to do that). They say the process will run through 2027, so one could encounter broken seats and broken IFE for at least another three years, and more if the schedule slips as it probably will.

https://www.financialexpress.com/bus...urces-3272438/

[Admittedly, the web special J fares for my desired dates are very tempting and sharply undercut the ME3 fares---as they should, given the vast differences.]

Yeah these refurbs take an enormous amount of time. And even if AI wants to send all their 77Ws together, no MRO is going to be able to handle that kind of work load WRT parts, equipment or manpower. So it of course will be a slow process. It's taking airlines 2-3 years to restart (I'm sure there's a better term for it) COVID grounded planes. The refit is a massive massive operation. Certainly AI should be clearer about timelines and expectations.

And it's quite a change to hear that AI is more competitive than ME3 fares. Usually they play on their direct to India/US card and have a price premium. Also compared to the ex-DLs... yeah sure QR is still miles ahead... in terms of planes, lounge etc. EY maybe slightly. EK... nah....