Air India

✅ Trip Verified | I'm not sure if there is no lounge for business class passenger travelling from Kolkata to Mumbai (domestic). Well, I asked the lady upon checking in, she said I can just go in (based on my experience with other airlines there will be an invitation card). So I walked in to the Travel Lounge or something on the first floor, I showed staff my boarding pass and asked politely if I can access. She asked for my AMEX card and then she just said "No Indian only". I just wanted to grab some hot coffee anyway so I went down to Coffee Bean to get one. Then I emailed to Air India's CS team, no reply after almost a week. The aircraft was pretty old and badly maintained. The food, geez.. I'll just get the coffee. I don't want to use gross to describe them because others enjoyed them I guess, but it's not delicious, like at all. I wonder why they are even a Star Alliance member airlines. Not up to standard at all from the moment I have checked in my flight. Oh, no in-flight entertainment either due to the old configuration of the aircraft. Nah, doesn't matter. I just wanted some extra space from the crowd.

✅ Trip Verified | Frankfurt to Delhi on 29th March 2018. Flight was punctual, aircraft was new and well maintained. IFE at my seat was not working, I was offered another seat with working one (I opted to stay back as I wanted to sleep). Drinks were served with decent options followed by hot food with vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, and breakfast before landing. Only thing which bothered me was absence of smile and courtesy on Cabin crew. I understand the job is quite demanding but a little smile, thank you, please etc. can bring a lot of change. After all, the cabin crew is the face of any airline. Being 6 feet tall I had ample of space to spread my legs. Overall it was a pleasant experience.

✅ Trip Verified | Chicago to New Delhi. I was on a business class transfer (flown from Newark via United), to catch this flight. Boarding Staff Supervisor told me that I have to go Economy as the flight was full. I had the Business Class Boarding Pass in my hand. I get leg cramps on long flights so I pleaded not to make change. I was not aware of my rights in that situation and just wanted to leave (after snow storm.) Initially he refused to Air India boarding pass but I stood firm not to accept any change. Finally, Supervisor gave in after few back and forth. What a harassment? This was my first Air India flight and probably the last one. Will never travel Air India again.

✅ Trip Verified | Delhi to Singapore. I have been flying Air India for 4 years regularly but on international flights the staff seem to be getting worse and worse. On a flight which departs at 11 pm they insist on serving drinks from 11.45 to 12.45 in the night. You request the meal with your drink the person serving my section refused saying he will get it after drinks are served. I asked for a second refill of red wine and made the mistake of asking the stewardess serving the seat behind me. First she refused as it was not her section when i looked at her she said I could not serve a second glass of wine for 2 hours. I asked for a feedback form she refused and walked away. All in all, an unhappy experience.

✅ Trip Verified | Mumbai to New York via Delhi. The flight from Mumbai to Delhi was on time and dinner was served on this sector and while the IFE was working initially, it encountered some problems before landing but as this was a short sector it was overlooked. The flight leg from DEL to JFK was completely full and on this flight boarding started one hour earlier and on this 15 hour flight the seats were comfortable although after flying for a long time, signs of age were visible. The cabin crew were frequently checking on the passengers and provided three meal service on this flight which was very good and ensured that regular food/drink supplies were there. The crew themselves were quite positive and nice throughout the flight. Would recommend them and was good value for money.

✅ Trip Verified | New York to Mumbai via Delhi. The return leg of this flight was around 85% full however the service on this sector provided by the crew was excellent. The flight took off on time which was followed by refreshments/lunch service. The crew were very friendly and full of smiles during the service and after lunch the cabin was dimmed during the rest period. Regular food was offered and the quantity and quality of the food provided was excellent. The seat was fairly comfortable, although showing signs of age which is expected when it has been in service for over a decade. The IFE may not been as vast containing 42738 odd movies like some other airlines but it was adequate enough during the trip and I even managed to watch a couple of movies but was unable to sleep due to infants crying continously and parents unable to pacify their babies but I was still able to rest for 2 hours or so and arrival into Delhi was on time. The remaining leg from DEL to BOM was on the star alliance Boeing 777 which was cool and a hot snack was offered on this route. Landing was on time and baggage was delivered smoothly on the carousel. Thank you Air India for a comfortable trip replete with good service. Would not hesitate to fly with them again.

✅ Trip Verified | Pune to Delhi, the aircraft is 8.6 years old with no inflight entertainment system. I guess Air India do not provide Entertainment system in domestic flight as of now. Also No choice of food for dinner, only veg meal was provided. The food was okay. Fortunately i got the first row in economy class (4D) so got good leg room.

✅ Trip Verified | Mumbai to Delhi. Seat Comfort and Meal was good. Flight left on time and staff did their best to serve on board. To my surprise hot dinner was served on the domestic leg of international flight and the meal quality was pretty good. Seat pitch and comfort was better than average and I was quite happy with the flying experience.

✅ Trip Verified | Newark to Mumbai return. The plane was modern with adequate legroom between seats and seats were rather comfortable. The biggest problem I noted was that the Inflight Entertainment system were not working properly. I sat in one seat and noticed the jack for the headphones would not accept my personal noise cancelling headphones or even the airlines' own headphones. The stewardess working on the flight made an incredulous expression when I pointed this out. I ended up changing seats to another two seats. All of them appeared to have problems with the inflight entertainment systems. Some did not have the touchscreen working. Others did not have their remote working and others had to be repeatedly restarted before they were usable. The flight attendants did not seem too concerned about this problem. I had similar problems on the flight back. Many of the passengers on both flights appeared to have inflight entertainment systems which were non functional or dysfunctional and the Air India entertainment system in general appears to be by far the most user unfriendly system I have ever encountered of any airline. This represents a major inconvenience on lung haul flights which are up to 15 hours in length. The Boeing 777s of Air India do not seem to be well maintained at all. Otherwise the planes are modern with fair catering and flight attendants who do their job while not being friendly. There are better airlines to fly between the US and India, though.

✅ Trip Verified | London to Delhi. Generous seat pitch. Air India's 788 have 33 inch seat pitch with good leg room. The flight left on time and food quality was quite good. Service was average but nothing to complain. Air India can do better on cleanness and maintenance of plane. Overall, I was happy with flight and service.

✅ Trip Verified | New Delhi to Dhaka via Kolkata. First time flying with Air India. Was a bit excited when I found out I will be flying in the Boeing 787-8 to Kolkata, and from there, connecting flight to Dhaka in an Airbus A319. Check in at Delhi was a bit frustrating because their software were having troubles. So had to wait a bit longer in line. But finally I was directed towards the gate. The plane was prepped in time. While boarding the plane, I was recording video, but a flight attendant by the door of the aircraft gave objection to it. His behaviour was rude. He took my hand and told to delete that video in front of him. I was a bit shocked at his rude behaviour. But I did as he asked. He told me that it is against their policy to record video which I was not aware of. Still, I apologised. Nevertheless, the plane was amazing. The economy window seat which I got had plenty of leg room and great seat incline and massage options. Most importantly, the infotainment system of the aircraft was amazing. I enjoyed that a lot. The plane took of on time. After 40 mins, meal was served. Food was rice, chicken, vegetables, salad, bun with butter along with ingredients to make tea/coffee by yourself. After a 2 hr flight, the plane landed smoothly Then the connecting flight from Kolkata to Dhaka was in an Airbus A319. That aircraft was delayed by 20 mins. The plane had a bit tight legroom. The onboard served snack wasn't good on this one. There was dry, cold Singara and cake. The plane made some noises during the flight. This Aircraft, perhaps ,wasn't properly maintained. Anyways, landed in Dhaka after a 1 hr flight. Overall experience was really good.

✅ Trip Verified | Pantnagar to Delhi. Before booking the ticket, I checked past week departure history of the flight using Air India website. The website showed departed on time which made me book the flight. While entering the airport, a security guard informed that the flight is not flying from weeks due to bad weather conditions during that season. I was shocked and worried since I needed to board an international flight from Delhi. Well, I inquired from Air India staff about today's flight status and got a diplomatic answer saying uncertainty in flying. The flight was delayed by 1 hour approximately. After landing Delhi airport, I checked the status of the same flight online. Surprisingly, it was not updated and showing that departure and arrival are scheduled on time. The web-based flight status service was showing incorrect information again and created huge trouble for me. Not to mention that the behavior of Air India staff at inquiry room is completely unacceptable. Also, Air India did not inform me in advance about the flight status via email or SMS. In conclusion, I would definitely not recommend Air India to anyone.

✅ Trip Verified | Pune to Raipur via Hyderabad. They've no respect for time the flight was delayed by 4 hours. The staff is disrespectful. Have been delaying the ETD every half an hour to a total of more that 4 hours. This way first and last flight with Air India - can never be professional.

✅ Trip Verified | Kathmandu to Delhi. How this airline is still operational is beyond my belief. Absolutely pathetic service right from the check in counter. If you're openly entertaining economy class passengers in the business class line, what's the point of having a separate line? These are the basic facilities that you pay for when you buy a business class ticket. Also, why is Air India the only airline where you cannot enter the executive lounge? Are they saving that much money that they can't even renew their lounge contract? Absolutely filthy aircraft and ill-mannered crew. You've definitely lost a customer for life.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew Bhopal to Mumbai with Air India. Kindly understand the value of time of people! Flight was delayed by 30mins from its scheduled time. Luggage took 25 mins to be on belt. Belt number wasn't mentioned on flight itself which normally other flights do! No value of time of other people. I missed a connecting train which was an hour later because of this.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew Mumbai to Bhubaneswar. I was very surprised by the service, the whole Air India team was welcoming. There were more flight attendants than I see usually with other airlines. Each one was taking care of every customer. Most of the luggage lifting and its arrangement was done by them (unlike other airlines). Special care was taken of kids and elderly people. The airplanes have much spaced and are comfortable. (Similar to business class seats of other domestic Indian airlines). When I sat on my seat I felt like I had upgraded my ticket to business class at no extra cost). Each passenger was served a fresh and excellent meal at no extra cost (unlike super over charged stale sandwiches from the other domestic airlines). I am a foodie so trust me the food was amazing. They even served coffee and tea to everyone at no extra charge (I pay 160 Rs to 200 Rs for one coffee with other domestic airlines). The ambience of airplanes reflects the Indian culture. You receive warmth, love and care like you would receive from any Indian home. I had a bad impression of Air India until today. The ticket rates are competitive and sometimes cheaper than others.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew Newark to Mumbai. The worst airline one can ever travel with. My seat was not reclining nor was my TV working and when I requested the crew he said - "madam please I am busy". When I complained to the other crew member he said he would help me and after that both the flight attendants started avoiding me. Travelling for 14 and a half hours without TV and it was not just me, there were so many other passengers having the same problem. They behaved as if they doing us a favor. Will never recommend Air India to anyone, no matter how good a deal you get online.

✅ Trip Verified | Bhubaneswar to Mumbai. A mixed bag with Air India. Flew HYD to BBI and back to BOM. The outbound flight was fine, left right on time with an on time arrival into BBI. They served a reasonable lunch on board though minimal smiles from the crew. Aircraft was new and seemed clean. The return flight BBI to BOM, a different story. Arrived at airport 90 minutes before departure and told that flight was on time. Proceeded to gate and waited for aircraft which was not insight. All signage said that flight was on time. At departure time no aircraft and went online to find out flight is 2 hours delayed. No Air India staff present in a small tiny airport. Flight finally came and we took off- no explanation or apology from the crew. Food awful on this afternoon flight and crew barely smiled. Multiple people with missed connections. Only positive is luggage arrived in 5 minutes on belt in both cities.

✅ Trip Verified | Delhi to London. Earlier this month I reviewed the outbound sector of my trip, this review covers the inbound sector on the 31st January. Although the plane was a Boeing 787, it was quite an old one and hence badly maintained. The seat cushions had all of the comfort sat out of them, there were quite a few overhead lights which did not work and both mine and my companions headset sockets were faulty. This time, the crew were a little bit better but only very marginally so. We were given a reasonable lunch meal soon after take off, the cabin crew came round once during the nearly 10 hour flight with water and our pre early evening landing snack of a roll was so cold as to be almost frozen. During the flight our "seat belt" lights came on a few times due to turbulence but this did not disturb the crew who stayed inside their curtained off galley areas and never came out to check that everyone had buckled up. When we were landing, no one came around to check that seat backs were in the upright position (and therefore many were not) nor to check that people had buckled in. The cabin crew member who was a few feet away from me and in charge of an emergency exit, closed his eyes and went to sleep for about 20 minutes whilst we were landing. I suspect he was assuming that if we crashed on landing, the jolt would wake him up ! Does anyone in Air India care about the poor performance of their economy class cabin crew? I imagine not because otherwise these reviews would not be published.

✅ Trip Verified | Paris to Goa via Delhi. It's the worst company of all time and to avoid ! 10 hours late departing, not a smile or even a precise explanation. On the return we missed our connection. So we were obliged to sleep one night in Delhi in a hotel without window. The staff really was not professional, no smile or even compassion.