Air India

Not Verified | New York to Hyderabad via Delhi. The lack of customer caring and the rudeness was appalling. My last name changed when I got married therefore my new passport has my married name. For some reason they would not accept the passport and my marriage certificate as a proof of that. My Indian visa is on my maiden name. I tried to reason with them that the US government takes security seriously and that they issued my new passport, drivers license, social security card etc. only after verifying everything. The airline demanded that I produce a court document showing name change - I dont have a court document nor does any one that I know. That is not what we do in the US for marital name change. They refused to let me get on the airplane with this reason. I was literally travelling to India for two days to attend to a family emergency and I couldn't make it. The worst part is the way the Air India staff in JFK treated me. One would expect that they would try and help the passenger but the person incharge was extremely rude and treated me like I was not human. I was literally in tears explaining to them that I have traveled like this before and no other airline objected. Like banging your head on a wall

✅ Trip Verified | Mumbai to Bengaluru by Air India. On this late afternoon flight to Bengaluru, the flight was on the lighter side and so, as a result, the check-in process was a breeze and boarding started well before the scheduled boarding time. A light snack was provided consisting of a savoury cake and samosas/pav bhaji and the portions were generous in quantity which was well appreciated. The crew was friendly and engaging which was good. The flight departed on time and arrived well before the scheduled arrival time which was a huge plus. Air India provides great value for money and they should keep it up.

✅ Trip Verified | Washington to Delhi. I had a family emergency, so I bought whatever ticket was available. Unfortunately, it ended up being Air India. I flew from Denver to Washington on United (Code Share) and then Washington to Delhi on Air India. The flight was delayed by a couple hours. Also, the boarding process was a mess. I stood in the line for like 45 min and then they asked me to get a new boarding pass when I was just about to get in, then put me back at the end of the line! I did not find my bag at the baggage claim in Delhi. So, I had to file a delayed baggage claim. The whole process was a nightmare as there wasn't enough staff available to help. Nobody knew what information to provide. After struggling for a couple hours, they filed a delayed baggage report and they told me I'd be receiving my bag within a couple days. After a couple of days, I called them and they told me that they didn't know where the bag was. So, I started calling them everyday. It would take me a couple hours of calling before they would pick up the phone. The phone operators never had any information about what was going on. One operator told me that the air india flight was not being operated anymore!!! I also sent several emails to the email provided on the delayed baggage report. But they never responded! After 10 days, I received a call from a local airport. They told me to come pick up the bag. I was surprised as the Air India people had told me that the bag would be delivered to my home. As I had a family emergency at home, there was no way I could travel a couple hours to the airport to pick up my bag. So , I told them that I would be filing a police report for stolen bag if they didn't deliver my bag. After several hours, they called me to let me know that they are sending the bag with someone to my home. On Air India's website, it is mentioned that there is $50 delayed baggage compensation if the bag is delivered after 24 hours. I have been trying to contact Air India customer care to get my compensation, but no one responds. I have been sending them emails every day without any luck. I recommend everyone to avoid this airline like plague. I am never flying with them again.

Not Verified | Mumbai to Newark. Horrible experience ever had. My flight would fly on July 2nd at 1:30am, but they delayed 3 hours first then delayed for ove night 3rd July 2:30 and we did fly by 4 am, and it supposed to be direct flight but they lay over at Ahmedabad airport for 4 hours and told us for only 1 hour and half. We basically waited 25 hours on airport with no hotel accommodation. They didn’t provide water and blankets till we asked on 2nd July. 3rd July we argued with staff and manager and they agreed to give us lodge and food. I would never fly again Air India and not recommend this airline ever.

✅ Trip Verified | We had a local connecting flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai (scheduled departure for 10 PM and scheduled arrival for 11:30 AM) and then we had an international flight from Mumbai to Newark (scheduled departure 1:30 AM and arrival around 5 PM India time). Very bad communication skills with customers- For our Mumbai to Newark flight that was already delayed by 12 hours (it was scheduled for July 2nd 1:30 AM). We finally arrived in Mumbai around 10 AM. While the flight attendees were going through the security check, the Air India staff informed us that our flight to Newark would leave at 2:30. Later on, the Air India staff told us that our flight would actually be leaving at 2:30 AM not PM. Not only is our original flight being delayed by 25 hours, but Air India did not correct its customers when they were continuously feeling relieved over false information. As an airline, it is their duty to be clear to the customer as to when the flight is leaving and being clear with that information especially when they are aware the the flight attendees are on a consensus different from the fact. Horrible Service- In our first flight, from Hyderabad to Mumbai (left at 11:30 PM) , we flew all the way to Mumbai spent 1-2 hours in the air there and returned back to the Hyderabad airport at 3 AM because the flight had no place to land and apparently because of weather. Then, after we returned to the Hyderabad Airport, they kept us in the flight until 7:30 AM and at 7:30 AM we finally left for Mumbai and arrived at 9 AM. This means we stayed in an airplane for 6 hours when we should have only spent 1 and half hour in the plane for our flight. During this entire fiasco, the Air India staff only provided us with a biscuit packet with 2 biscuits and a lunch voucher that only worked during a horrible time. How is one lunch voucher and some biscuits suppose to last us for 17 and a half hours?

✅ Trip Verified | Bengaluru to Mumbai. On this early morning flight, it was surprising to note that the check-in was a breeze and the flight was not full. There was a hot breakfast provided which was of good quality. The flight attendants were attentive and looked after the safety and comfort of passengers. Luggage was received swiftly without too much waiting.

✅ Trip Verified | Mumbai to Newark. Due to the short length of the runway at Mumbai airport and incompatibility of Air India, they always remove passenger baggage without ever informing them. They use a very common excuse "bad weather". So don't be surprised if you realize at your destination that your baggage was removed and never arrived with you. All other airlines are perfectly fine to land and take off from the Mumbai airport and you never hear any excuses from them. After realizing that you and several other passengers reached their destination without your baggage, the real fun (or frustration) begins. You will realize that Air India has only one phone number for their customer service contact which is the real deal. Average wait time to talk to a representative is over 60 min based on online search (I'm not exaggerating, in my personal experience these were the timings: 96 min, 118 min, 72 min and 130 min). Well after these wait times, you'll end up talking to the most idiotic morons on this planet who probably hate the entire human race. They no idea about anything related to Air India and no respect to listen to what you want, let alone help you. The frustration continues as these reps have no connection to the baggage department and then ask us to get a mystical "complain number" before they can look into our case. After calling the customer care for the fourth time, I was told that the number for US baggage department (973-242-0078). Now, I called them over 10-15 times over a period of two days and no one picks up the phone. The fun part is their voicemail box is full and not surprisingly you cannot leave any message or ever get that mystical "complaint number". Wrote emails to all departments of Air India including the baggage department. Still waiting for a reply. It's been three days and I'm looking for the lost baggage for me and my parents who travelled to the US and sill have no response from Air India. Please save yourself all this trouble and choose any other decent airline over Air India (even if its a few hundred dollars more pricy).

✅ Trip Verified | Mumbai to Ahmedabad. Save yourself trouble and never fly Air India. I had a horrible experience with them twice when flying Economy which is why I stopped flying with them and picked Emirates instead. Unfortunately had to book a last-minute ticket and didnt have a choice. This time I hoped the experience will be better since I was flying Business. I am thankful that it was United who issued my tickets and were reliable enough to help me. Air India CS was a nightmare to deal with. Couldnt help. They couldnt find my record, they couldnt assign me a seat, they couldnt confirm anything. Not to mention I was on hold for an hour before they answered the phone. It was United Airlines who put in an hour to communicate with them and help re route me when my flight got cancelled.

✅ Trip Verified | San Francisco to New Delhi. Worst of the worst. Don’t fly Air India unless this is your only resort. 1) I was traveling alone with my twin 3 year old daughters. They offered no support during the flight. I smiled more than they did. 2) I asked the hostess for water upon boarding and she told me to look in the seat pockets. No such thing was found. The seats were in horrible condition when we arrived. No one had cleaned after the previous flight. 3) No inflight entertainment. Everything was broken. 4) Calling the hostess is a useless exercise. Don’t bother waiting. 5) The arm rests were broken and cracked dangerously enough to cause a hazard for little kids. They kept falling on them when they were trying to sleep. 6) They have nothing to offer little kids. No coloring sheets, stickers. Nope. 7) Had booked child meals and was never offered the option while serving. When I complained, they simply said “You should’ve asked for it.” 8) When I whined about all this, one of the hostesses said that she’ll come and take a look. She never came.

✅ Trip Verified | Delhi to Hong Kong. Air India flight was supposed to take of at 11 pm IST on 15/06/19 but let us cook in the flight for some 3 hours while mending a technical fault in the aircraft. Then at 2 am the air craft becomes grounded & we are requested to deplane to board another aircraft. Further we are subjected to a security check a second time which also became a harassment as there was hardly any staff to speed up the unnecessary process. The small children had become very fussy by 3 am. Then we boarded the next flight running to the next opposite gate so that flight could now leave in a orderly fashion. But after 15 minutes an announcement was made that the pilots had to deplane because of some regulations. With no further explanations about the current situation, there’s an announcement plz open gate l2. At 5 am with much confusion people started deplaning the aircraft a second time only to surround the two ground staff for some kind of explanation. It was really shameful to explain to the foreigners who didn’t understand hindi that its okay for the National Carrier Of India to behave in such fashion. But my biggest challenge of the night was dealing with my own 3 year old who was so excited, didn’t sleep until 4am in the morning & was constantly asking ‘when’s the plane gonna fly, when do we get on our cruise?