Air India review - by Ravi Shah

27 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Ahmedabad to Newark. This time I had an additional baggage piece, so I went to AI counter to pay $123 for the same. I gave them my VISA card, but they asked me for a cash - they said nobody in Ahmedabad Airport knew how to make a charge on card ? The flight was 22 hours late in total. One thing is for sure, this will be my last trip by Air India. I don't say that such incidences do not happen for other airlines, but the way the issues were handled post-incident by Air India were atrocious. I purchased Air India ticket since I got it for a $1000, $300 less than other airlines. But the $300 additional expense is worth for other airlines. Even the food was pathetic this time round. Extremely oily food. You can travel by Air India if you do not have value for time and like being late in your commitments, like disobeying the flight safety orders - thats what AI passengers do - if the captain says fasten up your seat belt for landing, passengers will be moving around for water, tea and free wafers. its not that the announcement was only in English - Hindi announcements were made too. I will pay any amount for other airlines, and wont travel by Air India again, even if they offer me a free ticket.

Air India review - by S Uppuluri

27 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

JFK-BOM-JFK Economy on nonstop 200LR flight. The flight was clean, seats/legroom seemed larger than 747-400, FA pleasant through the 15 hour flight. They provided freebies like a keychain and a small nightpack. The food was excellent. The inflight duty-free was extensive. IFE on-demand, and has an amazingly large selection of US and Indian (incl regional language) TV shows, News and Movies. The convenience and comfort of this flight encourages more frequent travel to India for me!

Air India review - by Walt Bilofsky

23 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

BKK to PVG. Thought we'd give Air India a try because of a low Business Class fare on this route. The curry was excellent, and seats were adequate, but it was downhill from there. This was the only international flight I've ever taken where they didn't have the immigration forms for the country of arrival - and in China, with three long forms to fill out, that cost us fifteen minutes after landing. Add to that the five minutes it took them to open the door.

Air India review - by Katy McBride

23 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR to JFK was a 777 aircraft, new and clean and very comfortable. Food nice, a choice between veg or non-veg and Indian or western. A couple of cans of Tiger beer or wine or soft drinks were also available. Crew friendly and willing to assist. Toilets clean and fully equipped. There was a 1.5 hour delay announced an hour before boarding so this was not too inconvenient and just allowed extra time for relaxing. Return flight an older plane and some of the seats were reclined whether you wanted them to or not. But the food was good, crew were fine, toilets were ok. Definitely worth the saving.

Air India review - by Jan Willem Pronk

9 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

PVG-BOM return in economy. Check-in at Shanghai very slow. Seat pitch not great. This flight is advertised as direct but it only means that you stay in the plane until the end destination Bombay. It makes long stops in Bangkok and Delhi so it all takes way too long. On those very full flights, every leg a hot meal is served of mostly good quality. Do not expect friendly service but it is professional enough with good regard to safety. Both outbound and inbound flights were delayed by more than 2 hours. Not terrific but value for money.

Air India review - by B Diggler

3 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

I've made about 8 trips from the US to Frankfurt 10-11 hour flight on Air India. The only good thing about this company is the price, which is usually lower the other 1 stop airlines. Also the time, being it offers non-stops to Frankfurt. Website is a joke - many flaws and often forgets your password forcing you to re-register. In fairness they at least always send my paper ticket on time. This last trip which I have yet to go on is the first that is E ticket, I hope it goes OK. Service is poor and little control of the passengers. People are constantly getting out of seats when they should still be buckled in. Aircraft is old and its common to have seat tables and foot rests falling during flight. Seats are closer together then other airlines. IF the person in front of you reclines his seat you'll have inches in front of you. During the flight the cabin is often too hot, I'm told Indian people like it hot so they keep the heat high. The bath rooms get really dirty hours into the flight and never again cleaned. I've only had a late flight once out of many flights, I put up with this hell only since its about $600 total round trip and 11 hours one way rather then $100 more and 16 hours on a US carrier. If you want service, nice clean plane then you might look somewhere else. Since Price and non-stop are the only draw.

Air India review - by Chris McQuaid

28 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

BKK-DEL return. My first time on Air India, which I approached with some trepidation. I was upgraded to Business Class, so that instantly improved my opinion of AI! However, I'm one of those people who feel most comfortable travelling upright, even on a 12 hour intercontinental flight, and the Business Class seats on an Air India A310-300 have a permanent lean of at least 20 degrees, which meant that I was quite sore by the end of the flight. The safety video was in Hindi, then repeated in English - I prefer the Thai system, where you have one video with two sets of subtitles and two staff speaking alternately in Thai and English. No personalised AVOD, just one screen at the front of the cabin. Seat was noisy because of being level with the engine, and it was very difficult to understand the Captain during his long announcement about flight details. Didn't bother with dinner due to having eaten before takeoff. Pen marks on back of seat in front, and several cabin strip lights not working. The return flight also on A310-300, but no upgrade - again, only a single screen. The seat backs in Economy were much lower than I've seen on any other airline, and the top of the seat only came up to my neck. Juice served before takeoff. Very nice European breakfast, but no in-flight announcements at all. Excellent service from friendly and efficient cabin crew on both flights. Would I fly them again? Quite probably.

Air India review - by Sara Osborn

9 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

We traveled to and from Paris on Air India in September, 2007. Our flight was on a 777 in coach - we found the personnel very courteous and helpful and meals very good. We found the plane, including the restrooms, clean.

Air India review - by D Hogan

30 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

We booked with Air India for our trip from Los Angeles to Frankfurt because they offered the lowest prices by far. It was much lower than any other airline. How bad could it be? Very, very bad. Seats far too cramped. Since we could not recline, we were stuck there. Wedged in. There was also a high- pitched squeal that rang out intermittently throughout the night and kept us both up. It was coming from a water spigot behind us. The entire plane was filthy and badly in need of cleaning. Carpets stained, upholstery stained, plastic stained, etc. The restrooms were disgusting. Dirty and not properly stocked. I visited three restrooms throughout the two flights and they were all equally filthy. The panels in the restrooms (panels that hold things like towels, tissues, etc) were falling open in all three of the restrooms I visited. About half of the seat pockets we saw were bent down and remained permanently open by about 6" (reducing leg room even more). We saw several tray tables and seat pockets that were held together with (and I am not exaggerating) plastic bags that had been tied to them, and one tray table that was staying up only because someone had wedged it with part of a People magazine and a rubber band. The TV monitors mounted to the ceilings here and there on the plane were very old. Some worked, others had flipping, blurry or static screens and/or the color, contrast or brightness was way off. But that didn't really matter because on neither flight were we able to properly hear the audio. On the return flight our entire row (and several other complete rows in our immediate area) did not work. On the first flight some of the audio in our row didn't work at all. Even if we had gotten audio and a good picture, though, we probably wouldn't have watched the poor selection of films and random side-show acts that were shown. While some of the staff was civil, several of the crew rubbed us the wrong way or were downright rude. After a long period of not seeing any crew members, my husband rang his call button. After about 10 minutes, the call button light (and the lights of about two other passengers who also rang) were cleared - and no crew members entered the cabin. My husband and other passengers rang again. Finally after about 10 more minutes a crew member came out. About 20 minutes later my husband finally got his drink. One female crew member, when passing out food in the morning, raised her voice repeatedly to try and wake a fellow passenger who was sleeping. The passenger's arm was resting on her tray table. When shouting at the passenger didn't wake her, the crew member shoved a tray of food across the tray and into the passenger's arm - then walked off. This was the same crew member who, at the start of the flight, told my husband get up and shut overhead bins for her because she said couldn't reach. Food was disgusting and inedible to me, but I’m willing to concede this may just be my own personal taste. On the way there we were served mutton (there was supposed to be a chicken dish, too – but they were out of it.) The mutton was very dry and extremely spicy. Also served was plain, sour yogurt and some sort of stringy, chunk-tapioca like desert that I didn’t recognize or care for. On the way back it was very similar with very spicy food. In the morning they served us a sandwich on white bread (to my delight), but when I opened it, inside was mayo, red peppers and something else – possibly eggplant? Yes, there were two high points. One was a male crew member who honestly tried to help people out and looked into many of the problems passengers brought to his attention. Prices are cheaper by far for many flights. But is it a value? That’s up to you. I do not think of it as a value. While we are not wealthy and price is a huge factor on our vacations, I would definitely not fly with Air India again unless there were no other options. Hindsight is 20/20 - and I would definitely go back and spend more money for any other airline if I could turn back time.

Air India review - by L Jadwin

31 July 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Air India flies from Newark to Paris for about $200 under the price of competing airlines. The only plus about this airline is that the food is interesting and good. On our recent trip, we experienced appalling service, including flight attendants with zero charm, planes jammed with screaming small children, and very loose observation of safety regulations (passengers not required to stow trays and baggage from the aisles during takeoff, plus passengers disregarding the flight attendants and retrieving their bags while the plane was still taxiing. To top it off, our return flight was delayed by 4 hours and most of us missed our connections in Newark. The crew provided no explanation or apology, though we did receive meal and lodging waivers if they were requested.

Air India review - by H Martel

17 July 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

HKG-BKK-HKG. A310 on lease from Czech Airlines was clean and cabin in good condition. The crew was friendly and offered a good service. On this 2 hour flight, a pre departure drink was offered, followed by full meal and bar service. The quality and quantity of food were good. Air India offers a good service and cannot be faulted on the service.

Air India review - by Jay Sitlani

19 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Bombay-Paris-Newark on a Boeing 777-200. Business Class on the BOM-CDG leg with an upgrade to First on the CDG-EWR leg. Both legs were full in all classes. Air India operate 777s leased from United. Thus, the interiors are United Airlines, circa 2002. Thus, the cabin was typical United gloomy, but clean. Business class is a 2-3-2 set up with seats that have a pitch of about 55" or thereabouts. The seats are comfortable but as usual, nothing works - from the controls to the video programming on the individual seat PTVs to the audio - which makes you wonder how this airline intends to manage the sophisticated cabin IFE on their new 777s when they arrive. The meals served on the BOM-CDG leg were well prepared but poorly presented. No amenity kits provided, and there was nothing in the lavatories. No soap, no lotions, nothing. The cabin crew disappeared after the meal service. Someone ought to tell them with the Business Class fare being 5 times higher than the Economy fare, some service and amenities would be in order. The upgrade to First was welcome. Once again, no amenity kits, but at least the First Class lavs had lotions and soaps and little vials of toothpaste. The seats in First go flat, so I slept through the meal service right after indulging in the caviar service. As usual, AI's First Class service has food galore. A high tea was offered with various canapes. Unfortunately, the very young female FA had no clue how to serve them. Overall, the crew in First were friendly and service-oriented, offering as stark contrast to the service in Business Class. Air India's Business Class service has declined even further. Not providing amenity kits is a disgrace, especially since passengers are often separated from even 3 ml bottles of mouthwash and toothpaste by overzealous security agents at Bom Airport. I've come to expect non-functioning IFE on Air India. Overall, a 2-star performance, made 3-star only because of the upgrade.

Air India review - by Michael Scott

3 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-DEL-LHR, May 2007. The previous comments mirror my experiences and sentiments exactly. Flight 2 hours late in each direction - nevertheless, Air India was making "last call" announcements as if the flight were on time. Shabby, unpleasant cabin with inoperative seat-back screens. On the outward flight my seat did not recline and my reading light did not work; luckily, as the flight was almost empty, I was able to move to a better seat. The food was unappetising but, to be fair, was no worse than many economy-class offerings these days. The cabin crew were polite and did their best under difficult circumstances, but showed little concern for the norms of cabin safety; on the approach to Delhi, in a violent thunderstorm, people were wandering round the cabin and even using mobile phones. On the return journey the check-in procedure at Delhi was the slowest, most chaotic I have ever experienced anywhere. Yes, this flight was cheap, but I will not use Air India again at any price.

Air India review - by Peter Chapman

14 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-JFK : 2 hours late each way (seems normal) missed JFK connection. Ancient, dirty 747, nothing worked, no IFE (it had seatback screens but all inop) headphones inop, reading lights inop, the state of all this made us think about the maintenance of the rest of this ancient aircraft might be dubious. Cheap - but simply not worth it. Shan't be doing it again however cheap.

Air India review - by Mehtab Rahman

20 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

DAC-CCU-LHR on Boeing 747-400. A disapointing experience. Flights were delayed at each segment between DAC-CCU and CCU-LHR. Due to the overwhelming demand during the easter break period, AI upgraded the flight from a B777 to B747. Frankly, AI's B747 aircrafts have to be the worst aircraft I have flown. It was old and shabby, stank of sweat and the state of the toilets were beyond description. The seats have no personal airconditioners overhead, and the a/c system was not activated while on the ground. This meant all passengers had to remain onboard the boiling hot aircraft at Calcutta (45c) for 3 hours (transit time 1.5 hrs, delay of a further 1 hour), and no pax were allowed to disembark the aircraft during the transit period. The cabin crew were ok, they did their job; I commend their ability to remain cool with rude passengers, some of whom have no manners and treat the crew disrespectfully. PTVs were available, and a decent number of Bollywood and Hollywood movies were aired onboard. There were no radio/audio programmes available. Two meals were served - lunch and supper - onboard the 10 hr flight between CCU-LHR, and both were good. I would rate AI's long haul as being poor, and I dread thinking about the return flight LHR-CCU-DAC in July. Air India really does need to scrap their ancient B747s - they are doing little to help improve the airline's already poor image globally.

Air India review - by R Bose

15 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Calcutta to London departed late. Typically it wasn't their fault! The flight was relatively empty and the service was =good. I fly to London on an average of twice a year and was pleasantly surprised by the experience. My usual carrier is Thai Airways via Bangkok but their 2 am flight was a nuisance. My complaint against Air India is no one really had a clue as to how to go about helping a passenger (me in this case) to apply for frequent flyer bonus. The Indian indifference leaves much to be desired. No one helped nor seemed bothered. So different from Thai Intl! Polish up on PR and maybe you have a carrier to be proud of!

Air India review - by Ajay Puri

10 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Dubai to Delhi in Business class. A rather tired 767 aircraft with the most bizarre seating arrangement I have seen. Business class does not have a separate cabin, there are just a bunch of bigger seats placed in front of the economy cabin. No separators, no curtains, no privacy. When the flight lands you have no priority disembarkation and have to fight your way out of the scrum. Otherwise, the flight was on time. I slept through, so no comments about the food and service. Avoid if possible.

Air India review - by C Williams

26 March 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

EWR-CDG-EWR. Both flights on time. Before take-off, served orange juice, and then offered peanuts and a drink a little later. The inflight meal was very spicy, but good. It is also worthy of note that a great vegetarian option was available. A snack closer to landing included a croissant on the way to Paris, and a cheese sandwich and peach tart on the return flight. The inflight entertainment worked fine. Fellow passengers polite and well-behaved. No problems with toilet paper shortages, and bathrooms were clean. The staff were nice and attentive, and safety requirements adhered to. Overall, I was very impressed with the airline, and at $350 for round flight airfare to Paris, it really can't be beat! carrier.

Air India review - by Neil Remland

6 March 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

My wife and I just returned from India. We have travelled on numerous airlines and no airline has been this bad. On both the outboard and inbound legs of the trip, the overhead reading lights did not work. In addition, the audio and video malfunctioned. The planes were not clean. If one is traveling to India, I recommend you look for an alternate carrier.

Air India review - by Sukhpal Grewal
3 March 2007

Toronto to Birmingham to Amritsar. Check in good, no problems/delays. Cabin staff polite but did not answer any seat calls. Food was horrible. Inflight entertainment ok, but tv's kept breaking down and they played the same programs over and over again - even on the return flight! I really don't think Air India has any care about the passengers, they only care about the $$$. Overall I would give it 1 star.

Air India review - by Gillian Brown
27 February 2007

Air India Toronto to Birmingham - delayed. Announcement comes over tannoy that due to technical problems flight will not be going for another 24 hours, however, those passengers wishing to, can board and have a hot meal and get off again! Baggage will NOT be coming off the plane. No real apology / explanation given. 20 mins later flight is back on and search is put out for those passengers who have already gone to hotels. When flight does get underway over 3 hours late - toilets have bits hanging off them and are blocked and plane is cramped. Crew are friendly. Again, as per previous advice, chose Air India for value and not for punctuality!

Air India review - by Simon Boxall
15 February 2007

Birmingham - Toronto in economy. £280 round trip. Flight leaving was delayed by 3 hours without so much as an apology or explanation. Flight returning to UK was due to leave at 11.30pm but was delayed until 6.30pm the following day - a 19 hour delay! After asking, I was informed that this was due to a "commercial reason." Again no apology. Food was disgusting. Cabin crew seemed tired and stressed out, and unwilling to help. Boeing 777 had seating in a 2-5-2 layout (not 3-3-3 like other operators of this type) which is horrible if you happen to be stuck in the middle seat in the row of 5 (as I was on my outward leg). Inflight entertainment was average, although economy class does provide you with personal seat back TVs which is a plus point. Also the luggage allowance - 2 suitcases at 32kg each - is excellent, the most I have experienced on an economy class flight. Overall Air India should probably be a 2 star airline, but you get what you pay for. Fly them if you dont mind the possibility of a delay, and they are good value for money.

Air India review - by U Naresh
8 February 2007

Recently completed an economy roundtrip to Hong Kong from Delhi on Air India's own equipment A310-300 aircrafts. Flights were operated on time. Ground handling at both ports were decent. The trouble really starts in the air. The aircraft are in ruins, with my armrests strapped in surgical bandage on both flights. The seats are worn, broken, in tatters. The cabin interiors resembles that of a war zone. No one cares. Some toilets were out of service and were flooded, with water coming down the aisles. The aircraft have not been refurbished in 21 years I would imagine. Safety norms are flouted by cabin crew. Unthinkable on other airlines. The overhead sound system is barely audible. The food is the same served a few years back, and is still bad in taste and presentation. I am really speechless for there are not enough words to describe the despicable condition of this airline. It is still living in the stone ages. To sum up, this is not India's national airline - it is India's national shame. Never again.

Air India review - by Tom Hughes
19 January 2007

London Heathrow to JFK as it was the cheapest option I could find. Certainly not cheap enough to make up for the hell that followed. Intended to connect to a JetBlue flight later that evening (assuming a 4h30 connection time would be adequate). Arrived early and was informed at check-in that a 3hr delay was expected on the flight, referred to the customer service desk when I asked what would happen if I missed my connection. Was assured by staff there that I would be re-booked if necessary. Proceeded through check-in and waited in T3 for some 5, 6 hours, no information given, no staff available to talk to, information desk unmanned. Helpful staff from Royal Brunei Airlines gave me advice and called Air India staff, who again assured that JetBlue flight would be re-booked. Finally boarded the ageing 747 around 4hrs late, the aircraft was in pretty poor condition, very dirty and smelly. Seemed to be having a variety of problems with cargo doors, power and more - not very reassuring. Still, finally got off the ground, which was a relief. Although seat-back IFE was present, around 1 in 100 screens was actually working. Cabin crew were OK, food pretty inedible but I guess that’s always the case with airline food! Flight was on the whole rather uncomfortable thanks to lack of IFE, filthy toilets and poor seat pitch. Arrived unrested in JFK around 4h30 late, having missed my connection and knowing there were no more flights until tomorrow. Very stressful. Picked up baggage (which was soaking wet and damaged) and went to Air India arrivals desk where I was greeted by surly, unhelpful and evasive staff who had no interest in helping and were basically impolite. Despite my repeated explanation of promises made by Air India staff in London to re-book my connection, this was ignored and I was sent over to the JetBlue terminal to sort this out myself. Luckily the staff at JetBlue were very helpful and put me on standby for the next Portland flight (which unfortunately was not until 7.30pm the next day). Returned to the Air India desk at T4 to find it in total chaos, waited another hour so to speak to staff again, who provided a voucher for hotel accommodation. Returned to the Air India desk the next day to ask about compensation for my cancelled hotel and rearranged transport in Portland, again was given absolutely no help or courtesy. In contrast, the JetBlue experience later that day was excellent, reaffirming my faith in air travel. I finally arrived at my destination some 27h late and over $100 out of pocket thanks to Air India. It seems that mine is by no means an isolated case, and I would strongly advise anyone considering travel with this hopeless carrier against it.

Air India review - by Ajay Patel
19 January 2007

EWR-BOM-EWR via CDG. Price at least $250 less per passenger compared to other airlines during peak Christmas period. Flights more or less on time. Food was good and plenty (for people with a liking for Indian Food). Flight attendants were typical government employees with so much job security that they did not care about you, or what you think. Aircraft interiors poorly maintained. My IFE (personal TV screen) did not work during both inbound and outbound sectors. Check in BOM was chaos as usual. For someone not familiar with India, it can be real nightmare.

Air India review - by Carol D'Souza
9 January 2007

My husband and two children were booked to travel Delhi-Singapore and onward to Australia on 3/01/07 on flight AI480. They reported for the 2335 hrs flight at 2030hrs and were told instead of 2335 they would be departing at 0300 then 0330 and then the flight was cancelled with no explanations, no reasons given. The pax were put up at a hotel then told to report on 4/01/07. At the airport the Air India staff could not give them any information on when they or the rest of the pax were departing. Till today, 1000hrs Brisbane time, I have no news what has happened and the Air India office has no contact to help us who are waiting for news about the arrival to find out the status. After a long holiday to be travelling on such a third rated airline who suddenly cancels flights and gives no reasons or explanation you can be rest assured that this was and would be the first and last time and please all you who intend flying avoid Air India.

Air India review - by Ingrid Caras
4 January 2007

Toronto to Birmingham. The flight was delayed by 2 hours, no explanations given. Ground staff were extremely rude, and sometimes adopted an aggressive stance towards passengers. They tended to use gestures, instead of speaking - although most passengers knew English. The plane was dirty as we entered - crew was pleasant though. I would not choose to fly with Air India again if I can help it.

Air India review - by Kev Coutts
22 November 2006

I'm a travel agent and had some passengers booked on a JFK LHR flight with AI. The flight was cancelled with no explanation why. I tried several times (unsuccessfully) to get an answer from their London Call Centre, when I finally did get through the agent on the other end of the phone seemed completely disinterested and refused to help saying I had to phone the NYC office. I did and they said I had to speak to their London office. Eventually after several more calls, AI got the passengers rebooked onto a BA flight, which AI then cancelled as well. In over 8 years in the travel industry I have never experienced such appalling customer service and lack of concern for the customer. If you do manage to get through to AI, they will probably keep you on hold for a few minutes and then hang up. A team of poorly trained monkeys could do a better job.

Air India review - by Keith Koller
22 November 2006

First Class LAX-FRA The ground staff very helpful as I was requiring help with luggage due to recent back surgery. The lounge was shared at LAX, but the F-class cabin quite nice. The lie-flat seats were very comfortable and came with pajamas - they could have used some larger pillows. Crew fantastic and the of caviar /lobster were first class. Rest rooms clean. I was offered a personal DVD player with Western movies. Considering I paid about 1/6 of what I usually pay on the legacy carriers, I was expecting about 1/6 of the service. Air India first class provides excellent service and is awesome value.

Air India review - by Gary King
5 November 2006

Due to fly Birmingham - Toronto today in First class, but the flight has been cancelled. Nobody at Birmingham airport or Air India could explain why, and nobody would help me find an alternative . I was able to contact my agent who has booked me on Air Canada from Heathrow at twice the price. If you are on a business schedule you can't rely on Air India, yes they are cheap but I suspect it ends there.

Air India review - by Robin Correa
5 November 2006

Birmingham - Toronto - Birmingham : a very pleasant experience . The flights were on time, food was plentiful and he service courteous. It is the only airline I have travelled in that offers a beverage - juice / water on boarding the aircraft. IFE on both flights had a choice of Bollywood and Hollywood movies on individual back seat screens. For a fare that was half that of BA and Air Canada, I would say that this trip with Air India represented excellent value for money and I will almost certainly travel with them in the future.

Air India review - by Oliver Weber
27 September 2006

FRA-LAX-FRA. Both flights were on time - every second flight the whole week before mine to LAX was delayed about 18 hours! Food was tasty (choice of Indian curry or European-style chicken) and staff was ok. Plane quite old (monitor shook so much during landing we were afraid it might come down.). IFE consists mainly of Bollywood movies shown in a rather poor quality, on the first flight no headphones were provided (which didn't matter because the headphone jack didn't work anyway). Toilets a bit messy. Overall, I don't think I'll fly Air India again because of their general lack of reliability.

Air India review - by John Charlesworth
22 September 2006

Why pay the extra to travel with a "premium" airline? Air India works for me, courteous staff, good food and drinkable wine. Perhaps it would be wise to try to use the toilet facilities early rather than later on into the flight but this is often the case in BA or Emirates or other so called top brands. I flew out economy having pre-booked one of the front economy seats, plenty of room despite a full aircraft. On my return I flew business and the excellent fully reclining seats enabled me to have an undisturbed sleep so have had a full day in the office. If you run your own business or are on a tight travel budget, Air India is an excellent option.

Air India review - by Helen Swansborough
22 August 2006

London to JFK return. We travelled, two adults two children and had great flights both ways. Despite the security difficulties on the return we were only one hour late arriving at Heathrow. FAs and check in staff, at all times courteous, food OK and the price was brilliant. Could not afford to fly with family to USA with any other airline.

Air India review - by Julie Cidell
30 July 2006

LAX-FRA-LAX. I would echo the "never again" comments. Although my husband and I had purchased two seats next to each other and to the window, at check-in we were given two middle seats, one behind the other, meaning we didn't get a wink of sleep the entire flight. The toilets were nasty : no TP on the entire plane after 6 hours in the 12 hour flight, and they were never cleaned. Food was good, movies were interesting; the English subtitles made it possible to understand the film, since the headphones didn't work. (It is Air India, so don't be upset if they show Indian movies and serve Indian food!) Halfway through the trip, in London, we went to the ticket office to verify our return flight. It had been cancelled, and the ticket office apparently didn't have the capacity to do anything like rebook us. They did contact the main office and told us the next available flight was in three weeks! The best they could do was tell us to camp out at FRA and wait for the next available flight. The UK number for AI didn't work, and there was no toll-free international number to call. We finally e- mailed and got a response within 24 hours, including a re-booking 48 hours previous to our original flight. So we had to cut our vacation short and purchase last-minute tickets to FRA to make the plane. On the return, while we didn't get the seats we had been assigned, at least we were next to each other. And the toilets were still filthy!

Air India review - by Susan Coffman
24 July 2006

LAX-FRA round trip. Never again. Cancelled flight, really poor communication, old shabby plane (747), IFE non-existant, FA rather rude, headphones, lights, call buttons did not work, restrooms dirty. There was also an unruly passenger yelling at others - took a long time for them to move this person. Lost luggage, most incompetent group of people I have ever dealt with. They just do not care. Do yourself a favor and spend the extra money. Saving a couple hundred is not worth the trouble you'll most likely get to endure.

Air India review - by Pete Osborne
14 July 2006

LHR-ORD, and back. Air India is one of those airlines where you get what you pay for. Decent food, quick direct flights, good service... but little else. No inflight-entertainment worth mentioning, old and tired looking aircraft. (Although I have heard that they are upgrading some of their 747s to include in-seat screens.) But that's fine with me, because it's cheap. If you're looking for a great, luxurious experience, you'll need to pay more somewhere else. If you want to get from A-B, go with Air India. On this particular flight we were delayed about an hour on the way out, but we managed to arrive early on the way back. The flight was fine - when I arrived I was glad I'd saved the money.

Air India review - by Franziska Dammeier
25 May 2006

Never Air India again. Air India cancelled my flight and moved me to one day later, which I couldn't take. They refused to book me on the flight one day earlier on the grounds that my economy "class" (apparently they have nine of them, which all cost the same) isn't available anymore. I talked to four or five customer service agents and they all told me different days at which I could supposedly rebook, but none of those days was the day before my booked flight. I don't know why they hated me so much. They also all told me different times of when the manager would be there, which he of course never was. Eventually they all hung up on me (once while supposedly transferring me to the manager). Their announcement in the holding line "we value your call" is pure derision.

Air India review - by C Morton
24 May 2006

SIN-MAA. The first thing I noticed is the general grubbiness such as graffiti scrawls on the plastic wall panels. There was a safety demo but the passengers generally paid no attention and there were kids climbing over the top of the seat in front of me during take off. During the flight the thing to do is walk about it seems - seat belt signs are there to be ignored. Two male passengers got into an altercation in the aisle and literally started strangling each other - other passengers had to prise ones hands off the others throat and pull them apart whilst they shouting loudly. Coming into land a guy near me wandered off to the toilet, I actually think he was still there when the plane landed! Overall very entertaining; I mean all you can do is laugh because worrying isn't going to make it any safer, but I would hesitate to go on another flight with AI. The crew weren't too bad.

Air India review - by Georgina Hoole
20 April 2006

JFK from London Heathrow. If only I had seen this site before I booked. I flew with my two children- daughter 18 and son 13. It was their first long haul experience and they had been really excited. Outward journey check in at Heathrow okay. Onboard FAs not friendly - made me feel like I was an inconvenience. Food okay if you like curry. None of the movies were shown due to broken screens, music and radio channels and headsets didn't work, the toilets were disgusting and wash facilities not much better. On the way back with I reassured my son that movies would be working - alas no such luck. Neither were the headsets working nor the interior reading lights. The aircon wasn't working properly. Seconds after take off (flight was packed) an overhead projector cover fell down from the inside roof area of the cabin and hit a passenger in the face !? It was left dangling on two wire cables, until cabin crew sellotaped it back up to the ceiling. This was quite a scary moment and added to the shaky take off. I really did hold my breath and literally pray. Both flights were delayed. The worse aspect of all was the sanitation - which I will only describe as even more disgusting on the return journey. I will never fly with Air India again. There are surely some basic health and safety standards that should be met in every class ?

Air India review - by Machin Prabhu
20 April 2006

BOM-LHR. Booked Executive class seats for 2 adults and children. Due to overbooking in economy class a number of people were upgraded. Check in and boarding was smooth. Seats clean and comfortable on a B 777 plane. Toilets clean. Few points about in flight entertainment. 2 TV screens not functioning and the 3rd gave up the ghost half way. FAs unable to rectify. Whilst feeding the children first is a nice touch, they had not been offered any drinks before or during the meal. The drinks trolley was well stocked but no explanation of the type/vintage of wines. Spirits did not come with lemon slices or any means to mix the spirit with mixer. Food very good and very spicy, however a good european alternative was also offered. A Big gripe and many have commented about it. There is no tea or coffee offered immediately after the meal. Why not, it is standard fare on all airlines whichever class.

Air India review - by Gary Jones
7 April 2006

JFK-LHR-JFK. Check-in at Heathrow was OK. Plane was delayed 2 hours, as it was late arriving from Bombay. Food, like other passengers have commented was good but pretty spicy. But what marked the journey out for me was the ignorance by passengers and staff to some of the safety issues normally adhered to on a plane. Passengers still walking about after the seatbelt warning sign had been lit, due to turbulence. A stewardess pouring hot tea straight into cup above my wife's lap, instead of using the standard small tray over the aisle. But best of all, during decent into JFK, a passenger emerging out of the toilet after the Staff had taken their seats for landing ! The return journey from JFK was just as eventful. After showing my passport about six times, the check in was pretty efficient, with the blessing of a two- thirds full plane, we even managed to get some sleep. Just as well as my 'back of seat' video screen failed to work and the Harry Potter film which my son tried to watch, broke down after two attempts. Safety again was blatantly ignored by some passengers and feebly enforced by the less than enthusiastic staff, with the top prize going to a guy whose mobile phone rang as we were about to leave the gate and onto the runway ! All in all this has been in once in a lifetime, never to be repeated experience. It wasn't as though we had a bargain, I just left booking the fight till last minute and the flight times seemed pretty decent.