[SedateGuy]

Originally Posted by Theyota

... Some of these things, like efficient check-in and baggage claim processes should be very basic for anyone running an airline, not to speak of an airline line Air India that will cross a centenary year in business very soon. But many still fail in it.

Given the rot that had set in during the long years of Government ownership it would be better to count Air India as a new airline with a drag tied around its leg which needs to undo/retrain years of inefficiency.

[moralfibre]

The check in experience on my return leg onboard AI180 was uneventful. It worked in my favour that I had pre-booked my seat. The queue was indeed long but not as long as the one I saw in SFO that was managing two flights worth of bags in one go. So I went over to my usual priority baggage drop counter and then a long wait ensued.

Rant:
It is typically common sight at Air India check in counters where a mobile phone wielding powerful manager is constantly chirping on the phone while making their gate agents hit some buttons and navigate to some unknown hidden screens on their terminals. While I am not privy to understand what they want done, these babu time managers are forgetting the fact that one check in agent is at his mercy and not at his job of getting customers checked in. It wasn't my first time experiencing this but there is a serious relook required at the hierarchical nature of these organizations. I have once experienced an ultra long wait at the check in counter when I was connecting from international to domestic while the agent continued to take instructions from such a manager trying to get his work done through.

At this time, the agent took a good amount of our time and finally after a 15 minute delay the two check in counters turned to three and the check in process started to gather pace. Another observation is that typically AI customers fly very very heavy. Think all baggage limits exhausted and all numbers exceeded in most times. While the check in agents are very liberal in their approach for +/- 2-3 kgs, sometimes this holds on the queue for a far far longer than expected time. A good solution might be to bring in a weighing agent that tags bags with Red or Green stickers to direct adhering passengers to the non-adhering ones so as to save time for people who go by the rules.

Thankfully my check in agent was efficient and besides having a small minute or two long struggle to procure priority tags, I was out of the counter in under 4 minutes. Good work!

Security and immigration was swift at BOM and I was quickly heading to find my way to Adani's East wing lounge. This one is hidden on the far left of the terminal as you get into the central part of the terminal. The way to find the lounge is to follow signs for McDonalds. Note that this lounge is different from the West wing lounge reserved for First and Business class passengers.


The lounge offers brilliant views of the airside as you grab a snack or a wholesome bite from hot meals served from their buffet sections. Quickly managed to finish a beverage and meal as I walked down to the gate to be greeted by a full boarding area.

Got this shot of the same aircraft that got me to BOM flying out as AI179 in its service to San Francisco. Boarding started in time and owing to TSA regulations, a secondary baggage screening and passenger check is carried out here:



There was no boarding order or priority followed at BOM. Passengers were huddled across like bleating goats towards the holding area prior to boarding. I really really admire how Southwest carries out boarding without seat assignments or for that matter hard nosed staff at Lufthansa manages to get people onboard with their set process. Admittedly, my short flight on Akasa to Bangalore left me surprised on how polite but firm their gate agents are with passengers for ensuring a zone based boarding of their passengers. The amount of time saved in this is enormous. A lot of incentives and perks needs to be determined by AI by ensuring that the gate agent's performance is rated by their efficiency in ensuring least time taken from the start till the end of the boarding process.

As I walked down the aero bridge, I got a good glance at the mammoth GE90 engines powering the VT-AEF. The GE90s remained undisputedly the largest jet engines ever used for 3 decades in a row. Each of these put out 115,000 lbf of thrust that propels the 777-200LR to speeds north of a 1000km/h:



Fueling us for our ultra long haul 8500km odd journey:



Was a good sight to see the airhostess helping an aged passenger to board:



This time I got a seat on the starboard side of the jet. Initially I was a bit apprehensive to be seated here but in hindsight it proved to be a great vantage point for clicking airborne pictures as we approached San Francisco:



A look at the stuck remote and seat adjustments in the armrest:



A clearer picture of seat controls. It is a delight to fly on a bright day. It is so much more fresher and energising as compared to a Red eye:



Consistency: A good process is one that can be consistently followed to derive the exact same results each time it is executed. However, that doesn't seem to be the case with Air India. Remember how the chief of crew swung by my seat and introduced herself. She did that to all of the business class customers and folks holding an elevated frequent flyer status. This time around, no one showed up and the crew onboard AI179 was utterly cold but going about their jobs. No smiles, no courtesy but a simple cold turn around of their duties. While I am not bothered with this at all, I am concerned that there is an utter lack of consistency in the way processes are followed as a part of cabin crew training.

Another positive sign was that there was a printed menu this time around and no one came by shouting "Veg or Non-veg" as many airliners typically do in their coach cabins. The quality of paper used was nice and the cards remained with us for whatever reasons till the end of our journey despite the meal service offered on these were limited to their lunch offerings:









The Tumi pouch again. I used the blinds and socks on my flight this time. It was bright outside and they helped immensely to put me off to sleep:



Oh dear! The armrest has a small section for placing glasses / bottles on. It was FILTHY at the edges. No one bothered cleaning the aircraft carefully enough to ensure that this experience does not follow through on to the next flight. There were deposits of spilled drinks across the edge of this White tray:



We pushed back in time and waved goodbye to the sister craft the 787-9 Dreamliner:



Goodbye BOM tower:

[moralfibre]

The duo of GE90s powered us out of BOM towards the Arabian sea. I've been on all of AI's 777-200LRs and a few 300ERs as well. Despite being older in age, the ex-Delta 200LRs appeared much much better maintained. Their cabin refurbishment notwithstanding, the engine fire off process, taxi and takeoff weren't as loud and rattle prone as AI's fleet. A significant credit for this goes to Delta's excellent engineering and maintenance facility in Atlanta, GA. Check them out on Youtube.

Fun fact, the GE90s at their widest section are as much in size as a Boeing 737 fuselage!

Beautiful skyview of Bombay:



We make a nice right bank and turn 180 odd degrees to head eastward towards far east Asia and towards the Pacific:



As we get past the 10000 feet ceiling, lunch arrives. It is very well presented, fresh and delicious. I forgot to mention that hot towels were placed out for us just before the lunch service. This was however the only time we saw them. On my onward flight, it was handed over thrice! Once before every meal. Remember? Consistency is key to form a good experience:



I slept like a baby throughout this flight. This was a short trip and I barely recovered from my jet lag before having to return. A little later, another menu card was shared for our dinner service:







This time around though I couldn't finish my meal as the taste was somewhat mediocre and the quality wasn't that great. The chicken was chewy and the corn veggies didn't feel great. I skipped through it and returned to my sleep:



Wokeup briefly over the Pacific to be greeted by a very large sea of clouds covering the sun. These vistas are truly magnificent and I wonder how it feels on the flight deck. Look how clean the engine cowl is, the fuselage is reflecting on it's paint:



Approaching SFO, I was hoping that we land on runway 19 and not 28. Despite all these years, I've never had the pleasure of being on the other runway. This time around though, it seemed like we were heading towards it. And there it was, wonderful sights of the bay area from around 10000 feet or lower:









And some plane spotting as we taxi towards our gate. Eva Air's Boeing 777-300ER:



Air New Zealand's Black and White Dreamliner:



And our own sister craft the 777-300ER flying in as AI183 from Delhi:

[SR-71]

Inspired by this post I decided to use Air India for my recent trip despite my new found love for OneWorld status. It’s a decision I thoroughly regret in hindsight. Due to the current economic situation all travel is restricted to coach class. I was lured by the fact I can easily upgrade with personal penny to premium economy on the way up and use a non stop on the way back, alas both of which remain unfulfilled thanks in part to the inefficient ground staff.

I booked the BLR-BOM-SFO but the crazy meetings and odd work hours meant I did not focus on pre-reserving my premium economy seat. I was ok as seats were available and I decided I will do it at the Bangalore airport. During checkin I told the lady at the counter that I would like to pay for the premium economy seat. She was clueless and despite me being clear about it she went ahead and generated my boarding pass with a middle row seat at the back of the cabin. There was no way I was flying 17 hrs stuck between 2 people and she was clueless how to fix it. She kept repeating like a broken record that I have to check with the counter staff at Mumbai to get it fixed. On reaching Mumbai, I was told there is no such thing as premium economy which annoyed me to hell. I had to push hard before they sent me to their supervisor who said the premium economy was full. I asked to be upgraded to business class but that was full too. The supervisor however was kind enough to put ma in a forward aisle seat in the middle cabin. She also said the middle row in that was empty and I should be comfortable. And as I suspected this was the economy+ section of erstwhile delta air frame which has better leg space than the economy class. This is not advertised anywhere. So if you are not comfortable paying 100 USD for premium economy, I would encourage folks to pay 35 USD for the mid cabin, it’s definitely worth it. The ground staff were horrible when it came to boarding, no announcement, no row wise boarding calls nothing, it was utter chaos. The inflight crew of BOM-SFO sector were very pleasant though. The hostess tending to my cabin understood my predicament when I denied wine in paper cup during lunch. She was kind enough to fetch a nice glass of wine from business class. It definitely pays to be nice to cabin crew. The IFE is nothing to write home about. The flight was delayed by an hour but it was blessing in disguise as the immigration was relatively empty and fast.

On a side note US immigration has stopped stamping passports. It came as a surprise as my passport was stamped when I travelled in October. I was confused until I saw my I94 in the CBP portal. The only pleasant thing that happened in the journey was National upgrading me to an Audi for no additional charge.

The return was worse. I got an SMS after I checked out of the hotel stating that my BLR-SFO flight was cancelled. I had to pay 300USD for one more night of stay and I rebooked myself in the SFO-DEL-BLR flight next day. But to my complete surprise it would not let me web checkin citing that my ticket was invalid. I reached the airport with a prayer hoping they let me board and honor the bulk head choices I had paid for in the original flight. Thankfully I got the bulkhead seat and no one beside me. However the plane looked like it was from the world war era. It was completely worn out and the cabin staff were highly inefficient. There was a lot of chaos both at SFO and DEL as many folks were once again bumped off in both sectors. The chaotic boarding continued to be an hallmark in all 4 flights. The food was nothing to write home about. You get better choices in Singapore / ME carriers. Air India seems to be a magnet for unruly passengers. On reaching Delhi the captain announced we cannot deplane yet as they were waiting for the security to come in arrest an unruly passenger who was restrained. I don’t know what happened as I was sitting upfront. The police came 20 minutes later and those of us who were in the front were allowed to deplane soon after.

I finally reached home vowing not to go back to Air India at least not until they really fix the issues. The last time I flew AirIndia was in 2015 to Heathrow and there was dead rat in the plane. Thankfully no dead rats now, that’s possibly the only improvement TATA has made post the acquisition . So long AirIndia, I will stick to Qatar and Singapore for now.

Attaching a couple of photos showing the leg space in bulk head and the worn out seats/cabin.

[Jeroen]

Thanks for sharing this very detailed travel experience. Much appreciated. I will be honest, I have always tried avoiding having to fly AI, as the proverbial plaque. Those times I had to use them on international flights and local flights were pretty awful experience, despite I was travelling business class.

It is good to see AI is beginning to make a lot of changes for the better. At the same time it looks they still have a long way to go to become on par with most big international airlines.

I smiled at your description about the boarding process and how that took place in typical Indian chaos type of happening. As you mention a Lufthansa or KLM ground crew would never let that happen. But then again, I can guarantee you there would have been many Indian passengers complaining about the rude staff.

Because a Lufthansa or a KLM person has grown up in a equalitarian society, they see and act as your peer no matter what your status, profession is. And they are in charge and you will need to do what they say and they take no crap from anybody.

One of the things I always found very fascinating, if not upsetting, was the very demur attitude of many flight attendants on Indian carriers. (obviously the AI are mostly rude, but I hope you recognise/understand what I mean).

Passengers need to listen and adhere to what flight attendants tell them. If you do that in a meek tiny little voice whilst staring at your feet it ain’t gonna cut the mustard. A KLM flight attendant can and will stare down anybody. Nothing meek about them.

Jeroen

[SR-71]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I have always tried avoiding having to fly AI, as the proverbial plaque.

As you mention a Lufthansa or KLM ground crew would never let that happen. But then again, I can guarantee you there would have been many Indian passengers complaining about the rude staff.

And I strongly believe you should continue avoiding it at least until they fix things. While buying new planes and refurbishing the current ones take time, I fail to understand why they cannot fix the low hanging fruits like instilling basic etiquette in ground staff. At Mumbai as I was clueless about what rows were boarding, I walked up to the desk by the gate and asked the person sitting there what rows were boarding. And just then one of the cabin crew was passing by and this old chap at the desk started chatting with her. I got super annoyed and interjected with a polite but stern - Am sorry but it takes you a second to answer me and then continue with your jabber, I was here first - Even the cabin crew laughed and said he should be doing what I asked. He turns and says not sure, I could actually see the shock even in the air hostesses face. Later mid flight I got a chance to speak to her and she brought up the subject and said even they were dismayed by the inefficiency of the ground staff when it came to boarding process. Apparently no amount of request to ground staff to adhere to row wise boarding has paid off so far.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

One of the things I always found very fascinating, if not upsetting, was the very demur attitude of many flight attendants on Indian carriers. A KLM flight attendant can and will stare down anybody.

Excellent observation, I am on the same page as you on this. It looks like the cabin crew just want to please people or be arrogant. They should realise there is a difference between being rude vs being a people pleaser vs being professional about their job. You will see AI folks being the either of the first two. They need to learn the art of being politely stern and professional about their approach. They need to learn how to be in control while being nice. As I mentioned in another AI related post, KLM is fantastic in many ways. Very little desi passengers, new planes and super efficient staff. If only they were a part of OneWorld or Star Alliance… Sky team does not work well for my current travel patterns and their bi weekly schedule does not fit well with business needs.

Another point I wanted to add about AI is their lack of choice when it comes to connectivity. Mid way through my trip, my extended family asked that I drop by and visit them in the South. I couldn’t find a proper rerouting despite AI being part of Star Alliance and SFO is United’s hub. I had to find separate tickets to either Dulles / JFK / O’Hare or fly back to SFO in order to take AI back home. This is inconvenient. Plus folks at my company’s travel desk gave me a strange reason about not letting me reroute via JFK or Dulles. They said something about routing restrictions - If I fly via Pacific, I cannot reroute via the Atlantic for the return leg. Not sure what that was about, hearing it for the first time.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

This time around though I couldn't finish my meal as the taste was somewhat mediocre and the quality wasn't that great. The chicken was chewy and the corn veggies didn't feel great. I skipped through it and returned to my sleep

This is generally the case across airlines as the food uplift was from India versus the other way around. Quality and freshness of food is almost always better when the uplift is from a foreign destination.

Thank you for the detailed trip/airline review.

Cheers

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by SR-71

Inspired by this post I decided to use Air India for my recent trip despite my new found love for OneWorld status.

Oh dear! I am so sorry for your experience. I am also glad that you did not opt for their BLR-SFO direct service. They have consistently failed to adhere to their schedules with delays and cancellations being the norm for each day. I could still put up with an hour or two of delays but I've tracked these flights and they are consistently off by hours! Sometimes even 8-10 hrs.

It’s a decision I thoroughly regret in hindsight. Due to the current economic situation all travel is restricted to coach class. I was lured by the fact I can easily upgrade with personal penny to premium economy on the way up and use a non stop on the way back, alas both of which remain unfulfilled thanks in part to the inefficient ground staff.

Air India will face a massive challenge with changing equipment. There are times when their two leased aircraft from Delta aren't available to serve a schedule and their state transport bus category 777-200 LRs and 777-300ERs are pushed into these routes. When that happens, it is a disaster. I sincerely hope that AI manages to complete and fast track their lease of 36 odd jets they plan to lease from various carriers that are parked. Even if it means not painting or rebranding them. Just simply bring them on and get rid of the crappy fleet that is serving international routes.

On a side note US immigration has stopped stamping passports. It came as a surprise as my passport was stamped when I travelled in October. I was confused until I saw my I94 in the CBP portal. The only pleasant thing that happened in the journey was National upgrading me to an Audi for no additional charge.


I finally reached home vowing not to go back to Air India at least not until they really fix the issues. The last time I flew AirIndia was in 2015 to Heathrow and there was dead rat in the plane. Thankfully no dead rats now, that’s possibly the only improvement TATA has made post the acquisition . So long AirIndia, I will stick to Qatar and Singapore for now.

Attaching a couple of photos showing the leg space in bulk head and the worn out seats/cabin.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

It is good to see AI is beginning to make a lot of changes for the better. At the same time it looks they still have a long way to go to become on par with most big international airlines.

I think apart from the airline's challenges with respect to the product, the carrier's achilles heels are going to be their staff. While most of their commanders and first officers come with tremendous amount of flying experience, their in-flight crew are far from ideal to handle any situation. It's a cultural as well as well as professional rot that has set in. Product and processes can be fixed with money, people cannot be. The worst part of the whole ordeal is that the airline has multiple unions to deal with.

I smiled at your description about the boarding process and how that took place in typical Indian chaos type of happening. As you mention a Lufthansa or KLM ground crew would never let that happen. But then again, I can guarantee you there would have been many Indian passengers complaining about the rude staff.

+1000000 The only recent airline that I saw adhering to a diligent boarding process was Akasa air. The fact that it is an LCC and could manage to drive their point efficiently was heartening to see. Indian passengers are equally responsible for being unruly and over demanding. Somewhere they believe that they have paid for a 5 star hotel service and at the press of every button, a fresh drink should be poured in their glass.

One of the things I always found very fascinating, if not upsetting, was the very demur attitude of many flight attendants on Indian carriers. (obviously the AI are mostly rude, but I hope you recognise/understand what I mean).

Passengers need to listen and adhere to what flight attendants tell them. If you do that in a meek tiny little voice whilst staring at your feet it ain’t gonna cut the mustard. A KLM flight attendant can and will stare down anybody. Nothing meek about them.

Jeroen

Well summed up! Completely agree with you on this.

[SR-71]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

I am also glad that you did not opt for their BLR-SFO direct service.

Me too. I generally leave on Saturday and arrive on Saturday that allows me a days downtime before the meetings over the course of the week. Cancellation on such schedule would definitely make it nasty for me. Plus I really wanted to checkout the premium economy service in their Delta air frame post reading your post.

Originally Posted by moralfibre

and their state transport bus category 777-200 LRs and 777-300ERs are pushed into these routes. When that happens, it is a disaster. .

Lol, exactly the term I used to describe their 700-300 ER that served the SFO-DeL sector the day I flew. They had a sticker that read ‘Dumrapan Nished Shetra’ in every cabin, attaching a very blurry picture. Come on AI, the no smoking symbol and lights are self explanatory.

Not to nitpick but a funny observation, the crew used - guests are ‘required’ - with an obvious strong emphasis on the required word every-time they came on PA to announce something. Typically airlines use ‘guests are requested’ even when it’s not an option. Wondering why they want to sound like a school principal…

I like the idea of leaving and arriving at sane hours, something the current AI schedule permits. Every other international connection except for BA non stop to London departs at ungodly hours from BLR. But it’s too much a price to pay flying AI just to maintain my sleep sanity.

[akshaymahajan]

Originally Posted by SR-71

Inspired by this post I decided to use Air India for my recent trip despite my new found love for OneWorld status. It’s a decision I thoroughly regret in hindsight. Due to the current economic situation all travel is restricted to coach class. I was lured by the fact I can easily upgrade with personal penny to premium economy on the way up and use a non stop on the way back, alas both of which remain unfulfilled thanks in part to the inefficient ground staff.

Since United halted its DEL-ORD service, have no other direct option other than Air India now for this sector. And I completely relate with what you mention - the aircrafts are old, the food is bad, the entertainment is horrible, the service is average. I am between "do I really need to fly direct" vs if "I stop being picky, it's not that bad and the timing is pretty good".

The Delta leased aircraft from BLR - DEL was a delight though. Had the mid cabin - those seats were new and comfortable.

[VaibhaoT]

In Oct, AI came up with some very good sale. I got BLR - SFO & EWR - BLR return ticket at a very good price. So I took the plunge and decided to have a 10 day solo trip.
For BLR-SFO (AI175) leg, we had ex-Delta VT-AEE. As I had read a lot of pathetic condition of AI 777 fleet, I was really skeptical. But I was completely proven wrong. Despite being almost 15 year old airframe, it was immaculately maintained/refurbished. It was a 16 hour flight and as per Wikipedia, currently its 9th longest route in the world.
This was my first inter-continental flight and I was really nervous about the journey. But overall it was quite comfortable. Touch screen worked flawlessly. Seats were comfortable. Food was good. I hardly slept for an hour. But after landing I did not have Jet Lag. I thoroughly enjoyed my flight.

Within USA I had a United Airlines & Delta flight for two domestic legs. I don't want to say much about United. It was definitely not what I expected. But I don't want to judge based on only one experience.
But boy, I was awestruck by Delta. It was on SEA-JFK leg in 5 year old A321. This was the best aircraft I ever travelled. Just to be clear I am not frequent flyer or very well travelled. I had never seen so much of leg room in my life in economy class. Seats were very comfortable. Cabin service was very good. From departure to arrival everything went very smooth.

On EWR-DEL (AI106) leg, we had VT-ALO. This is original AI aircraft. This was the worst aircraft experience I ever had. List of broken item was really long. Worst broken thing was the EXIT bulb holder which was stick together by a two way tape. I could literally play with that EXIT sign. Even though it was shorter flight than my BLR-SFO leg, I was just waiting for it to be over. I was actually scared in that aircraft with the though that, is it even airworthy. I could not sleep even for a second, partially due to an uncle beside me who was snoring like hell. I had really bad jet lag.

On both of my AI leg, I had average experience with crew. I never got anything with just one ask. Best way to get anything you want is just to walk to crew area. AI has long way to go in cabin crew experience as well.

I feel as AI is starting its new life, I wish it keep Delta as their ideal. Recently I was watching this video on how they have a big business of MRO. Also apparently they have best on time arrival in US and minimal cancellations.

https://youtu.be/7zcmKHpBHNE?si=glj_UH3pXejikEQL

[sramanat]

Originally Posted by VaibhaoT

For BLR-SFO (AI175) leg, we had ex-Delta VT-AEE. As I had read a lot of pathetic condition of AI 777 fleet, I was really skeptical. But I was completely proven wrong. Despite being almost 15 year old airframe, it was immaculately maintained/refurbished. It was a 16 hour flight and as per Wikipedia, currently its 9th longest route in the world.
This was my first inter-continental flight and I was really nervous about the journey. But overall it was quite comfortable. Touch screen worked flawlessly. Seats were comfortable. Food was good. I hardly slept for an hour. But after landing I did not have Jet Lag. I thoroughly enjoyed my flight.

I have a BLR-SFO-BLR trip coming up end of this month. I tried to get a review of their economy class but couldn't find any. Finally team-bhp had one. Anything that moves, we have a review here.
Anyways, I think I will give Air India a try. Singapore Airlines is my other tried and tested option. Let's see...

[VaibhaoT]

Originally Posted by sramanat

I have a BLR-SFO-BLR trip coming up end of this month. I tried to get a review of their economy class but couldn't find any. Finally team-bhp had one. Anything that moves, we have a review here.
Anyways, I think I will give Air India a try. Singapore Airlines is my other tried and tested option. Let's see...

Did you travel by AI-175?
If yes, how was your experience? How much was occupancy?
In November, I felt like occupancy was on lower side. I afraid, in future AI might discontinue this flight if its not a commercial success. There is any way BOM-SFO & DEL-SFO available.