AIR INDIA   Passenger Reviews and Passenger Trip Reports

AIR INDIA customer review : 19 February 2009: by Peter Chan

Customer Rating : 4/5

London to Delhi Business Class. We flew on new 777-300 - lovely plane, attentive crew and reasonably good food. Lovely reclining seats but the inflight entertainment was poor. The Maharaja Lounge at Heathrow was a bit shabby but apart from that everything else was good. The return flight was equally good.

AIR INDIA customer review : 21 January 2009: by Sam Parkar

Customer Rating : 1/5

Took a cricket team to India in December with 31 Pax. Booked Direct flight well in advance in April and paid the Balance in Full. Four weeks before departure Air India re-scheduled our flight to indirect via Delhi. We were promised an international flight from Delhi to Mumbai with our baggage to be sent direct to Mumbai. We ended up going by Domestic Flight and we got our Baggage in Delhi. So we had to transfer from International airport to Domestic airport & re-check our baggage. We missed our initial flight and had to wait 4 hours for the next flight. We were very hungry and asked for food vouchers in Delhi and were point blank refused. Never, ever again by Air India.

AIR INDIA customer review : 14 January 2009: by K Wadhwani

Customer Rating : 2/5

BOM-JFK business class. Seat was broken and crew not friendly at all to help change the seat. FA's need to know more of how to serve meals specially in business class. Inflight entertainment is not up to the mark - games were not working. Overall not a good experience.

AIR INDIA customer review : 13 January 2009: by C Gupta

Customer Rating : 1/5

LHR-BOM. Arrived at check-in for 6pm flight and was told flight timing had changed and that flight now leaves in the morning. A total shambles as nobody had bothered to call me and let me know this. The travel agency said that they had not been informed by Air India. Surely it was Air India's responsibility to inform its customers. I was told to come back the next morning for the following days flight and was not even offered an overnight stay in a local hotel which meant my partner had to come back to Heathrow to drop me very early the next day. The following day the flight was delayed by 4 hours due to technical problems. At the gate the staff eventually only handed out some water, no snacks for our inconvenience, and only for about 20 people and there was a mad scramble. I advise anyone to use any of the other airlines that fly to India. I or my family will not be travelling with Air India again if we can help it.

AIR INDIA customer review : 13 January 2009: by M Beevers

Customer Rating : 1/5

New York to London, Heathrow. Very late take off because of passengers having to be disembarked but not informed of this until over one hour of waiting. Sat in row 62 ABC with all monitors not working. Despite asking 5 times for some help regarding this, no one got back to me for the entire flight. The food, both vegetarian and the fish dish, were of very low standard. There was an incident regarding an unwell passenger and a call was put out for a doctor, however, no doctor appeared so I offered my services as a Cardiac Nurse Specialist. The most important piece of equipment I required which would apply to any medical emergency, was a blood pressure machine, this was not available and this is outrageous.

AIR INDIA customer review : 9 January 2009: by Ojas Purandare

Customer Rating : 4/5

BOM-AMD today. Crew was good, a sandwich and water served, it was pretty mediocre. Aircraft left and arrived on time.

AIR INDIA customer review : 2 December 2008 : by A Kumar

Customer Rating : 1/5

PVG-DEL Economy. Check-in handled by Shanghai Airlines and attendant courteous and efficient. Boarding formalities completed swiftly however the nightmare started once we were inside the aircraft. On a 6 hour 45 minutes flight, Air India had deployed a pre-historic A 310 complete with broken seats, smelly odour and bad cabin pressure. The seat pitch was so miniscule that I had problems fitting my knees into the seats. What made the situation worst was that the seat-backs were broken and the seats were reclining far more then they were supposed to. On this full-flight, this meant being trapped and immobile for a majority of the flight. Mid-way through the flight the toilets became clogged and unservicable creating an awful smell throughout the cabin. IFE was limited to a single flickering screen showing an old bollywood movie and the audio channels were barely audible owing to damaged headphones. There were 3 meal choices on this flight although it was up to the cabin crew which meal one got. An oriental meal was forced on me without any explanation and when my companion asked for an Indian vegatarian meal the crew quipped that this needed to be ordered and therefore he had to do without. Strange as foreign carriers including China Eastern (that I used on this sector repeatedly in the past) offer Indian vegatarian as a fixed choice in their menu and not as a special meal option. Truly appalling and to be avoided at all costs.

AIR INDIA customer review : 2 December 2008 : by G Chandra

Customer Rating : 4/5

LHR-DEL-LHR on new 777 in Business class. The seats were almost lie flat with good privacy and excellent legroom. Movie selection limited however adequate for 8 hour flight. Food was fine though wines were somewhat inadequate. The crew was youngish and eager to assist. Return flight was good as well with no issues. The new 777 a vast improvement on the 747s.

AIR INDIA customer review : 28 November 2008 : by Ninad Bapat

Customer Rating : 2/5

BOM-SIN-BOM. No inflight entertainment, not even newspapers only the boring inflight magazine. When I reached Singapore all my checked in bags were wet and I had to remove all the clothes and let it dry. Dont know whom to blame - Air India or the rains. Food is good in Air India. Return flight was a domestic aircraft diverted to Singapore. Again no IFE and delayed flight.

AIR INDIA customer review : 22 November 2008 : by M Patel

Customer Rating : 2/5

EWR-LHR-BOM-AHD. Usually the cheapest flight, but you get what you pay for. Even if you call the toll free number, they never have the same seat assignments when you check in. I dropped off my mom on Nov 20, the systems were down, they were doing everything manually! The boarding passes took on average 20 minutes just to print! We waited in line from 4-30pm to 6pm, and there were no more than 15 people in front of me - and no announcements, even no help on their listed phone numbers or website. I am still awaiting correct flight status information, and there is no way to find out unless you actually call your loved one, after they have landed. What a disaster.

AIR INDIA customer review : 21 November 2008 : by Andrew Sexton

Customer Rating : 1/5

Simple, don't do it ! Flight to Newark was okay. The plane was only half full so there was plenty of room, food was okay but the crew did not seem to pay any attention to the passengers. The flight back was hell. Very little legroom, no headphones, dirty plane and the rudest staff I have ever encountered. Any saving is not worth the experience.

AIR INDIA review : 30 October 2008 : by V Becque

Customer Rating : 2/5

Calcutta/Kathmandu then Bagdogra/Calcutta in October. Both in elderly A320's. First sector 60 mins. delay but Bagdogra sector on time. Cabin service/flight deck announcements/safety briefing fine but seats on both aircraft very worn and aircraft had not been cleaned on turnaround with mess on floor and bits stuffed down magazine rack. Biggest problem is the pressurization in luggage hold as on both flights liquids/creams leaked in our cases but luckily they were in sealed bags. Why Air India A320's - on this trip we flew with other airlines in B777's,A330's.A319, & a Bae Jetstream 4 with same luggage with no leak problems.

AIR INDIA review : 21 October 2008 : by P Brown

Customer Rating : 5/5

FRA-BOM-FRA on new Boeing 777, Economy. Aircraft clean and comfortable, great seat pitch. Excellent IFE (nice mix of Western and Indian). Food fantastic and plenty in quantity, both Western and Indian. Very liberal with spirits, nice selection, and an order one, get two policy. Service was friendly, polite.

AIR INDIA review : 26 September 2008 : by P Patel

Customer Rating : 2/5

London to New York was not bad, goodleg room, touch screen entertainment, good food and clean aircraft. Return was Chicago to London. Not enough leg room, one front screen entertainment only, aircraft was old and dirty. Food was always rushed, no sooner did the trays arrive, collection was within 15 mins! I was so disappointed with the return journey.

AIR INDIA review : 5 September 2008 : by Mike Causer

Customer Rating : 4/5

Economy LHR-JFK return in new B777, and on time. The 34 inch leg-room in economy was excellent news although achieved I believe by making the seat backs thinner! The individual IFE worked better than many other airlines I have travelled . The main meal was above average for economy - snack and breakfast were sub-standard though! Excellent value for money as I paid almost £200 less return ticket than more obvious transatlantic carriers.

AIR INDIA review : 16 August 2008 : by Nicole Barrot-Delfaud

Customer Rating : 2/5

When arriving at Newark airport, we discovered that our flight New York-Paris was cancelled without explanation (August 12th). Fortunately, they found two seats on a Continental flight for us , but we decided we'll never choose Air India again.

AIR INDIA review : 17 July 2008 : by Abhi Vijaykumar

Customer Rating : 3/5

Doha to Mangalore via Bahrain was the worst. Carpets soiled, seats dirty and the on time performance was poor. Flight was supposed to take off at 05:55am, took off at 08:00am. Snacks very bland. But the advantage of this flight is this is the only flight to IXE.

AIR INDIA review : 24 June 2008 : by Shivdeep Singh

Customer Rating : 3/5

DEL-NRT-DEL 747. Old plane on both the outbound and inbound flights. On the outbound flight I had requested a window seat from the ground staff but they put me in the middle row! IFE was abysmal - being a night flight no one really seem to care about it. The screen was shaky both on the outbound and the inbound flight. The flight attendants were polite but a bit bossy. On the inbound flight the service was a bit better and they were more obliging. The food was nice on both the flights and plentiful. They came around once or twice with a variety of hot and cold drinks as well. I would fly Air India again because they are the cheapest option on the Japan route from India.

AIR INDIA review : 10 June 2008 : by Donna Schminkey

Customer Rating : 3/5

Newark to Paris and back. EWR-CDG food was excellent, service excellent, restrooms no different than any other international flight. And the crew was very kind to our 2 year old who fell asleep easily in her approved FAA car seat and slept most of the flight. The return trip from Paris was a bit of a nightmare because the crew would not allow us to bring our carseat onboard. They acted like it was against airline policy. I feel lucky they didn't remove me from the flight because I was aghast, after it had worked so beautifully for us on the trip from Newark. My child did not do well with the freedom provided by a seatbelt, and she was much more bothersome to us and our fellow seatmates. Although the food, service and facilities were again satisfactory, the experience was marred by the car seat being taken at the door to the airplane. The crew acted as if I was a terrorist trying to get onboard with contraband.

AIR INDIA review : 7 June 2008 : by Tony Huang

Customer Rating : 3/5

EWR-CDG. Our flights were on time, though someone told us the previous day's outbound was cancelled. Outbound had IFE for each seat but poor movies and old maps, return had no individual IFEs. Service delivered without a smile, and instructions given by FAs were more like orders. A lot of corners cut on rules (seat belt sign turned off way too early in our ascent, overhead compartments still open as we taxied). Seatback trays fairly dirty, bathroom cleanliness hit and miss, but for a 500 discount, it will do.

AIR INDIA review : 31 May 2008 : by Lee Melbourn

Customer Rating : 4/5

LHR–ORD coach. Check-in was open nearly 4 hours ahead of the flight so no queues. Boarded on time and had a row to myself. The interior was very dated on the outbound but the service excellent. Flight back to London I asked for an exit seat and got one, once again the crew were really friendly and polite. Great service. 747 was old Malaysia Airlines fleet so modern and personal IFE.

AIR INDIA review : 23 April 2008 : by H Derksen

Customer Rating : 1/5

Delhi-Shanghai. Check-in okay and boarding on time. Service during the flight standard. Due to weather conditions plane could not land at Pudong Airport but landed at Nanjing Airport CN. From here all the trouble started. Waiting 6 hours in the cabin with only 1 glass off water offered. Don't speak about food! Finally announcement that all passengers should leave the plane. Then 2 hours waiting for luggage and another 2 hours transfer to hotel. At 05.00am arrived in hotel. Quickly after arrival at hotel with taxi to Wuxi trying to keep my scheduled meeting. Flight was okay, but cabin crew and airline not capable to deal with such circumstances. Decide never to fly with Air India again.

AIR INDIA review : 22 April 2008 : by A Naseemuddin

Customer Rating : 4/5

Return trip JFK-DEL. I chose it because I had heard Air India were operating the new 777 LR's on this sector and price was very reasonable. Check-in uneventful. The ground crew are more casual than business-like. Flight attendants were not overly attentive but overall service was OK. Food fair for the Indian palate. Spacious seats for the economy section. IFE Movie selection was fair.