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In support of the Campaign for Public Accountability in India (CPAII), NRIfm.com is launching this blog to record how Air India treats its passengers.
Air India passengers grounded
Air India staff is:
Air India's treatment of its passengers is:
Campaign for Public Accountability in India (CPAII)
In order to make the CPAII most effective please avoid any abusive language.
If you have a specific case please be factual, brief and to the point.
Constructive suggestions are also welcome.
The contributors will be responsible for their own views and the CPAII will not be responsible for the views expressed by contributors.
Campaign for Public Accountability in India (CPAII) is a not-for-profit group of Indians and the NRIs.
127 comments:
Last year while on way from London to Delhi via Mumbai, I was told at Mumbai International airport that Air India flight has been cancilled and we have been shifted to Indian Airlines flight. We were told that an Air India bus will take us to domestic airport. When we reached the bus stop we were told there is no such thing as Air India bus and the airport shuttle bus will leave in an hour. We had to hire a cab to domestic airport. When we reached there, there was no flight to Delhi and no AI officer to give any further info. An hour later a junior officer turned up, who will not give any reply to any passenger. Another hour later another officer appeared on the check in desk, extrelemy rude, sullen faced and some of us, those who could threaten, were given seats in the next flight. A lot of simple and poor looking workers going to Gulf were very rudely addressed and left behind.
Only thosee who could pretend like a big boss, could speak in English, were politely addressed. And those who could not speak English were addressed almost humiliatingly.
Remember AI mascot is Maharaja. That's why the AI staff behaved like the autocratic old Maharajas who used to insult and humiliate their subjects.
I would like to share my experience with you all with respect to the recent trouble I faced while travelling on Indian airlines. I had a confirmed ticket from Mumbai to Udaipur on flight # IC 7472. I was travelling for business purposes and time is always of essence during such trips. the flights departure time was 15:45 PM and I was at the airport check-in exactly 45 mins before the departure time (After completing the security checking-in which took awfully long because of the clumsy work being done by the Indian airlines employees at the screeners). I was asked to report to the airport manager as according to the lady at the check in counter which I did. The airport manager for Indian airlines at that time updated me that I was late for the flight as all the paper work for the flight was already filled up and my ticket was already sold to the waiting list people. To my surprise, the airport manager lady was really rude in her action and did not listen to anything I had to say. The biggest question that still cant understand is that how can Indian airlines sell my confirmed ticket to someone else more than 45 Min's before the flights about to depart that too assuming that the flight is on time which is not always the case. I pleaded my case to the lady and requested to be considerate as it was really important for me to take that flight as any delay would lead to big financial implications for my company. But all was in vain. I did not see any kind of professionalism or customer service in the Indian airlines employees and was really saddened by my experience. I travel all around the world and thus have had lot of experience but was really hurt to have the worst experience in my own country. I have never ever seen any airlines resell any ones confirmed ticket to someone else more than 10 minutes before the flight departure and it doesn't take more than 15 Min's for a person from the time he checks-in to the time he is at the gate. So why was I told that I was late? I know that I wasn't late and that the fact. Do they expect us to check in hours before the flight departs so that IA can relax by filling out the papers for the flight when ever they want? I had to buy a new ticket in Jet Airways which cost me Rs. 6500 on the spot to so that I could be in Udaipur at least on the same day although a little late. After this experience, I have no intention on flying Indian Airlines again.
good statr
Air India and Indian Airlines are the two most callous, inefficient, fraudulent, customer unfriendly and corrupt organizations in the world. I've had so many horrible experiences with them, I have lost count. Sadly, this criminal state of adffairs extends to most government departments of India.
I was in the IAS (Allied) service and so got a chance to observe their functioning first hand. Per my experience 90% of the clerks and 80% of officers are throughly corrupt. On top of that, they are incompetent and unqualified because their selection and training peocesses are a joke. They come to the office with the sole purpose of earning money through corruption. They have no other agenda, work be damned. The general attitude in government offices is, salary is a matter of right and they'll get that anyway. They need to be compensated over and above the salary if they are to perform some work.
I decided a long time back never to fly them, so should you.
Rajesh Singh
After my past bitter experiences (thrice) with Air India, I took a decision in 2003 not to fly with them again. Honestly, I would never fly Air India, even if I am desperate......
In 2006, I was traveling with my family (two young kids) and mother. We were traveling from Saudi to Delhi via Bombay. We had a 12 hours stopover at Bombay. To proceed to Delhi we reached Bombay Air Port at 1.5hrs before flight departure time unfortunately there were no one to help my young kids and mum and cab had dropped them at arrival terminal no guidance were available instead one Air India supervisor advised us that we are late he can not accommodate us. I think one hour was sufficient to handle us because custom & other formalities were already done now traveling as a domestic passengers but this ill-mannered officers was not for any help instead threatening that now no flight available go back your agent get re-booked your flight? This was very disappointing he knew that I could be exploited so he can accommodate other "Free Passengers.” I humbly request to him let us proceed because my kids and mother were completely exhausted but this fallow did not listen. We always look forward their cooperation but I was wrong when it is AI.
On other occasion AI supervisor & desk staffs at Bombay Airport while I was traveling Delhi via Bombay ignored me even I was holding confirmed ticket he had entertained another fallow who has had some backing of AI big shot and was traveling on pass etc. he keep saying wait but why should I wait when I paid and are holding confirmed ticket when I resisted his behavior he advised me that I can sue Air lines but he wont comply what he is expected…! This is disgusting and very frustrating every time when you travel with AI.
We are avoiding AI now.
Ali
My experience is the worst one same as all my NRI friends, Iam working in Middle East (Riyadh) region,From here Air India flights always delayed since 2 years of my working period reson "Dont know" policy.
If we are running a National carrier some one should respond to the public queries, No one is there from Maharaja sight.
My best wishes to Oman/Emirates/Saudi Airlines who give prompt service in the Middle east region.
I really feel ashamed with our National Carrier,Need a whole overhauling of Carriers/Staff to satisfy their own citizen first.
Hope This comments help to improve the service of Air India in all regions of the world.
I have traveled all over the world,but the staff i saw and experienced in Air India flight,it was shocking. I am never gonna travel in this airlines.....never on the time,rude staff and zero customer service. I also missed my connecting flight due to the staff at the airport. I tink they should give their planes to Jet Airways, an excellent customer service I have seen so far in any world's top airlines
Hi All,
I have both good as well as bad experiences traveling with Indian Airlines and Air India.
Indian Airlines (now merged with AI)
I was traveling from Pune to Singapore on business class, and service provided by the attendants was even worst than any normal airliner would provide on their economy class. i had no choice other than Indian Airlines, i opted for business class, thinking to get good in-flight service, but my experience was worst than economy class. The attendant took almost 30 mins to give me water when asked for, rest you can imagine. Thank god the flight was only 6 hours and i serviced by the time it landed.
Air India:
My parents were traveling back from Singapore to Mumbai, and we all were surprised by the kind of service we received. I dont know for what reason, but the AI staff upgraded my parents ticket to business class (might be the remaining seats were not booked or over booked). It was shocking for us as we went in anticipating at least getting middle row seats in eco class. But the difference was Staff attending at counter was Singaporean and not desi.
But this good experience does not give a clean-chit to AI. After all compared with other national carriers, AI has to set some standards, if not good at least it shouldnt do any bad.
I travelled in AI (unfortunately) as no direct flights were available to Coimbatore from Dubai. The flight was delayed by 1 and half hours from sharjah. On return journey after issuing the boarding pass they announced in Hyderabad airport that the flight will be delayed by 2 hrs.After 2 hrs they said the flight will be further delayed for another 2 hrs. The airport staff asked the passengers to help themself with refreshments which was not sufficient for the passengers and some had to buy their own as the staff reported they had ran out of food. Any way I won't be travelling again. ANy number of compliants won't work as they are hardly bothered. They have taken passesngers for granted.
There was a time when I travelled by Air India (for the first and last time), from Singapore to Chennai. There was a Singaporean Indian beside me. As in his nationality is Singaporean. Apart form the usual stories of aunties and Bhabis serving the flight and theri rude behavior, i ve got a story where they ill-treated even a foreigner.
The person I was mentioning asked for a beer from the sir-hostess.
She took awefully long to arrive, but to my surprise she had 2 cans instead of one. The person asked why.. to which she replied " You will ask for another can anyways.. so just have it" What the #$%^...
I am glad someone is taking the initiative.
Last year I had flown AI from Mumbai to London and had the worst experience of my life.
First of all the flight was 5 hours late, no AI ground staff was helpful and in-flight staff was non-courteous, lousy and irresponsible.
Have sworn not to fly AI again.
Aviation minister, Praful Patel has given big promises to fix the situation, but have no hope in AI after 5 international flight were delayed for hours in the last few days.
Bureaucracy has killed efficiency, if any, in AI.
My wife was travelling by AI from India to the US and the plane got delayed in London, as a result of which many passengers missed their connecting flights from New York. After a long wait they were given hotel rooms. Getting to the hotel was another frustrating experience. The staff wasn't courteous or helpful.
I, myself, have had varied experiences. On one occasion I had a very efficient and courteous flight attendant. On another, I was cold and asked for a blanket. The attendant said they weren't given sufficient blankets (because it is a "temperature controlled flight"), but she tried to help me by "stealing" one from a passenger who was sleeping. He actually woke up and snatched it back from her---good for him. I don't remember if I finally got one or not, but it sure was amusing.
The stopovers at London are strange. Transit passengers have to remain in the craft for over 3 hours. Security personnel come to verify if any of the de-boarding passengers had left behind carry-on baggage. But the verification is pretty ad hoc. In fact, I didn't see them complete it.
All in all, I decided to avoid AI as much as possible. Rather sad, given that I would like to give them my money. I agree: AI should beg Jet to buy them.
2 Year back traveled from Delhi to Los Angeles and surprised to see that the Air India's Air Hostesses treats Indian like crap, but at the same time the White skin people get great treatment. Isn't suppose to other way round or at least the same. No more travel in Air India. NEVER.
In the year 2000, I had a friend of mine travelling from the United States to India on an Air India flight whose final destination was Bangalore. She was recovering from a major road accident in the United States and decided to opt for AI, just because she wouldn't need to change flights to reach her final destination, Bangalore. This flight which was through LHR, did not serve any meals at all in the economy class all through out the flight stating that the caterer failed to upload food. Moreover, on reaching Mumbai, the cabin staff announced that the airplane is no longer fit to fly to Bangalore and she was off-loaded at Mumbai. Imagine the plight of a person recovering from an accident and having to face this.
It goes with out saying at Air India staff, right from Apron Officers to Pilots to Cabin Attendants and right upto Air India Managing Director are discourteous, impolite, haughty and arrogant. They seem to have a perverse pleasure in causing hard-ships to passengers. They know for sure that irrespective of how they mal-treat their passengers and travelling public, they will get their regular increments, promotions and other allowances.
Unless the Civil Aviation Ministry, GOI, takes up re-vamping AI on a priority basis by replacing key officials with sensible and sensitive officers, in the changed scenario of liberalised aviation policies, AI and Indian (now a merged entity) will soon vanish from the World's Aviation Map !!!
I was traveling from JFK to bombay last year by AI. The flight was delayed but that is not the point. After boarding we found out that the airline has not arranged for bottled water. everytime one needed a drink, we had to call the staff and they will give us the water in tiny cups which can only satiate birds.
I am so ashamed that AI is the national carrier and representing our country around the world.
Always late, zero customer service, no responsibility from staff, and the staff was the laziest and most unprofessional ever on world aviation market.
Will never fly this piece of junk again.
They should just dissolve the shameful AI airline & lease plane to Jet or Kingfisher.
I hope all this grievances are forwarded to Praful Patel and the Prime Minister.
While we understand that AI does not match up to airlines like Singapore, British, or even some of the American airlines, it might be useful to compare the behavior of Indian passengers with those from other nations.
My experience is that a large fraction of the Indians misuse and abuse the facilities. They leave the toilets dirty. They try to push ahead in queues. And don't get me started on their clamor for the free booze.
AIR INDIA - Most pathetic air line I have ever bene on.
I had to travel to Delhi from London and I was given ticket from London-Mumbai-Delhi.
Irony is that the flight from London to Mumbai had a stop over at Delhi and we just could not get off the plane, because ... they had booked our tickets from London to Mumbai and then back to Delhi.
I had to travel to Mumbai from delhi and then back to Delhi.....
Utter waste of time and money.
I would rather pay few more quid and travel by jet airways/Virgin then to travel in shi-t ho-le.
Whenever I travel from San-Francisco to Calcutta I have a layover in Bangkok.
The worst thing about layover in bangkok is that the only reasonable flight going into calcutta is an indian airlines flight from Bangkok to Calcutta.
The ground staff, airhostess and the overall customer service is so poor and frustrating that I have decided to never fly indian airlines.
This decision has forced me to now fly into Delhi instead of Calcutta. Indian Airlines is like a parasite which is forced down our neck and we the indian citizens have to bear the brunt of these inefficient public enterprises which are supposed to serve us.
We should have closed Indian Airlines and Air India years ago. I will recommend selling off Indian Airlines to somebody, so that precious taxpayers money is saved and we are given the service that we deserve
I was travelling from Heathro to Mumbai. The flight was in the evening which got rescheduled to next day morning 7 o clock only to be realised upon reaching the air port and while checking in. No attempt to communicate either through SMS or mail or a phone call was made for a delay of 12 hours. They paid no compensation for my onward ticket cancellation,but they charge a minimum of 75 pounds when a passenger has to modify his/her journey details. They given a stay in Radission Hotel with no food.Being a veggie I did not get a sandwich in n around the hotel and in the morning when I reached the heathro airport in a over-crowded (Delhi local bus type) bus ,AI delayed the flight by another 8 hours. All these hours no food a total of 21hours delay with no food,water,no staff to answer,it was like a movie IN HELL I saw a few years ago. And they never gave us any reason or justification. Complete exploitation by Air India. My life's most horrible experience till date.
Living abroad for 11 years, I initially patronised Indian carriers. I realized I was wrong, with many bad experiences. Firstly, AI should cultivate the habit of "listening" to passenger feedbacks and responding to them. Being a frequent traveller on some major airlines, I have the habit of giving feedbacks (both good and bad)to the airlines through emails. Most airlines acknowledge my mail and come back with an answer. AI never responds to any feedback good or bad.
Coming to the way the air crew have to Indians, I believe it has a lot to do with passenger behaviour. Indians tend to take Indian crew lightly; but follow foreign airline crew's instructions positively. I have seen many times on IC / AI planes, passengers getting off seats asking for alcoholic drinks, when the plane just leaves the ground. If they are in a foreign carrier, they sit quietly, until they are served. What will the poor air crew do when passengers behave like this. Recently, I flew AI Express quite number of times. The crew were simply fantastic. They took extra care for my infant daughter, when I took her with me. On my other flights, the attitude of the air crew was really good. Even the ground crew at Trichy / Chennai airport were polite.
I gave a positive feedback to AI & the Civil Aviation Ministry about this and received no response.
Hopefully, AI should soon come out of its shabby ways, if they are to join the Star Alliance network. Hope for better days
I was on AIR INDIA flight from London to Mumbai Via New delhi on 10/04/2007.As usual the flight was late about two hours.The way the staff treated everyone was unexpected.when i asked for a glass of water the AIR HOSTESS said she is busy with another work right now so you have to wait for some time. I waited for an hour but she never turned up.Accourding to indian culture serving water to a thirsty person considered as a top most job.ALL the crew members were rude and unhelpful.i was ashamed of myself.I know its hurt but for the first time in my life i felt ashamed of being an indian.most of the crew wERE in their mid 40s.If you are NRI with a american or british passport you might have a chance of good service but IF YOU ARE AN INDIAN WITH BLUE PASSPORT THEN BE READY TO GET HUMILITED ON AIR INDIA FLIGHT AND ICE ON CAKE IF YOU CANT SPEAK ENGLISH.IS not this RACISM.....TELL ME PLEASE WHY THE AIR INDIA STAFF HATE INDIANS...........SUMIT SAHARAN LONDON
I was on AIR INDIA flight from London to Mumbai Via New delhi on 10/04/2007.As usual the flight was late about two hours.The way the staff treated everyone was unexpected.when i asked for a glass of water the AIR HOSTESS said she is busy with another work right now so you have to wait for some time. I waited for an hour but she never turned up.Accourding to indian culture serving water to a thirsty person considered as a top most job.ALL the crew members were rude and unhelpful.i was ashamed of myself.I know its hurt but for the first time in my life i felt ashamed of being an indian.most of the crew wERE in their mid 40s.If you are NRI with a american or british passport you might have a chance of good service but IF YOU ARE AN INDIAN WITH BLUE PASSPORT THEN BE READY TO GET HUMILITED ON AIR INDIA FLIGHT AND ICE ON CAKE IF YOU CANT SPEAK ENGLISH.IS not this RACISM.....TELL ME PLEASE WHY THE AIR INDIA STAFF HATE INDIANS...........SUMIT SAHARAN LONDON
try exploring these links and find if we can submit some complaints or something..
Ministry of civil aviation ==> http://civilaviation.nic.in/
http://civilaviation.nic.in/moca/pq.htm
AAI ==> http://www.airportsindia.org.in/AAI/main.jsp
http://www.airportsindia.org.in/righttoinformation/
right_to_info.jsp
we will try to improvise our nation carrier service. atleast few officers should realise the importants of their roles and take appropriate action. let we support gud people, catch the wrong persons...
Me and my family going for vacation every year and I am traveling every six months to Kerala from Dubai.
3 years back, me and my two kids, among them just 4 years boarded the Air India flight from Trivandrum to Dubai. You must understand the effort a father is taking on trip with small kids and the pain of feeding them food and water. When the male attendant started serving coffee/tea after the lunch, I politely requested him not to give me now, and I will ask later, because I was feeding my younger one. This man was replying:-
If you want take it, I don’t have time to serve you later.. (a flight attendant??)
This year, we purchased the ticket from Air India Express for our vacation. While coming back from Trivandrum on 22nd July 2007, the scheduled flight was at 10:30pm. We checked-in and were waiting in the departure lounge. We could not see any Air India staff there, but other Airline’s ground staff were helping their passenger and giving them frequent updates and instructions. Since there was no information about our flight, we were desperately looking for AI staff, but in vain. At around 1:30 (after 3 hours), some other airline staff informed us that, the flight is cancelled (still AI staff is missing from the Airport). We had to go back to all the procedures, including security, immigration and luggage. At the immigration counter I had to make a big noise and shout to invite the attention of the officers there. Later some officials of AI emerged from nowhere and assured me that, they will send me by another flight on the same day. Hence, I have managed to come. What about others? Should they turn violent to travel?
It is high time, if there is any possibility, the Supreme Court to intervene in this matter, to ban these two Airlines, Indian and Air India, and allow other airlines, including foreign airlines to operate to and from Indian Airports. We can not expect anything from the corrupted politicians and buerocrats to serve us better.
Me and my family going for vacation every year and I am traveling every six months to Kerala from Dubai.
3 years back, me and my two kids, among them just 4 years boarded the Air India flight from Trivandrum to Dubai. You must understand the effort a father is taking on trip with small kids and the pain of feeding them food and water. When the male attendant started serving coffee/tea after the lunch, I politely requested him not to give me now, and I will ask later, because I was feeding my younger one. This man was replying:-
If you want take it, I don’t have time to serve you later.. (a flight attendant??)
This year, we purchased the ticket from Air India Express for our vacation. While coming back from Trivandrum on 22nd July 2007, the scheduled flight was at 10:30pm. We checked-in and were waiting in the departure lounge. We could not see any Air India staff there, but other Airline’s ground staff were helping their passenger and giving them frequent updates and instructions. Since there was no information about our flight, we were desperately looking for AI staff, but in vain. At around 1:30 (after 3 hours), some other airline staff informed us that, the flight is cancelled (still AI staff is missing from the Airport). We had to go back to all the procedures, including security, immigration and luggage. At the immigration counter I had to make a big noise and shout to invite the attention of the officers there. Later some officials of AI emerged from nowhere and assured me that, they will send me by another flight on the same day. Hence, I have managed to come. What about others? Should they turn violent to travel?
It is high time, if there is any possibility, the Supreme Court to intervene in this matter, to ban these two Airlines, Indian and Air India, and allow other airlines, including foreign airlines to operate to and from Indian Airports. We can not expect anything from the corrupted politicians and buerocrats to serve us better.
Reading these comments, there is only solution, and that is not to travel with Air India, as I do.
What they say "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me". I made mistake flying to India with my family this Septembers. We live in Llanelli (Wales), which is nearly four hours from Heathrow. The flight time was 9am so we had to check-in at 6 am 9as per rule). We started at 1 am to be at airport at right time, and when we reach the AI counter, we were told that the flight was 3 hours late...We were tiered and my three year old son was restless. There was no provision from AI regarding any resting place or breakfast or anything. This is how my journey started.
On the way back, from Delhi, the flight was late again, but this time, it was two hours. I promise to myself, I will choose not to go than flying with AI.
To: Minister of Civil Aviation, Govt of India
Mr. Praful Patel
Hon. Minister of Civil Aviation
Govt. of India
New Delhi, India
Dear Hon. Minister Praful Patel,
Calicut Airport was given the status of international airport on February 2, 2006. Subsequently the infrastructure there was improved for handling international flights.
Airports Authority of India had provided runway lead-in lighting system for the first time in India at Calicut airport as per the recommendations of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The system has been put into service for night operations since October, 2003.
A 15,000-sq meter international arrival terminal has been opened to passengers, similar to the modern and spacious international departure terminal that became operational on May 14, 2007.
As many as 240 international flights operate from the Calicut airport a week. Total number of international passengers using Calicut airport were put at more than half million a year.
The Airport and its passengers have been a cash cow for Air India Express and Indian through Gulf Malayalees ever since the Airport was started. So they see to it that no other major international air lines operate from there and share their profits. Delayed flights, passenger abuse both by airline authorities and customs happens on a daily basis.
Many International Airlines from abroad including budget airlines are eagerly waiting to operate services from Calicut. The central government had given permission to international airlines to land in Pune, Nagpur and Coimbatore airports though these airports have few international passengers, flights and facilities.
Civil aviation ministry had recently permitted Indian private air line Jet Airways to fly to a few Gulf destinations. But in order to protect the monopoly of Air India Express and Indian in the sector, the ministry did not give Jet Airways permission to fly to UAE and Saudi Arabia which have the largest Malayalee population.
The fear of Air India and Indian that competition and low air fare will hit their business makes no sense as one of our study found that if the air fare is less the expatriates will travel more frequently and the airline business will flourish. We also feel that competition will improve services and benefit end users in a big way.
So, we collectively appeal to Hon. Minister of Civil Aviation Mr. Praful Patel, to permit international airlines to fly to Calicut airport without any further delay.
Sincerely,
Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust
Dear Brother & Sisters,
Please sign the following petition to stop the step-motherly attitude towards Calicut airport and to permit International Airlines fly from Calicut International Airport.
http://www.petitiononline.com/CJT1107/petition.html
Please mail this link to all email IDs in your address book and group. Our collective effort definitely will give result.
All this business is being pursued by the Air india and indian airlines to get bonus and other perks for their employees. The delayed flights give a lot of business to the local vendors hotels and in turn these hotels/vendors pay as free holidays/vacations to the families of Big bosses of Air india and Indian.
There is nothing humiliating than to travel by AI. In my opinion as long it is under the Government, I see no future. Probably the AI staff must be reading this and amusing themselves calling us idiots. As they know that they work under the banner, "WE ARE NOT HERE TO CHANGE OURSELVES AND BAD SERVICE IS OUR MOTTO".
Coming to the experience I had. I was travelling from Frankfurt to Bangalore. Although I was told it was a direct flight, we were asked to disembark in Mumbai and take a connecting flight to Bangalore. Reason: of course not given. We were made to wait till 7.00am in the morning although our scheduled arrival was at 2.30am. But AI as usual did not bother to respond to anyone. Almost everyone just shrugg their shoulders off saying not my problem.
My woes were not over yet. Unfortunately it was a return ticket. We were told in Bangalore first that the fight is 30 minutes delayed which went on to about 5 hours delay. Again no AI staff to give any explanation. It was already 08.00am and no breakfast no coffee, tea or even water was given. Atlast the flight took off around 9.00am. AI staff once again was very rude and some of them were so arrogant instead of apologising they said you do not have any choice you will have to take AI again. Bullocks, how are these people qualify to a post with so many responsibilities, do they corrupt the authorities to get a post or what?
On board not to mention, how pathetic the crew members are. They think that all NRIs are just idiots doing some crap work outside the home country, they have no knowledge about outside life.
I urge anyone who reads comments on this blog spot, please avoid AI. If you think it is home coming flying with AI then you are terribly mistaken. It really does not matter to pay little more money and use a foreign airliner, as the happiness you get reaching home stressfree is enarmous.
Lastly a small tipp to all those who are flying to Bangalore from Europe or USA, Air france and British Airways are cheaper and they are defenitely less hassle.
AIR INDIA PLEASE LEARN A LESSON SEEING HOW OTHER AIRLINES OPERATE AND TREAT THEIR PASSENGERS.
I am a member of their frequent flyer programme as I used to travel Indian Airlines on all domestic sectors till we struck a corporate deal with Jet.
My last long distance travel on AirIndia was in 2003 - London-Mumbai-London on business class.
While going to London the journey was uneventful but the return was a nightmare. I was called at 6.30 am by their call centre as the flight departure was at about 10 am. I reconfirmed my travel on the phone and arrived at the airport 2 1/2 hours ahead of departure as requested. To my shock I noticed the captain of the flight at the check in counter, directing the check in staff who to take on the flight and who not to. When I reached the counter I was informed that the flight was full and they would not be able to accomodate me. On being reminded that their call centre had called me in the morning and reconfirmed my departure, they had no answer and told me disbelievingly that it was not possible. In the meantime other passengers got into a massive fight as they had suffered the same fate. The captain had picked and chosen his friends to take on the flight as it was overbooked. I could see that they were boarding their own staff travelling on free tickets but insulting fare paying business class passengers like me.
I had to reach Mumbai for an urgent meeting so I had to beg and plead and this was a really humiliating experience which will stay with me for life. Eventually at the last minute they downgraded me and gave me the last row economy seat, just in time for me to run to the gate. This was not the end. We boarded the flight and then sat in the aircraft for over an hour, still at the gate. Eventually the steward came to me and asked me if I could get off the plane as they had wrongly issued me the boarding pass and wanted me to get off and the flight was overloaded. This was absolutely the last straw and I refused point blank. Eventually I saw them offloading couple of their own staff travelling on free tickets and the flight left 2 hours after the dep time.
This airline has a weird pecking order in terms of priority - first are the ministers and their hangars on, next the beaurocrats, then their own freeloader staff, and at the bottom of the list come fare paying business class and then economy class passengers, especially on the London sector. All attempts to privatise this shameful blot on our country's name are resisted, as they know that this wilful looting of the public funds will not be will not be allowed any more if that happens. They are rude, insolent, brazen, and dont care, and have never heard of words like 'accountability' and 'service'.
The only other travel I ever did on AirIndia after this was in 2005 when I had to go to HongKong on abusiness meeting at short notice and thanks to their lobbying and protectionist policies, that route has very little choice ex India. This was an Airbus 310 Mumbai-delhi-HongKong. Again, the business class seats were rickety and broken, would not lean back, a toilet had been demolished and replaced with two seats, the only passengers in business class were their own staff on free tickets or upgrades, who kept their bags on the vacant seats instead of the overhead baggage hold in complete violation of safety standards. The wet towels looked like they had seen better days.
I wish the government wakes up and allows privatisation, that will teach a few lessons to them.
I am a member of their frequent flyer programme as I used to travel Indian Airlines on all domestic sectors till we struck a corporate deal with Jet.
My last long distance travel on AirIndia was in 2003 - London-Mumbai-London on business class.
While going to London the journey was uneventful but the return was a nightmare. I was called at 6.30 am by their call centre as the flight departure was at about 10 am. I reconfirmed my travel on the phone and arrived at the airport 2 1/2 hours ahead of departure as requested. To my shock I noticed the captain of the flight at the check in counter, directing the check in staff who to take on the flight and who not to. When I reached the counter I was informed that the flight was full and they would not be able to accomodate me. On being reminded that their call centre had called me in the morning and reconfirmed my departure, they had no answer and told me disbelievingly that it was not possible. In the meantime other passengers got into a massive fight as they had suffered the same fate. The captain had picked and chosen his friends to take on the flight as it was overbooked. I could see that they were boarding their own staff travelling on free tickets but insulting fare paying business class passengers like me.
I had to reach Mumbai for an urgent meeting so I had to beg and plead and this was a really humiliating experience which will stay with me for life. Eventually at the last minute they downgraded me and gave me the last row economy seat, just in time for me to run to the gate. This was not the end. We boarded the flight and then sat in the aircraft for over an hour, still at the gate. Eventually the steward came to me and asked me if I could get off the plane as they had wrongly issued me the boarding pass and wanted me to get off and the flight was overloaded. This was absolutely the last straw and I refused point blank. Eventually I saw them offloading couple of their own staff travelling on free tickets and the flight left 2 hours after the dep time.
This airline has a weird pecking order in terms of priority - first are the ministers and their hangars on, next the beaurocrats, then their own freeloader staff, and at the bottom of the list come fare paying business class and then economy class passengers, especially on the London sector. All attempts to privatise this shameful blot on our country's name are resisted, as they know that this wilful looting of the public funds will not be will not be allowed any more if that happens. They are rude, insolent, brazen, and dont care, and have never heard of words like 'accountability' and 'service'.
The only other travel I ever did on AirIndia after this was in 2005 when I had to go to HongKong on abusiness meeting at short notice and thanks to their lobbying and protectionist policies, that route has very little choice ex India. This was an Airbus 310 Mumbai-delhi-HongKong. Again, the business class seats were rickety and broken, would not lean back, a toilet had been demolished and replaced with two seats, the only passengers in business class were their own staff on free tickets or upgrades, who kept their bags on the vacant seats instead of the overhead baggage hold in complete violation of safety standards. The wet towels looked like they had seen better days.
I wish the government wakes up and allows privatisation, that will teach a few lessons to them.
I have travelled by Air India twice within india & internationally. Thankfully both the time the service was reasonably good barring tthe fact that the flights were delayed by upto 2 hours and i could barely catch the connecting flight!!! However reading other's comments i will think twice before booking a flight with Air India, i might not be lucky another time ...
I travelled with Air India in Feb 2007 from London to Delhi and our flight was delayed by 5 hours - which is quite normal for Air India. The worst thing is they didn't tell us it was delayed when we checked in.. we were waiting around for ages and then they said it was delayed for an hour.. and then another hour. The reason for the delay was that the flight hadn't left from New York. But they only gave that information out after it was delayed for several hours. We had to wait around the check in counter because no one gave us proper info.
My grandma can't walk too much, and they took 3 hours just to provide a wheelchair. She has flown with so many airlines and has never had to wait that long for a wheelchair.
I hadn't been on Air India for many years.. maybe 10 years. I didn't know how old the flights are and there's hardly any leg room. After a 5 hour delay to sit in an AI flight just adds to your distress.
I wouldn't fly AI again, despite the fact that you can get really good deals on it if you book early.
hi
This is a great initiative, Air India and scores of such other public sector (commercial enterprises) have been eroding the public funds through mismangement, lack of transparency and poor servic to citizens. Let the repsonse be a huge one so that the big bosses in the glass houses (minister+ managing bureaucrate+ employees) take note that they can no more trample upon the paying public. for years we were kept away from choice of service providers and had to bear with the whims and fancies of the babus in air travel, road transport RTCs ,telecom, postal service etc ...its high time they realize that the world has changed.
The AI experience described in this blog echoes what I have personally experienced and heard from other Indians. I too had decided not to fly AI ever again.
I would like to make two points. First, the center of the corruption, mismanagement and Maharaja attitude is Mumbai. Overall, we have had generally positive experience from the other Indian airports. The so called 'Mumbai lobby' has such a strong hold over the aviation industry in India that it is difficult to bypass Mumbai. Recently my wife flew Air Sri Lanka from Chicago to Cochin via Colombo just to avoid Mumbai, but that is two extra hours of flight time. So if anyone is planning to do something about this problem, the attention has to be first on Mumbai.
Second, I think that part of the blame for the type of treatment we receive from flight crew should fall on our shoulders as well. As airline passengers, we Indians are a rude, crude set. I have seen passengers treat the flight crew as though they are the Maharajas who deserve to be served and pampered. They haul in huge bags as carry-on and get insulted when they have to follow instructions from the crew. Once I have seen the crew of a Singapore Airlines get frustrated with the Indian passengers who were already standing in the aisle with their bags in hand ready to disembark before the plane had come to a stop. No one was paying any attention to the requests by the crew to sit down and put on their seat belt. In fact, if there is a blog to share experiences of fellow Indian passengers, I bet we will have quite an interesting set of stories to share.
A few years back we decided to fly Luftansa instead of Air India from the U.S. to Mumbai. We wanted to experience how other 'better', more prestigious airlines treat their passengers. Well, the first leg of the trip from the U.S. to Frankfurt was royal and well exceeded our expectations. But then it was time to board the flight to Mumbai from Frankfurt. And something was different. It was as if we had re-entered the AI universe. The crew was rude, the passengers were discourteous, and the environment was just as if we had boarded an AI flight from Mumbai. Why the difference? Is it racism? Or is the crew's behavior a reflection of our own? Are we probably getting what we deserve. I wonder.
I had a very bad experience two weeks before in AI express IX 492.
I booked AI Express on 6th Nov 07 0215hrs to Cochin from Abu Dhabi. I tried to call AI office from 1800hrs till 2100hrs and there was no answer from their office (971 2 5757008). When I reached the airport by 1200hrs midnight with my family and during the check-in, they informed that the flight is delayed till 1600hrs next day (7th Nov 07), a delay of more than 14hrs due to technical problem.
Only one person from AI staff was available to control all the passengers and there were no transportation available to go back to home which is 35Kms from airport during 0100hrs. I called back my cousin who dropped me at airport and same time (2.30 am in India) i woke up my parents to inform about the delay and reached back home by 0200hrs. The same afternoon I took a taxi to reach airport and reached Cochin by 2230 hrs.
I had only 7 days leave from my office for a short visit. Due to this delay I lost one day from my leave days and had to change all my travel schedule in India.
This was my second bad experience with AI, and now I decided to avoid AI flights.
Till now I had traveled once only with Air India Express and taken a oath not to travel again. Value of time is nothing for them; Costumer care word does not exist in their dictionary forgets costumer satisfaction.
This is with reference to my journey dated 4th Oct 07 from Dubai to Delhi by Air India Express. I am aware that this is low fare airlines but the problem which I faced has nothing to do with low cost, at least we are paying enough for good services. Secondly now days there are lot many flight offering low fare than Air India express.
First of all flight was delay by appro.4 hour after getting boarding pass.
Anyhow when flight reached Delhi we didn’t found our baggage after putting an effort for more that one and a half hour we came to know that our baggage was not loaded from Dubai, So we are suppose to get the same on 6th Oct 07.
I tried more that 20 time on the contact numbers given to me by air India express representative (Nos. are 011- 25652279, 25603116, 25603117, 25603130) but unable to be in touch with air India express. Finally I have visited to air India express Site than called costumer care and got a new no for Baggage section i.e. 011 – 25652050 Ext 3130, 3116, and 3117.
At the end of day I could be in touch with Mr. Sanjeev, he promised me to for a call with in half an hour. He kept his promises and let me know that 07th Oct 07 I can send my representative for the collection of Baggage along with convince.
On 7th Oct 07 my representative Mr. Vikas Yadav (Younger brother) reached airport and their Mr. Sathi informed that being Sunday he will not be able get baggage. As soon as I came to know the situation I given various calls to Air India express and able to get in touch with Mr. Khurana, after putting a lot of effort we got our baggage at 9pm, when he ask for convince the Guard Rudely told (You got your baggage now go from here).
In above circumstances I had spend almost INR 200 over phone and INR 3000 for convince from Roorkee to IGI air port (As to and for distance is appro 370 km). This is apart from the problem I faced during a short leave of 6 Days.
Tried to put a mail on customer support mail id but all in vain every time it gets bounced . So the best option is to avoid air India or Indian airlines as far as possible. They should learn something from Indian Railway now a day’s their time punctuality is mind-blowing
Gautam Singh Yadav
Posting this on behalf of all those we flew with me and undergone trauma with Air-India
I too had a very bad experience flying with Air-India. It was nightmare and shocking.
June 2006 flew from London to Hyderabad; we reached Mumbai on time and had a brief stopover for 4 hours to catch another flight to Hyderabad.
As they were no announcement no communication, when enquired they said flight is delayed.
Situation turned more pathetic when they said it�s delayed further by 4 hours.
Staff was inefficient and lacked experience, on top they didn�t have proper communication and didn�t had enough first hand information, surprisingly none of the manager were around.
We had some clarity after 3 hours that finally flight was cancelled and they are going more move us to hotel.
It took bloody 4 hour from there on, immigration check, waiting for bus and finally moving to hotel. On top it was raining heavily outside and it made situation atrocious.
Next morning we moved back from hotel to airport and again flight was delayed for about 2 hours and finally reached Hyderabad. It takes hours to reach Hyderabad from Mumbai .Took 26 hours and have to undergo all bloody pain.
That didn�t stop there; I was in pretty similar situation on return journey from Ahemadabad to London. This time the flight was delayed again, to my utter surprise the staff told us that the flight delayed because the captain was ill and they are waiting for another pilot who going to fly from Mumbai. They kept us waiting till evening and told us that flight was cancelled as they couldn�t arrange one and finally they will move us to hotel. We have to go through the all sorts of pain again, running here and there to find out the latest developments as there was no proper communication. You ask staff members every one came out with new stories.
We moved back to hotel disappointed, returned next morning at 7:30 am, to catch 10:30 flight to London, again it was delayed by 4 hours it made worse as no proper communication was passed, we were starving, running around.
After going through the entire trauma we finally board the plane and travelled back without food. There were all age group people travelling and it was chaos. We survived on snacks
This was enough to decide that I will never ever fly with Air again.
Posting this on behalf of all those we flew with me and undergone trauma with Air-India
I too had a very bad experience flying with Air-India. It was nightmare and shocking.
June 2006 flew from London to Hyderabad; we reached Mumbai on time and had a brief stopover for 4 hours to catch another flight to Hyderabad.
As they were no announcement no communication, when enquired they said flight is delayed.
Situation turned more pathetic when they said it’s delayed further by 4 hours.
Staff was inefficient and lacked experience, on top they didn’t have proper communication and didn’t had enough first hand information, surprisingly none of the manager were around.
We had some clarity after 3 hours that finally flight was cancelled and they are going more move us to hotel.
It took bloody 4 hour from there on, immigration check, waiting for bus and finally moving to hotel. On top it was raining heavily outside and it made situation atrocious.
Next morning we moved back from hotel to airport and again flight was delayed for about 2 hours and finally reached Hyderabad. It takes hours to reach Hyderabad from Mumbai .Took 26 hours and have to undergo all bloody pain.
That didn’t stop there; I was in pretty similar situation on return journey from Ahemadabad to London. This time the flight was delayed again, to my utter surprise the staff told us that the flight delayed because the captain was ill and they are waiting for another pilot who going to fly from Mumbai. They kept us waiting till evening and told us that flight was cancelled as they couldn’t arrange one and finally they will move us to hotel. We have to go through the all sorts of pain again, running here and there to find out the latest developments as there was no proper communication. You ask staff members every one came out with new stories.
We moved back to hotel disappointed, returned next morning at 7:30 am, to catch 10:30 flight to London, again it was delayed by 4 hours it made worse as no proper communication was passed, we were starving, running around.
After going through the entire trauma we finally board the plane and travelled back without food. There were all age group people travelling and it was chaos. We survived on snacks
This was enough to decide that I will never ever fly with Air again.
Posting this on behalf of all those we flew with me and undergone trauma with Air-India
I too had a very bad experience flying with Air-India. It was nightmare and shocking.
June 2006 flew from London to Hyderabad; we reached Mumbai on time and had a brief stopover for 4 hours to catch another flight to Hyderabad.
As they were no announcement no communication, when enquired they said flight is delayed.
Situation turned more pathetic when they said it�s delayed further by 4 hours.
Staff was inefficient and lacked experience, on top they didn�t have proper communication and didn�t had enough first hand information, surprisingly none of the manager were around.
We had some clarity after 3 hours that finally flight was cancelled and they are going more move us to hotel.
It took bloody 4 hour from there on, immigration check, waiting for bus and finally moving to hotel. On top it was raining heavily outside and it made situation atrocious.
Next morning we moved back from hotel to airport and again flight was delayed for about 2 hours and finally reached Hyderabad. It takes hours to reach Hyderabad from Mumbai .Took 26 hours and have to undergo all bloody pain.
That didn�t stop there; I was in pretty similar situation on return journey from Ahemadabad to London. This time the flight was delayed again, to my utter surprise the staff told us that the flight delayed because the captain was ill and they are waiting for another pilot who going to fly from Mumbai. They kept us waiting till evening and told us that flight was cancelled as they couldn�t arrange one and finally they will move us to hotel. We have to go through the all sorts of pain again, running here and there to find out the latest developments as there was no proper communication. You ask staff members every one came out with new stories.
We moved back to hotel disappointed, returned next morning at 7:30 am, to catch 10:30 flight to London, again it was delayed by 4 hours it made worse as no proper communication was passed, we were starving, running around.
After going through the entire trauma we finally board the plane and travelled back without food. There were all age group people travelling and it was chaos. We survived on snacks
This was enough to decide that I will never ever fly with Air again.
Posting this on behalf of all those we flew with me and undergone trauma with Air-India
I too had a very bad experience flying with Air-India. It was nightmare and shocking.
June 2006 flew from London to Hyderabad; we reached Mumbai on time and had a brief stopover for 4 hours to catch another flight to Hyderabad.
As they were no announcement no communication, when enquired they said flight is delayed.
Situation turned more pathetic when they said it�s delayed further by 4 hours.
Staff was inefficient and lacked experience, on top they didn�t have proper communication and didn�t had enough first hand information, surprisingly none of the manager were around.
We had some clarity after 3 hours that finally flight was cancelled and they are going more move us to hotel.
It took bloody 4 hour from there on, immigration check, waiting for bus and finally moving to hotel. On top it was raining heavily outside and it made situation atrocious.
Next morning we moved back from hotel to airport and again flight was delayed for about 2 hours and finally reached Hyderabad. It takes hours to reach Hyderabad from Mumbai .Took 26 hours and have to undergo all bloody pain.
That didn�t stop there; I was in pretty similar situation on return journey from Ahemadabad to London. This time the flight was delayed again, to my utter surprise the staff told us that the flight delayed because the captain was ill and they are waiting for another pilot who going to fly from Mumbai. They kept us waiting till evening and told us that flight was cancelled as they couldn�t arrange one and finally they will move us to hotel. We have to go through the all sorts of pain again, running here and there to find out the latest developments as there was no proper communication. You ask staff members every one came out with new stories.
We moved back to hotel disappointed, returned next morning at 7:30 am, to catch 10:30 flight to London, again it was delayed by 4 hours it made worse as no proper communication was passed, we were starving, running around.
After going through the entire trauma we finally board the plane and travelled back without food. There were all age group people travelling and it was chaos. We survived on snacks
This was enough to decide that I will never ever fly with Air again.
This is the most recent experience just 4 days back. I had return flight for Dubai from Delhi with my old parents. While purchasing the tickets 45 days in advance I had requested to make the booking as confirmed so that we do not have to re-confirm it. I was happy holding the "OK" status tickets & assurance from the AI staff in Dubai. I still had doubts on my luck with AI, so called them 2 days before the return flight to check if everything was fine. AI office in Delhi informed me that my 5 years old daughter's & my bookings have been cancelled; however, my parents (on visit visa) can travel. I was surprised & explained them that my old parents cannot travel without me. I requested them for help in reconfirming our seats in the same flight or give us some other solution. The lady on the phone told me that the booking cancellation is not done by her & we can buy new tickets. I felt cheated in my own country. I paid cash for the confirmed “OK” ticket, 45 days in advance. How can anybody cancel the booking & sell same product to another customer?? I did not know where to go & ask this question.
I requested the lady to book our seat in some other class but in the same flight as my parents. After several requests the lady told me that it will cost about Rs. 2000 extra to which I agreed immediately. She said that I am on waiting list & should check with AI-Delhi office next day (i.e. about 10 hrs before the flight we intend to fly as per the tickets). We rushed in taxi from Ambala to Delhi & reached AI office 10 hrs before the flight. Laid down attitude of AI staff with uncooperative behavior was so frustrating that 1st time I felt helpless. Running from pillar to post, from Reservation Manager to the Duty Manager, we were given seats with additional charge of Rs. 8000.
Co-incidentally, same day (16th Nov.) there was a front page news about Joint Managing Director of Air India, who gave more than 100 free tickets to his family members. Here is the exact wording of the news paper “Air India’s Joint Managing Director (and Indian’s former MD) issued as many as 116 free and mostly business class tickets to his wife, parents, sister, daughters and son-in-law in a short period of time before the merger.” Then I realized where my money will go. I promised to myself that whatever may be the situation in future, I will never travel by Air India.
So far I travelled only 2 times by Air India, every time the experience was equally horrifying :(... In Jan this year, I was travelling from London to Mumbai via Ahmadabad. The flight was supposed to take off from Heathrow at 9:00 pm, but got delayed till half past mid night. That may look okay, but worst thing was that… since the flight is been delayed, Heathrow staff seem to have given a very narrow window for this flight to take off from runway... that is it... there was no demonstration on minimum safety instructions, like fastening the seat belt or what to do on emergency landing etc., every passenger was dumped in the plane and all they have done is made sure all are seated (thank god they did that)... flight took off... Passengers were waiting for dinner, but all were served with a small snack (orange juice and biscuits) and upon asking for food, there was no proper response from the staff... Coz it was already midnight, most of the passengers like me seem to have had something in the airport before boarding the flight. okay my troubles does not end there, the flight landed in Ahmadabad... it was suppose to be a one hour transit but took about 4 hrs to start from Ahmadabad.
My return journey was even worst, the flight was suppose to be Mumbai-Ahmadabad-London but they changed it to Mumbai-Calcutta-Ahmadabad-London.... imagin the waste of time/money and above all this, there was no intimation till the time we boarded the flight... upon asking the staff.... either you get no response or very rude response (on keep pushing them).
Coming to AI staff behaviour, they think as if they are doing favour to you by serving food/water.
That is it, I have decided no to take AI anymore in future...
Despite all these people still travel by AI, this is making AI much more irresponsible and rude… because they know they have customer and their airlines will run no matter what they do, how they treat passengers.
I think normally people opt AI for below reasons -
1. Sometime the flight price comes cheap.
But I say not worth for the kind of pain you need to experience.
2. Better Asian food, especially if you are veggie.
But you can ask your agent to book your ticket with veggie meal.
3. People having problem speaking English, think they can at least speak in Hindi or other Indian languages for any help.
But other airlines are so humble to passengers, they will try to guide you in every way they can.
So friends please… please… DO NOT go for AIR INDIA and keep yourself away from enduring the experience of HELL when you are alive.
No public address system at London Heathrow airport for AI..
I was travelling from London to Delhi this year in March. After checking in i was waiting at airport for the announcement of my flight, as the display screens at Heathrow where showing the information for all the other airlines other than AI. even the flights which were hours after my AI flight were showing their terminal/gate information.
As the time of departure approached, and still NO information of departure time was avaialble. A panic started as there were some old ladies on the same flight travelling back to India. To our horror no AI offical was available to provide any information. After 1 hour some one visited the AI counter and said because of some problem flight is delayed and will start after another hour.
When we asked him, why displays were not working he said there is some problem with airport displays. Which was a Clear LIE as all other airlines were showing the information.
After that i vouched to never travel by AI again. and still follow the same rule whether i travel Domestic or International. and i am a very frequent traveler on domestic sector.
Regards
Pankaj
Never thought AI is doing so badly. Revolution required...
My story is not very different then everyone else.
This year in July I was travelling from Bombay to London with my family. Unfortunatly enough I booked our tickets on AI flight which leave bombay in early hour and reaches London in decent time in evening via ahamdabad. We reached airport in early hours almost 4hr in advance and was waiting for flight to schedule but that flight never got schedule. Display on the airport was constantly showing expected on time. When enquired with staff, they were very rude and didn't answer at all. Almost after 4hr we came to know that flight was cancelled and all the passenger are routed to delhi to catch connecting flight to london.
AI didn't announced flight was cancelled and they didn't help passenger to answer any queries. All other fellow passengers were shouting and airport manager was not listing. Our whole jurney was a horirble experince. From that day I decided not fly with AI at any cost and I advice everyone same.
I have always made it a point to travel back home to India on a different carrier every time i went and i was so very exited when i chose Air India a few years ago. I was under the impression that it is our National Carrier and everything on board and on ground will be just great. But to the contrary the On board crew was appauling, the ground support staff even worse. They were so very rude. Ans the best bit was when i bought the tickets i was told that it was a direct flight to Mumbai but on the way to mumbai the plane stopped over at delhi for 2 hours and we were not even allowed to get off the plane whilst the cleaning crew came in with the hugh hovers .... Very dissapointing ... Never flying Air India again...
Last year while traveling to India (Ahemdabad) with 2 clients of mine from Holland, We were left stranded at Heathrow because AIR INDIA flight was over booked.
We got blamed for being late on the connection flight from Schipol.
We were forced to take Jet Airways to India. We missed not only prescheduled meetings, our bags were lost, we got no compensation and were mistreaded via Air India personal in Heathrow.
If I remember correctly Air India personel name was Mr Dogra (something which sound like that)...
My clients were on there first trip to India and vowed never to travel with Air India again.
I hope via this blog we name and shame the people of Air India.
I personally would advise people not to travel with Air India.
I had such a terrible experience with air india time and again that i have stopped flying with it.I want to start a forum where everybody should pledge not to fly with it.I think the flight should be banned from further flying
Air India is the worst airline I have ever flown. I flew them in September for a major concert in London where I was playing. We were forced to use Air India as they were the official sponsor. We land in London and my drums did not arrive. They could not trace it and had to borrow a drum and play for the concert. Since then have been fighting for compensation.Air India customer sevvice is the worst. I tried to meet the customer service manager by name Krish Puri in London. He is the worst of the lot. They have outsourced everything to some local company and ofcourse the local company is helpless as they revert everything back to Air India and hence do not take any decision. The staff is absolutely imcompetent. Then ofcourse neither the videos nor audios work in the seat. The return flight was delayed no explanations and we missed our connection in NY and waited for hours in NY for our next connecting flight. after submitting all paperwork in London airport itself for compensation, they are still asking for all the paperwork as if nothing was ever submitted. Not a word of apology for any inconvenience. What struck me as odd was the London airport was overstaffed with Air India folks and they all seem to be loitering with nothing to do. This has been the worst experience. Bottom line is Air India is run by the government and hence they function exactly like the government. Corrupt and inefficient. They should fire the head of customer service and the MD himself. My advice is to collectively boycott flying Air India. Not sure if that will help.
From Shyam in UK
I have mixed experiences with Air India. I was travelling from Chennai to Singapore in the year 2005. All of them boarded the flight and doors were closed. We sat in for about 1.30 hours and flight did not move due to a technical problem. The time was about 2.30 pm and the kids were crying as they were hungry and everyone was sweating as the air conditioning wasnt working. The end exit doors were kept open and the captain ordered to serve food. About staying nearly 3 hours in the flight, all passengers were asked to get down and pick up their bags.
We were supposed to be given a hotel room and the officers were very rude and no proper answer. No public announcement and the lady officer in charge was ignoring our plea to let us know what is happening. After about an hour or so, we were asked to go to a hotel picked up by the arranged transport and the height of the joke was in the hotel. The hotel fellow said no single room and asked to be check in with a stranger. No Air India officer in the hotel and it was highly humiliating and I decided to move out on my own.
Being a national carrier, they are not courteous and very arrogant and rude to the fellow passengers, specially the less educated ones. I think the elderly rude crew and commercial officers need to be fired and get good people in. They havent still learnt from the privitation of airlines and still act like monopoly. Shame on them.
You dont need to set expectations while you travel AI because its YOU who made them like that
So, the problem is not their's, its YOURS. They dont really invite you to travel on their airline, its YOU who chose to, and be honest here, to save that extra few $$$ which other airlines charge above AI rates, isnt it.
Makes them survive and continue to suck
Just think, they are them because YOU (includes me) and WE made them to be that way. Good idea to blog, but better to bycott airliner rather giving comments to them which is nothing for them to hear.
Just like David's post
Anuj, Singapore
You dont need to set expectations while you travel AI because its YOU who made them like that
So, the problem is not their's, its YOURS. They dont really invite you to travel on their airline, its YOU who chose to, and be honest here, to save that extra few $$$ which other airlines charge above AI rates, isnt it.
Makes them survive and continue to suck
Just think, they are them because YOU (includes me) and WE made them to be that way. Good idea to blog, but better to bycott airliner rather give comments which is nothing for them to hear.
Just like David's post
I was one of the unfortunate passengers to travel via Air India last weekend (Nov 18, 2007) from Delhi to Singapore in AI480. There was no firm announcement about the status of my flight even after its departure time was gone. AI111 passengers were made to wait for even more than 24 hours and they were really agitated. The relevant staff from Air India or Delhi Airport refused to arrive despite several attempts. Passengers protested against Air India but still no action was taken. My flight was delayed by 5 hours but I really pity the AI111 passengers. There is a short video clip of the protest that you can find at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=802I9ZZMVzY
Read this for more details: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2550732.cms#write
You dont need to set expectations while you travel AI because its YOU who made them like that
So, the problem is not their's, its YOURS. They dont really invite you to travel on their airline, its YOU who chose to, and be honest here, to save that extra few $$$ which other airlines charge above AI rates, isnt it.
Makes them survive and continue to suck
Just ghink, they are them because YOU (includes me) and WE made them to be that way. Good idea to blog, but better to bycott airliner rather give comments which is nothing for them to hear.
Just like David's post. Anuj Singapore.
Suggestion to Mr Praful Patel: Please stop AI and IA for about six months. Fire each and every non-performing staff, and do a complete "upside down" kind of change...
FYI, I have never flown on AI as I am having bitter experience on IA. I travel quite often to abroad and will try to avoid AI as far as possible.
Some one in the blog has mentioned about Emirates... I would say Emirates out-compares AI in every aspect.
In Heathrow when I look at the display, I can always see AI is delayed and then I say to myself "thank god... I did not choose AI"....
Travel by Air india at your own LIFE RISK. Sickest Air lines in the world.
Last year in November I traveled to New York with my sister on an Air India flight from London. The flight wasn't full but still by some miracle they managed to run out of vegetarian food halfway through the flight.
Though I am a non-vegetarian, a family sitting behind us were caught in an uneasy situation as they neither ate fish nor meat. Though we swapped our meals with them, there were still a good 20 people who chose not to eat anything. Luckily the flight was under 6 hours and many just accepted it without any fuss but it goes to show how organised and sensible staff in Air India's logistics and planning department are.
THE SERVICE IN AIR INDIA IS THE WORST I CUD EVER THINK OF.
I had booked my tcikets
Flight no IC 165
Date 24 August 2007
From Mumbai to Cochin
Flight Time 11.05
I had booked the tickets through yatra.com
Ticket number 4993487310
At the time of booking I had given
My Name: XXX
Fathers Name : YYY
Sur name : ZZZ
The email ticket acknowledgment which I received printed the name as YYY / XXX MR ADT
When I went to check in at the Indian airlines counter I met a very rude uncouth racist lady employee of Indian airlines.
She some how had made up her mind that I should not board the flight. Her insistence was that I should provide her with a photo identification with the name mentioned in the same order. My PAN card has the name XXX YYY ZZZ which she was not willing to accept.
I showed her the credit card which was used to book the ticket . She just threw it across the counter . luckily I had one old driving license with the name ZZZ YYY XXX written and after much arguments she issued me the boarding pass. Her argument this time was the surname ZZZ is nowhere mentioned in the email ticket
This rude Indian airlines lady had the intention of not issuing me a Boarding Pass on some rule she created at her convenience and may have wanted to sell the seat to someone else who is willing to pay more and may be she may have collected a bribe for that too.
I want to know what is the exact requirement of photo identification is it that the name on the photo identification has to be exactly in the same sequence as on the email ticket. Then why does Indian airlines print MR at the end of the name it should be before the name . I am a frequent flyer with all other private airlines but I have never faced any problem with the other airlines. So what is the exact rule for the photo identification .If this stupid lady who barks like a dog is right then it has to be applicable to all airlines(including private) and why are they not following it, else if she has created a rule of her own to make some fast money what is Indian airlines doing to rein in such rogue corrupt unfit Indian Airlines staff.
I suffered intense humiliation at the hands of this rogue women who by any standards does not even fit to be an employee of a national airlines and belong to a country which preaches equality I have generally seen whenever I have traveled by Indian airlines the Indian airlines staffers have a general feeling that keralites are uneducated unclean mannerless labour class of the gulf and one can taunt, exploit them to the hilt and be rude to them , No one is asking for a service with a smile nor do we want a plastic smile from such opportunistic exploiters. The moment one lands in mumbai everyone is ready with a begging bowl to supplement their salary ,Here in India the government employees create their own rules and manipulate the actual rules so as to exploit and extort money from tired passengers. I infact suggest Indian airlines to reserve some space for your staff right outside the airport so that they have a place to beg after their working hours.
Subsequent to my exeperine i wrote too
Ministry Of Aviation
web.moca@nic.in
Praful Patel
Minister of Aviation
praful@sansad.nic.in
Indian Airlines
ialcshq@nda.vsnl.net.in
helpdesk@indianairlines.sifymail.net
contact@indian-airlines.info
ialcsc@indianairlines.co.in
flying-returns@imrbint.com
contact@indianairlinespackages.com
vidur@indianairlines.co.in
Yatra
support@yatra.com
AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA
Chairman, AAI
chairman@aai.aero
chairman@airportsindia.org.in
INDIAN AIRLINES LTD.
CMD-IA
cmdial@vsnl.com
BUREAU OF CIVIL AIVATION SECURITY
COSCA
coscaps.bcas@nic.in
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIATION
DGCA
dgoffice@dgca.nic.in
It is 6 Months i am yet to hear from them
i would be happy if someone take the initiation to create a same blog to help the customers to let know the feeling about KPN travels inida limited a pathetic customer service they charge far by high and no quality service$$$$$
I am a student studying in the US and I was flying Air India from Ahmedabad to Newark, NJ. I was flying on an internation flight all alone for the first time and as a student going to the US for the first time , I naturally had a lot of luggage with me. Air India allows 3 pieces of luggage and a cabin baggage for first time students. I made sure that luggage had the right weight. On entering the passenger terminal building, a group of extremely arrogant young men from Air India , obviously from customer care, descended on us and curtly asked us to dump all our luggage on the weighing machine. I did that and they saw that my hand bag weighed 1 kg more than required. Also, I had heard that Air India allows an additional backpack along with the cabin baggage. So , I had a small backpack too. On entering, this guy asked me first to get rid of my backpack....!!! It had a number of items I needed for my stay in the US...How can I get rid of it on the spot? Then he asked me to reduce the weight by 1 kg in the check in luggage. I have flown a number of national and international carriers before but I have never seen a customer care staff behave in such a rude and insulting manner with young students of age 20 traveling alone. He asked me to cought up 150$ (just imagine 150$ he asked from me in an Indian airport)if I wanted to carry the additional luggage. The American carriers charge 80 $ for 23 kgs of extra baggage !!! Worse is yet to come. By the time , I was struggling to remove things from all by bags , he kept on hoverign over me and asking me to make it quick. I literally pleaded with him to let me carry a winter jacket and a shawl that was absolutely necessary for me to take to the US. He threatened me that he would not issue me a boarding pass if I argued with him. He said , I know you people all too well....!!! Imagine an officer of an Indian airline talking like this to Indian citizens at an Indian airport....!!! I had to return a lot of stuff to my parents waiting outside before he allowed me to carry my cabin baggage with me on the flight. This aircraft then flew to Mumbai and how stunned I was to see a bunch of students flying to the US entering the aircraft with a check in bag, a backpack and a laptop bag each ....!!!! Why this inconsistency in the policies and I decided then and there never to fly Air India again. This time I booked Jet Airways to India , the rest of my co travellers who passed through the same experience booked BA, AA and Continental to go to India.
Also, students flying to the west coast of the US from Ahmedabad never fly Air India as they have an option of Singapore Airlines frm Ahmedabad too. And I wasnt surprised when I got to know that Singapore Airline officials go out of the way to see to it that the first time students are not troubled in any way and they dont bother about 2-5 kgs of extra weight on their luggage.
I dont mind if they strictly enforce baggage restrictions but if this is the manner in which their customer care officials behave with young students, I wonder where will this white elephant called Air India end up?
Air India isnt the only bad airline... I have experienced really bad and obnoxious folks at Spicejet with the worst possible service and utter disregard for paying passengers. I for one am never going travel by that airline... I would take Air India any day than Spicejet.
In last 3 years I have traveled twice to India from US using Air India. To be honest there were two motivations both the times, a) Cheap airlines, b) Indian food. Both trips food has been good, however the air hostess need a lot of training in politeness. However I must add that compared to 3 years ago, I felt that they are trying to improve. They were really bad 3 yeas ago, but they were average this time (I came back to US last week).
This time me and my wife were traveling with our 20 month old twins. First flight from JFK to Mumbai (non stop) Air hostess was rude. Airport staff at Mumbai was helpful. Air hostess from Mumbai to Delhi was very Rude. On return trip, Airport staff at Delhi had Don't care attitude. The queue to get boarding pass was huge, they were probably understaffed. For each person they were taking a long time to process. When my turn came, the guy at the counter admitted to me that he is just doing timepass because he is very tired and he is waiting for next shift to come (which was a good 1.5 hrs away). Needless to say our flight took off 2 hrs late. Air hostess from Delhi to London Super-Super Nice . She was so helpful to us it almost looked like she was a relative. Air India Airport staff at London were also nice. They gave us an extra seat because the flight had some room. Again the air hostess from London to JFK had don't care attitude.
So overall I would say we got what we paid for. They are trying to improve but they are not there yet.
In case anyone is wondering that I have low expectations, I must add I have previously traveled India - US in Delta, Northwest and Lufthansa. They may be better but they are expensive too.
I flew from ORD-BOM-COK-BOM-ORD on Air India, and it was the worst experience I have ever had. We were delayed in Bombay due to "technical snags" no staff around to explain or assist, not allowed to leave, the overall delay was 24 hours and given a taxi voucher in Chicago for our trouble...for all the staff Air India has they never appear in emergencys, they are not empowered and most feel very entitled as if they are doing you a favor, I am very thankful that private airlines have come up, Air India will be extinct within 5 years and the only thing that will be missed is the namesake for bad service
Last year, on my trip by AI from Chicago to Chennai via London and Mumbai my flight from Chicago was delayed by close to 6 hours. I called AI earlier in the afternoon to find out if the flight was leaving on time and they responded in the affirmative, only for me to get to the airport and learn that the flight coming in was late by 4 hours!!!
To top it all, we reached Mumbai about 4hours later than originally scheduled and I missed my connecting flight to Chennai as did many other traveling to other destinations. Much to our dismay there was not one AI staff member that came forward to provide us our alternatives, instead we were ushered into a closed waiting area that was already packed with delayed passengers. Finally, after a good load of BS we realized we had to go to a counter on the other end of the international terminal in Mumbai to get a travel voucher, that enabled every passenger to take any flight out to their destination.
To top our agony the AI staff manning these counters were taking their sweet time handling each passenger and talk about the wait time!!! Most agonizing journey thus far in my life!!!
Like many of my friends, I have had bad experiences with AI. Last year, our flight from Mumbai to Newark was cancelled and we need to take a IA flight from Chennai to Mumbai the next day. When we reached Mumbai domestic airport, we were about 50 passengers and stranded at the domestic Airport. There was not one AI official around and we were in a slow moving line for about 2hrs and still could not get into a bus.We all finally sat down in the front entrance requesting a AI official to get us to the international Airport. Not a single person showed up and the police told us, that if we do not get into the line, we will never make it to the international Airport.
We finally reached the international Airport, 30 mins before the scheduled departure time inspite of reaching Mumbai 5hrs earlier. Then we learnt that the flight is delayed further. When we got the boarding pass, my entire family had seating at four different locations. This was inspite of me calling a few days earlier and requesting seat assignments together. The ticket clerk (I hate to call these guys officers)told me, the flight is "overbooked" and he can do nothing about it. I do not understand the term "overbooked" and this guy was least customer friendly when I asked him how does he expect my small kids to be seated separately for 18hrs. I collected emails of all passengers on that day to bring this experience to a public domain. I was not able to further pursue that and I am so glad that someone else has thought about this.
In my opinion, AI stinks. Most of their ground staff stinks. London is the most horrible place for stranded AI passengers because they have their worst staff in London. Most of their air crews are decent and well mannered compared to their other staff but still has a long way to go when compared to Lufthansa and other Airlines. I will never travel AI again until things change for good, which I doubt.
I had bad experience with AI once before in 2000 and never travelled with them until last year. I thought they would have changed.
Wishful Thinking?
Last summer I travelled to India from the US on Air India to take my deceased mother's ashes. I travelled first class with my entire family, 6 of us. As we were leaving India I had one hand carry bag where I kept all my valuables. A woman at the first class counter who checked us in asked what was in it. I answered thinking it was for "security". "just my cell phone (a palm phone) , video camera, and my jewelry" I responded. She said "Oh they are not allowing passengers to carry electronic items in London". I said "but they allowed us to bring it". She said I am sorry you have to check those in. So I took those items out and put them in a bag which I checked in (gave directly to her).
My husband had his laptop and blackberry and he ignored her. As we passed each subsequent security check no one told us we were not allowed to have these items with us. In London I asked specifically if there was a ban on electronics and I was told no. When I arrived in NY I found that my checked in bag was surgically slashed and those items which I was told to check in were removed. I complained to every Air India manager in NY I could find and no one responded to my complaint. WhaLast summer I travelled to India from the US on Air India to take my deceased mother's ashes. I travelled first class with my entire family, 6 of us. As we were leaving India I had one hand carry bag where I kept all my valuables. A woman at the first class counter who checked us in asked what was in it. I answered thinking it was for "security". "just my cell phone (a palm phone) , video camera, and my jewelry" I responded. She said "Oh they are not allowing passengers to carry electronic items in London". I said "but they allowed us to bring it". She said I am sorry you have to check those in. So I took those items out and put them in a bag which I checked in (gave directly to her).
My husband had his laptop and blackberry and he ignored her. As we passed each subsequent security check no one told us we were not allowed to have these items with us. In London I asked specifically if there was a ban on electronics and I was told no. When I arrived in NY I found that my checked in bag was surgically slashed and those items which I was told to check in were removed. What was most upsetting was that my video camera had the only images of my mothers last rites. I complained to every Air India manager in NY I could find and no one responded to my complaint. Plain and simple Air India staff are crooks and the managment is complicit. For this to happen to a passenger who bought 6 first calss tickets is not only shameful but bad business.
Last summer I travelled to India from the US on Air India to take my deceased mother's ashes. I travelled first class with my entire family, 6 of us. As we were leaving India I had one hand carry bag where I kept all my valuables. A woman at the first class counter who checked us in asked what was in it. I answered thinking it was for "security". "just my cell phone (a palm phone) , video camera, and my jewelry" I responded. She said "Oh they are not allowing passengers to carry electronic items in London". I said "but they allowed us to bring it". She said I am sorry you have to check those in. So I took those items out and put them in a bag which I checked in (gave directly to her).
My husband had his laptop and blackberry and he ignored her. As we passed each subsequent security check no one told us we were not allowed to have these items with us. In London I asked specifically if there was a ban on electronics and I was told no. When I arrived in NY I found that my checked in bag was surgically slashed and those items which I was told to check in were removed. I complained to every Air India manager in NY I could find and no one responded to my complaint. WhaLast summer I travelled to India from the US on Air India to take my deceased mother's ashes. I travelled first class with my entire family, 6 of us. As we were leaving India I had one hand carry bag where I kept all my valuables. A woman at the first class counter who checked us in asked what was in it. I answered thinking it was for "security". "just my cell phone (a palm phone) , video camera, and my jewelry" I responded. She said "Oh they are not allowing passengers to carry electronic items in London". I said "but they allowed us to bring it". She said I am sorry you have to check those in. So I took those items out and put them in a bag which I checked in (gave directly to her).
My husband had his laptop and blackberry and he ignored her. As we passed each subsequent security check no one told us we were not allowed to have these items with us. In London I asked specifically if there was a ban on electronics and I was told no. When I arrived in NY I found that my checked in bag was surgically slashed and those items which I was told to check in were removed. What was most upsetting was that my video camera had the only images of my mothers last rites. I complained to every Air India manager in NY I could find and no one responded to my complaint. Plain and simple Air India staff are crooks and the managment is complicit. For this to happen to a passenger who bought 6 first calss tickets is not only shameful but bad business. Last summer I travelled to India from the US on Air India to take my deceased mother's ashes. I travelled first class with my entire family, 6 of us. As we were leaving India I had one hand carry bag where I kept all my valuables. A woman at the first class counter who checked us in asked what was in it. I answered thinking it was for "security". "just my cell phone (a palm phone) , video camera, and my jewelry" I responded. She said "Oh they are not allowing passengers to carry electronic items in London". I said "but they allowed us to bring it". She said I am sorry you have to check those in. So I took those items out and put them in a bag which I checked in (gave directly to her).
My husband had his laptop and blackberry and he ignored her. As we passed each subsequent security check no one told us we were not allowed to have these items with us. In London I asked specifically if there was a ban on electronics and I was told no. When I arrived in NY I found that my checked in bag was surgically slashed and those items which I was told to check in were removed. I complained to every Air India manager in NY I could find and no one responded to my complaint. WhaLast summer I travelled to India from the US on Air India to take my deceased mother's ashes. I travelled first class with my entire family, 6 of us. As we were leaving India I had one hand carry bag where I kept all my valuables. A woman at the first class counter who checked us in asked what was in it. I answered thinking it was for "security". "just my cell phone (a palm phone) , video camera, and my jewelry" I responded. She said "Oh they are not allowing passengers to carry electronic items in London". I said "but they allowed us to bring it". She said I am sorry you have to check those in. So I took those items out and put them in a bag which I checked in (gave directly to her).
My husband had his laptop and blackberry and he ignored her. As we passed each subsequent security check no one told us we were not allowed to have these items with us. In London I asked specifically if there was a ban on electronics and I was told no. When I arrived in NY I found that my checked in bag was surgically slashed and those items which I was told to check in were removed. What was most upsetting was that my video camera had the only images of my mothers last rites. I complained to every Air India manager in NY I could find and no one responded to my complaint. Plain and simple Air India staff are crooks and the managment is complicit. For this to happen to a passenger who bought 6 first calss tickets is not only shameful but bad business. to verify this you can email me at psrivas@yahoo.com
I was supposed to take a AI 111 from delhi on 18th Nov for the Londaon and from there I have another air india flight for Chicago.I reached 3 hours before the schedule departure at 4:20am in the morning Delhi Airport.There is shortage of staff only three counters are operatingt and we standed 6 hours in line to reaching the checkin counter where i was informed that there is no place in flight and , I should go to the hotel and come back in the evening and take Delhi mumbai flight and from Mumbai take direct flight to JFK.
Also we have been told that they will checkin in the evening and they will create a separate queue for us who have been sent to the hotel.My next flight for mumbai was scheduled at 7:20pm in the evening and the AI has send the vehicle to take us from the hotel at 6:00pm and when we reached airport, It was the same mess and there was no separate queqe for us as promised by Mr Bali the supervisor in the morning and was told that you should have come at least 3 hours before and we have to again stand in the queue and lets see if we get the boarding pass.
After again standing in the queue for 3 hours got a boarding pass for the flight to mumbai where it was scheduled to depart at 7:20 pm but actually departed at 11:30pm.
The next flight to JFK was at 1:10 which AI delayed to catch up with the passengers for this flight.
Once we reach mumbai Airport.The treatment of the AI staff was totally different what was there in the delhi airport.They have very professionally managed all the passengers and with in 1/2 all the 45 pasangers cleared the security check and boarded the next flight to JFK.
The AI staff at Delhi should learn from their counterparts at Mumbai.
With this experience I will never recommend anybody to take any AI flight from Delhi.
This is our national carrier , There are nearly 18 americans passangers all are above 70 who have gone to the vacation in India had the same treatement.AI staff didn't treat them properly.
In the month of August 2007, I bought a round-trip ticket for December, 2007 from Los Angeles to Calcutta. My Bangkok to Calcutta flight was on India Airlines. I bought the ticket with the help of a travel agent and then a few weeks later I bought my wife’s ticket (one-way) from another agent but having the same itinerary.
A month later I got a notice from our travel agents saying that India Airlines has rescheduled my flight. When I called the travel agent, he mentioned that IA has rescheduled our flights from the 30th to 31st of December. Since our connecting flights from Bangkok were on the 30th of December, this was not an option. I was really surprised. There were no calls from IA nor did they provide any other option. After trying for 3 days to contact Indian Airlines when my wife finally got through to the IA office, a lady suggested that she can provide her tickets flying out of Calcutta via Chennai on the 28th and my wife can spend the rest two days in Bangkok till her next flight and that we have to arrange for our accommodation and basically fend for ourselves. How unprofessional and blind to customer satisfaction can an airline be, I thought. As if we were supposed to follow whatever order the mighty Maharaja doled out. My wife was peeved and since arguing didn’t help she hung up saying she will call later.
So I approached my agent and asked him to reschedule my other flights from Bangkok to LA to 31st, which my agent did. I also called up my wife’s agent and asked them to reschedule her flights as well which they were kind enough to provide. I was feeling quite happy and thought that this will be the end of it. But little did I know that with India Airlines nothing is done until it is done. You can never be sure until you and your luggage reach your destination safely.
So, after another few weeks I got another mail from our agent saying that IA has rescheduled their flights again. This time from 31st of December to 1st of January. I had to leave for a short office trip so I thought I will deal with this after I return. After my return, when I called up my agent he couldn’t find any IA flight on my itinerary. After further investigation, he found to our utter dismay, that IA did not have any flights flying from Bangkok to Calcutta any more. They basically cancelled the route entirely without informing their passengers or providing any alternatives. How an airline could cancel all their flights for a particular route without any concern for its passengers was beyond anyone.
So, after 4 weeks of fighting and arguing with travel agents and airlines, I finally gave up and bought a new ticket paying a lot more than my original ticket, and for a totally different itinerary which now requires me to stay in Bangkok for a day on my return trip at my expense. Hardly fair I would think and all because some blessed airline cancelled all their flights on a route. Since my wife’s ticket is with a different travel agent, I am still negotiating with that agent for her ticket.
The lesson I leart from this experience was : NEVER FLY ON INDIAN AIRLINES . NEVER EVER, even if I have to pay more dough, or spend more time at a layover. I will make sure that my story gets out to as many people possible and prevent anyone else from going through such a harrowing experience. I think this egregious behavior of IA stems from the fact that their salaries do not depend on customer satisfaction or profits and no matter what happens, the government is still going to pay them their salaries with tax payer money. Why should anyone care if that is the case? I must say I have often wondered if passengers can file a class action lawsuit on Indian Airlines for all the mental trauma and harassment they have caused us, not to mention the time, money and energy spent dealing with them.
Hope this was helpful and hope this helps you in making up your mind whether IA is worth the risk.
R. Banerjee
Los Angeles, CA
Sandeep:
I happened to travel only ONCE with AI and this was in 2003.And after that i never ever flew AI nor have any intenstions to fly one of the most useless Airlines in Airlines industry..
NExt to me on that flight were a couple with their 5 or 6 yrs old kid ,so that kid was asleep when they served dinner.After dinner was done and after few hours the kid got up and her mom went to the air hostess and asked for food as the kid was sleeping when they served food....And she told they cant give food and they serve only the time in which its scheduled...
And the kids mom was surprised and shcked the way they answered and
she was blasting the air hostessss and after much argument and stuff..the kid was given dinner....
Just imagine for food ppl ahve to go thru alll this crab.....it was one of most craziest situations and the service is veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy bad.....aweful....
Thats about it after that i didnt dare again to travel AI again and i bet many many ppl feel same way...One of worst and aweful service on boatrd..very rude ..very unpleasant ...not sure if all this will any time soon...not hoping either
Very first time in our life we book Air India Ticket last month. Last 22 years we were flying with world class airline but Air India is world worst air line in the world same like Indian bus service just two week ago my family gone to India. They had so many horrible experiences in one flight the staff are tribal they even do not know how to talk to in flight guest. Before we book a ticket very Poor service from Air India we ask for infant seat they said first buy the ticket then we will tell you we have infant seat available or not. We book the ticket they said you put a request if we have we will give you. When they were in the in the flight they refuse to give infant seat. My wife asks the Crew they talk so rude and later in the flight when she ask for milk for younger baby they refuse to give milk they said we not have any milk my wife ask you use milk for coffee please give that milk they were showing attitude. In flight stuff was unfriendly When they stop the flight to refill oil they took more then 2 to 3 hour extra and did not give stroller back to my wife she has two kids and one hand bag with no stroller, no one help form the air India stuff she ask again I must need the stroller how I can pick infant and second three year old baby same time and baby bag and one hand bag, they said you have to manage yourself, she said I do not know how long it take I need my stroller so I can be comfortable at least, in the plane was too tight but they refuse to give the stroller, Air India is the worst air line with most horrible customer service no one listen no complain work for them. I would say everyone should stop flying by Air India this air line should be BAN and shut down immediately. They do not care about you very poor service. Air hostess were fighting with passengers’ in the flight and using the vulgar language. Flight came to India late and baggage come out from the airplane even more then two hours late. Horrible experience with them we ask for the change the different air line we do not want to travel with air India in return flight ever while coming back they refuse to give any refund and said no you, if you do not want to go your wish, book new ticket we do not care. I would recommend every one in the world Please do not travel with air India worst air line in the world. First and last experience for my family.
Air India story is BAD... equally BAD is the AirTel Mobile Service Provider Story!!! Start a Blog for the AirTel Story and you will know how BIG Indian Companies like AirTel treat their customers.
Open door in an Aircraft!!!
Well the story begins right from my booking.I booked my tickets for AirIndia London-Mumbai flight departing at 9.30 in the night. But the previous day evening 6pm i got a call and was informed the flight is preponed to 12.30pm.All my days plan ruined and i took an extra day off and headed airport on time(9.30am).I was standing in the check-in queue for about 3 hours and after that i was specially allowed to check in and I somehow boarded the flight. That was a huge jumbo coming somewhere from US. There I saw the most funny (it was funny at that time, didn realised the danger followed) scene in my dozen international flying experiences. There was a door in the rear open to the sky. The door was just open and you can jump into the runway from there. There were a couple of people standing there with a cup of tea.It somehow reminded of a chennai central station or a madurai bus stand. Enjoying the homely feeling Air India has provided I took my seat. And the flight was standing there for about 2 hours. I really wonder why do you ever pre-pone the flight by 9 hours , ruin my day and delay it by 4 after that? I just reminded myself you are flying in Air India and stayed cool. Now a visibly old (aged around 40) air hostess came and she closed the door. After a few minutes the seat belt sign was on and the flight was about to depart. There came the captain's announcement. "Good evening passengers. Aplogies for the delay, the flight is ready to depart but one of the doors in the carrier is not properly closed.Cabin crew please close the door properly" . I was stunned for a moment. I was thinking whether to laugh or to cry or to feel lucky atleast the captain found this out before departure or to blame myself for booking a ticket in AI. Friends please let me how i should have left.
But that was my first and last trip in AI. After that even if i have to pay a few quids more i choose and different airlines but never AI again.
Actually if i write about the air-hostess, the cleanliness ,the in-flight entertainment, the check-in staff and the queues .. I can write a lot more.. but this is one incident i will never forget.
Bumped off the flight, even with confirmed tickets
My family and I were returning to Singapore from Chennai. On the night before the flight, I called Air India to make a meal reservation.
To my horror, the call center operator at Air India said we were not even listed on the flight. How could this be we asked, as we had confirmed bookings? As expected, the operator was able to do nothing.
From then onwards it was hell for the next three hours trying to contact Air India at the airport (since it was after office hours, only the airport could be called). Has anyone had this experience with Air India - no one picks up the phone!!
So I did the only thing possible, picked up the telephone directory and started calling personnel listed (old Indian system). One finally gave me the number for the head of Air India for the South (or Chennai, whatever he did) and said he was the only person who could do anything. That person's only question to me was "who gave you the number".
I bought return one-way tickets on SQ and got back to Singapore. And vowed never to fly Air India until the Tata's take it over.
Mr. Praful Patel, will you please fly and experience Air India as a commoner!! Or better still, perhaps Lalu Prasad should takeover. If he can clean-up the Railways, this third rate airline should be an easy one to clean up.
I had a completely ridiculous experience. I was flying New York to Mumbai, and had a business class ticket for the London - Mumbai segment and an economy ticket from NY - London.
When I checked in at NY, they only issued me the boarding pass till London saying that "since it is a business class to Mumbai after London, I need to get another boarding pass which can only be issued at London" (which was weird given that it is the same flight).
I told that it would be impossible for me to do this since I will have to get out of the airport and then come back in. But the person at the ticket counter did not even both to understand and listen to me.
Anyways, as expected, when we reached London, I was not even allowed to get out of the security area to reissue the boarding pass.
After talking to the staff there for one hour and several pleas, shouting, arguments later, they
told me that they can arrange an economy seat for me (even though I had a business class). Also, they gave the attitude that they were doing me a great favor.
This is the treatment I got with a business class ticket. Simply unbelievable!! There is simply no concept of accountability or courteousness or any kind of customer service. These guys would not last even one day in a competitive environment.
Hi,
This was the New Air India boeing 777 Mumbai-NY non stop.Schedulaed to depart around 12 on Sept 1st night.The Passengers boarded the flight and for 5 yrs the flight dint take off.The we were asked to get down and go towards some other terminal with the promise of being taken in another carrier within 2 hrs.The AC was off..not enough seats for ple to sit,Not a single Air India rep there to attend.Repeated questions at front desk were ignored,and all we had to be contend with was announcements every 1 hour saying the flight would take off within 1 hr.
this went on for nxt 10 hrs...I rem there was sick child ..and they bother attending her.Ple wanted water it wasnt provided.Their Manager refused to come out and speak and the front desk ple was bloody arrogant and shameless.The flight was delayed for 24 hrs.
I rem speaking to the Duty free shopkeepers during all this and they were surprised as to how after all this people still buy air india tickets.Its the story every day,and end of the day the Air india crew laugh about it in the canteen.
I guess the fact that its a public body makes them take passengers for granted like another other public body in India.And upon all tht,they salary is out of our taxes.
Wonder how they reach office with a straight face everyday.
Hi,
This was the New Air India boeing 777 Mumbai-NY non stop.Schedulaed to depart around 12 on Sept 1st night.The Passengers boarded the flight and for 5 yrs the flight dint take off.The we were asked to get down and go towards some other terminal with the promise of being taken in another carrier within 2 hrs.The AC was off..not enough seats for ple to sit,Not a single Air India rep there to attend.Repeated questions at front desk were ignored,and all we had to be contend with was announcements every 1 hour saying the flight would take off within 1 hr.
this went on for nxt 10 hrs...I rem there was sick child ..and they bother attending her.Ple wanted water it wasnt provided.Their Manager refused to come out and speak and the front desk ple was bloody arrogant and shameless.The flight was delayed for 24 hrs.
I rem speaking to the Duty free shopkeepers during all this and they were surprised as to how after all this people still buy air india tickets.Its the story every day,and end of the day the Air india crew laugh about it in the canteen.
I guess the fact that its a public body makes them take passengers for granted like another other public body in India.And upon all tht,they salary is out of our taxes.
Wonder how they reach office with a straight face everyday.
I am an NRI and made more than 50 trips between India and various international destinations in the last decade or so. I even flew Jet Airways on International routes (great service!). But I never ever flew Air India or Indian Airlines. Word of mouth was enough to discourage me.
After reading all these comments, I wonder why people fly Air India at all. I am quite curious. Even before the recent spurt of delays and cancellations, it has been a common knowledge that Air India is something to be used probably as a last resort. It seems quite interesting to me that so many people actually are flying it! I can understand this in some middle eastern routes, where probably there aren't many choices. But for routes on Europe, US, or various parts of Asia, there seem to be many choices and several of them quite excellent. And I would count in our own Jet Airways. And, in these routes Air India does not seem cheap to me either!
Folks, you will do a great service to the country by not flying it. The losses will increase greatly, and eventually, may be it will be privatised. There is no good reason to support a loss-making and completely incompetent govt venture that is a national shame.
I have travelled Air India atleast 10 times between Delhi and Newark. I have never experienced any problems with either flight delays or staff attitudes. Certain issues like delays due to weather or a strong headwind are normal and can be experienced by any airlines. After hearing all the hoopla about Jet airways, I decided to take the Jet Airways flight. It all started well until the toilets started to stink and food began to run out. The arrival was delayed by 2 hours and stop over at Brussels was uneventful.
I really donot think that Air India deserves the kind of bad mouthing it has been getting on this blog. They are not the best but they are much better than some of the foreign airlines. I have lost my baggage twice on British Airways. The european and American airlines have once of the rudest crews on earth, but many Indians I know of think that it is perfectly all right for a "gora" to speak that way but it is unacceptable if a fellow Indian does it.
It is more of a servile mentality that still prevades amongst us Indians towards the caucasians and surely a lack of marketing abilities in Air India.
I have had so many bad experiences with AI like many of those posted that it would take some time to jot down. The most recent one goes like this:
This year I had to travel from Chicago-Delhi-Kolkata-London-Chicago. And my ticket was booked, but a week before the actual travel, I had to cancel my ticket for the Delhi-Kolkata, as for some reasons I needed to spend some in Delhi. I was advised by the agent to contact AI toll free number (I was in US). Which seems to be apparently a simple task, turned out quite daunting. The Customer service lady was so reluctant to answer anything after she picked up the phone after a long ringing etc.. And before the problem is solved, she just HANGS UP. And when I retied to call back, nobody takes the call. That is terrific, uncivilized, uncultured, rude and hardly makes good name form country's premier airlines.
Then I had some bitter experiences in London (2007) Paris in 2006 and the list goes on. For example in London, every passenger had to get down and return back to fligh after some time. There was no precise announcement and lot of passengers including myslef faced the wrath of security stuff because of their new rule of only ONE carry bag with some dimension which many did not pass. Adn when our flight got delayed and delayed and delayed for there was no information released and it seemed to be utter chaos. Out of desperation and lack of time and energy I just still put up with AI until now. But now I decided not to fly them any more. The stuff, brew members are an awful bunch; least said the better. Highly atrocious, jaundice-eyed....
I had a very bad experience traveling from Los Angeles to Bangalore in June/July 2005
Our flight was scheduled to leave around 8 PM, while issuing the boarding pass, they did not tell what will happen
to our connecting flight in BOM, they just said it will be taken care in BOM and told us to collect our bags at BOM.
We reached BOM after our scheduled connecting flight dep time, so we went to collect our bags. Bangalore passenger
bags were missing. AI people had no idea, we had some heated argument, after which one person went inside and made
arrangements to get our bags.
We went outside to find that our actual connecting flight had not left, it has been delayed to 12 PM, so we thanked
god that we don't have to wait for a long time. But we had to go thru security and check-in our bas again. THEY
COULD HAVE AVOIDED RE-CHECKING IF THEY HAD CO-ORDINATED WELL.
Anywas at 11.59 AM, the flight was delayed indefinitely. We are told about technical issues again and people who
are really annoyed and arguing with officials were offered to talk to maintenance chief. Some people asked for
tickets on other airlines but it did not work.
They finally offered food and drinks at AI lounger, but when we went there, the manager over there said no food.
People argued with him that the passengers are not beggars and to behave well. Finally with intervention from
other AI officials we got some food.
Although they displayed the flight will leave at 4 PM, even at 3.30 PM, there was no sign of any activiey.
At the gate, security told us to wait as there is no guarantee that flight will leave. AI official told that they
could not repair the actual flight and sent a replacement which was very very old.
Finally we reached bangalore at 6PM instead of 7 AM in the morning.
MY comments: There is no co-ordination among AI officials. It is ok to delay the flight because of technical
reasons. we do not want to travel on a faulty flight. But they should give correct info to passengers and treat
them well. Behaving like politicians by saying something and doing something is not good.
Hope with purchase of new flights, they will be a better airlines
I chose to fly to india from london by AI juz coz i wanna give business to our national carrier..but i feel shamed to tell tht it was the worst air travel i had..it was disgusting to find the food particles lying on the seats..tht shows they dot care to clean it properly..and many screens wern't workin..no wonder its not full...All this is b'coz the staff take their job for granted and no official takes care..they r happy as long as they r paid..I'm really happy tht this blog is set up to express the feelings abt AI..hope this will lead to the improvement of our national carrier..
Anil
It is sad to see that Air India had not changed their ways for a long time. My similar experience with Air India is exactly 7 years old. I was travelling from Newyork to Mumbai by Air India. The flight was supposed to take off from JFK at 8 PM. But till 9 PM, we were not called for boarding. As usual there were no information or address about possible delay. The counter staff were absent and nobody from Air India could be contacted.
At last, one person came out and he was mobbed by the irate passengers, and demanded to know the reason for delay. Even then he could not offer any (may be he did not know the reason for the delay!!), and he told that his manager will make an announcement. His reply was the same for questions like, whether there is a delay, whether the flight will take off today or not, etc...
At last, after another half hour, we were told that, there was a crack in the aircraft windshield, and the flight cannot take off. We were given accommodation and left for Mumbai 24 hours later, without a single word of apology from anybody from Air India.
Can't the air india staff find out the crack in the windshield earlier. Or is it the pilot found it when he was about to start the engine!!!
These kind of technical snags do happen for any of the airline in the world, but it is the way they handle the passengers that determines the best from the worst like Air India.
The inflight service in Air India is better, but the ground operations, particularly, the staff who directly handle passengers, is pathetic. They do not know how to handle such situations and simply vanish at the hint of trouble.
How long are the Air India employees going to enjoy the salary and perks being paid from the taxpayers (since the airline is not going to make any profit because of such poor service) of India, without any sort of accountability??
The reason may be that since most of them are either relatives of politicians or nominees of politicians, they feel the way our politicians think, that is that they are not accountable for the public.
I have travelled from Bangalore to Mumbai only once in my entire life
way back (22+ years). I had no other options at that time as Indian Airlines was the only carrier. I have made up my mind, never to take this airline after hearing many horror stories from my immediate family members and friends. The Air India gets away from so many issues and one day they will be fined heavily from some Western Countries. The day is not far.
On several trips to India, I have always looked at other carriers to travel between US and Bangalore.
So they cannot change, so do I. The change needs to come with in themselves before I can consider flying. Same issues I have with Air France and Korean Air.
I wish the private sector takes full control of the air travel in India making it competitive and attractive.
My 2cents on this issue, just DO NOT fly Air India. If I have managed during my 22 years, you can do so.
I have had some of the worst experiences with AI. From the ground crew in Mumbai office to the airplane crew (I rather call them rude hooligans). I have flown couple of times from the Gulf as well as US to India. 99% of the time my experience has been horrendous.
First of all majority of AI flights are old, rusty and have crappy interiors. Secondly there seems to be a lack of inflight safety. I don't understand how the IATA allow them to fly to international routes. Lastly, they continuously ignore passenger issues and concerns.
I recon never to fly AI or IA for that matter even if they decide to give me free ticket.
Hope these petitions do not fall on DEAF EARS.
In september my parents were travelling from Kolkata to London in Air India. The flight was delayed due to some technical fault. This was only informed to the passengers after 5 hours of its scheduled time. What was really shocking is there was no one at the information desk, no updates from the officials. Its highly unprofessional and the Air India emplyees have taken for granted that they dont need to be efficient to be in the job.
Later my in laws were travelling from Kolkata to London and i was regularly following with the Air India call centre to findout the arrival time in london. To my utter surprise the flight landed one hour before they had always informed me. What was really shocking is I called up again to check the status after the flight had already landed and still they said that it hasnt landed and will land at the same time as they had said earlier.
Manoj.
I was born and raised in India. But I am settled in the USA now. I had a very bitter experience with AI. At JFK airport we boarded the plane to go to Mumbai. Our seats were given to some bigs hots and we were put at the very back of the plane even though we confirmed our journey many times and we were assured the same seats.
At Mumbai, we had to break a day. During the break day, I confirmed my arrival and my continuing journey to Chennai. When we arrived at the airport 2 hours in advance, the booking counter were closed and pur seats were given to someone else. We were asked to go domestic airport on our own. Those who could speak English and could raise their voice get some answers. Others were treated like dirt.
I had many options in the USA to fly to India by any other Airline. I wanted to support our National Airline and paid the price.
I'll think twice before travelling by AI
Raja
Akif,
First of all i would like to thank the great personality for took this initial step on getting the average persons view on how Air India represents our country both in India and Abroad. I have travel with this Airline last year with my wife and my kids from Chicago/Frankfurt/Mumbai/Hyderabad after a weeks break I was suppose to go to Saudi Arabia for performing Umrah. From Chicago Int Airport the flight was suppose to leave at 7pm instead it left O'Hare at 9pm and we were grilled without Aircondition. The explanation that they gave was the luggage machine broke and we have to lift the luggage manually. Imagine AI has only one machine? that's another story. We finally reached 4hours late to Hyderabad. After a week, remember I was suppose to go to Saudi? which we did and in the flight there were passenger comming from Kerala with no food havent eaten a thing and there were starving to death and complaint to the Air hostess (Draculla)looking monsterous 60yr old lady. She has this feeling that she is no better then Aiswariya Rai, and was so rude she literally told one passanger " KITNEY BAAR BOOLNA SAMAJ MEIN NAI AATA KYA KHAANA DEETEY BOOLEY NA" and this poor guy just looked at her and did not say a word.And My jaws dropped ! I told my wife if these same exact word she would have told me i will beat the hell out of her, but i just swallowed my anger thinking that some day they will realize, because of us there are in business.But I guess they will never. There worst treatment is mainly in the gulf region. The story goes far then this but I am sure you all can imagine and have been though this deadly Air lines. So have patients help from Indian government will soon reach.
I travelled a lot of different airlines over the last 15 years and can say with absolute certainty that Air India is THE WORST airline in every parameter of positive measure that one can devise. Being a patriotic Indian I travelled this disgusting piece of junk TWICE(Roundtrip once) in my lifetime and vowed to never ever fly that Incredible blot on India again.
I totally disagree with some posts above that this kind of treatment is normal for Indians on any airline. My experiences on any other airline, even the smaller east asian ones and the worst American ones were way better.
First time I flew AI was from Mumbai-New York via London (1997) : This was supposed to be the showcase segment (AI-101) for AI. The flight was so delayed in Mumbai even before take off that it reached extremely late in Heathrow to miss the time-slot for its docking gate and the plane was stopped on some non-descrepit tertiary runway for all the 4-5 hrs of its stopover in London! During this time the disembarking passengers were carted out by a bus and the rest had to stay put in the plane itself - This after 8+ hrs of journey from Mumbai (discounting any connecting flight time). The cleaning staff were cleaning the seats and collecting garbage with you in the seats!! The plane was smelling like garbage by this point. Then after another delay for who ever knows why, it reaches JFK in New York late again. I doubt anybody on that flight were able to fly their connecting flights. It was so bad. I could not. No AI staff around to help either. I went to Delta terminal (my connecting airline) and requested their help. It was refreshing to experience their prompt response and putting me on another flight to my final destination. The return trip was a similar story - felt like Deja Vu in reverse.
Second time, New York to Bangalore via Mumbai/London (2003): I thought the above nightmare must be a one-off and also with passage of time AI must have got more efficient and feeling all patriotic I booked once again on AI (although some other routes offered by rival airlines were cheaper and far more efficient). I couldnt be more wrong. I could not check in baggage directly from Atlanta (my starting point) as for some reason it is not possible to do so for AI flights from local US airlines. Had to pick my bags and stand in the long check-in queue in front of the AI desk once I arrived at JFK in NYC. The queue was winding all the way out through the main entrance to the outside of the terminal departures hall!! The desk for some reason seems to open only at short time before the flight departs (like an hour or so before actual departure time) instead of starting to check in a long time in advance owing to the passenger load (400+ passengers on 747) and hence avoiding the pile up of passengers for check-in till the very last minute before the departure time. The effect was the scheduled Dept. time came and went and the queue was still pretty bad and long. There were like a ton of AI officials near the departure gate loitering, chatting, joking and checking boarding passes at the gate (never seen so many to check my boarding pass on any other airline) - however, all these surfeit of AI officials were not able to serve the long queue piling up at the check-in counter in an orderly and efficient manner. This was pathetic by any lenient yardstick of crowd/customer management. The flight was again about 6 hrs late. Again after all these years, the flight missed its scheduled time-window at the gate in London (Heathrow) and was shoved to an abandoned air-strip on the edge of the airport, and once again the same story as in 1997. All ongoing passengers have to stay on board while the garbage collecters and cleaning staff come and clean the plane under your legs and behind your head! Amazing incompetence to say the least. The service is a nightmare. I could clearly see that the few caucasian looking passengers who got suckered into taking this plane were being fawningly served while the Indian airhostesses were ignoring even simple requests from fellow Indians who were around me.
I have vowed never to travel AI again after the second time and I think this airline will be better off being sold to Jet or someother private airline. It has no hope otherwise with the Govt. employed thrash working there otherwise.
I have an idea. Why not have one of our Netas or the Honorable Civil Aviation Minister himself take a trip on an AI flight as an ordinary passenger and see what they think about it?
In May 2005, all set for my first international flight, excited i boarded a AI flight from IGI Airport flying to Singapore. The Airhostess whom i saw conversing in English at the Security Check were talking to each other in vercancular language. Thats very fine with me but it was still a shock to see a sudden change. It was an old aircraft atleast 10 years old. As the plane took off the runway it started shaking, one could smell ATF inside the plane which was an aweful experience considering my first international flight. The drop down Tv screens were not working, just hanging there. Some snacks were served soon after, and i asked the airhostess for a drink, rudely she replied, "First you finish this, then after dinner i'll serve you your drinks".
On my return flight, it was a similar experience. As i was having my snacks i asked for some more peanuts (pack for Rs 5 as printed on it). This time a flight attendant, almost shouting on me...'You can't get more than 1 packet, we only give 1 packet'.
God save people who travel AI.
This June 2007 I had a double confirmed Indian Airlines ticket for singapore to chennai.Despite checking in one and half hours before departure, I was informed that my seat were taken.In fact I reconfirmed a second time just 5 days before travel.I don't understand why in the first place have a process called reconfirmation.I was compensated by flying me to Bangalore and then I was given a free ticket for Bangalore to chennai.I lost a whole day because of their inefficiency. The worst is I had to fight for my right despite paying for the ticket in full must ahead.The previous year I tried jet airways. Its a shame that a new airline like JetAirways are far more organized and can maintain their committed time for take off and landing.Their ground staff are well trained and the processing time is very quick.I would rather pay a little more to keep away from Govt. of India run airlines. They are a disgrace to India and show case a false culture to the world. Indians have been a major contributor to most countries but state of the same Indian in his country sucks. KEEP AWAY from AI and IA and alliance airline.ANAND. Singapore
I have had 2 bad experiences with Air India. The firt time around, in the summer of 1996, the morning Mumbai-Chennai flight in was to fly had technical problems and we were made to wait in the plane for more than an hour without a/c. Next, we were de-planed and taken to the waiting area where again there was no a/c. There was no information other than the technical snags were being wokred on. Finally after a 4 hour ordeal, the flight took off wihout any apology from the staff. There was no effort to provide food and water to the harrassed passengers. Children, the elderly and women suffered the most.
The second time around, in 2000, the Heathrow-Mumbai was in a very bad shape. The upholstries were torn and stinking and the controls were not working. The overhead tv had very bad video quality and was jumpy. On landing in Mumbai, it took more than an hour for the luggage to start coming to the luggage area and one of my soft luggage had a 10 inch knife cut. On bringing this to the AI officer on duty's attention he bluntly told that nothing can be done about this, let alone offer an apology.
LESSON LEARNT! FROM THEN ON I HAVE NOT FLOWN AIR INDIA AND WILL NOT DO SO UNLESS AND UNTIL IT GETS PRIVATISED, THE SERVICE IMPROVES AND IS ON PAR WTIH INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS. i WOULD RATHER SPEND A COUPLE HUNDRED USD MORE AND FLY AN AIRLINE THAT OFFERS SUPERIOR SERVICE.
The Air India staffs and cabin crews are the worst in the world. With respect to this I want to share my experience. It was the year 2004. I was travelling alone with my 6 months old child by AI from Mumbai to Chicago. In the aircraft I asked the airhostess to wash my son's feeding bottle as I my he was crying and I cannot leave him in that situation. The airhostess immediately replied back that it's not their job to wash feeding bottles of each child. So, I had to leave the crying baby and went to wash the bottle in the food area. The airhostess followed me and told that I am not allowed to use that basin while the catering service is on and for washing the bottle I should use the wash basin of the Restroom!! If this kind of treatment they offer to a lady travelling alone with her small baby, then I can imagine the treatment they give to others. Then and then only I decided that never in my life I will travel by Air India again.
Horrifying experiences of Air India:
As NRIs, we all are proud to travel by Air India. As usual this time too we decided to travel by Air India. Till last time the experience was really great!! Exciting food, great service especially while travelling with a kid and I was always more than happy to travel by Air India.
This time it was such a great disappointment! First of all it took a while to get the ticket confirmed.
We happily boarded the flight to get back to India. When we saw the different flight nos for Tokyo Bangkok and Bangkok Mumbai, we became suspicious. And asked the air hostess about the same. Being Air India staff we were sure she must know everything. She clearly told us not to worry and that the same flight would go to Delhi and then further to Mumbai and we need not worry. After knowing that almost entire flight had emptied we again were worried and asked another air hostess and she told us to get down and board different flight for Mumbai. Having a kid together and other 2 senior passengers (husband wife both above 75) we started frantically running to board the different flight. After half an hours running, we found the gate and the gate we were told to get different boarding pass and for the same we needed to again run back to the counter which meant another half an hour. Time was running out fast. We went to the counter and as if to make the things worse we were told very plainly that the flight was overbooked and that there was no place for us in the flight. There were arounf 25-30 passengers like us. We were stranded and that too without food and water (as we are not allowed to carry anything inside the flight). The Airline people should be aware of such things and make arrangements for their passengers in such cases. Small kids are hungry, thirsty and there very little parents can do in such case. When it is just transit, obviously one does not carry currencies of different countries. Even if there are shops providing food and drinks how are we supposed to buy them? After lot of struggle we finally got the boarding pass and just 30 mins before the flight we were able to check and bearly managed to board the flight in time. Thought the trauma was over finally. But unfortunately that was not supposed to be so.
Aftern landing in Mumbai while we waited for the luggage to arrive, an announcement came for the passengers cmoning from Tokyo that some 40 bags were not loaded in Bangkok. We clearly knew which these passengers were. Out of mere 15 days visit to India, 3 days were going to go waste courtesy Air India.
Still thought, while returning things would go well. One is always so optimistic. But Air India teaches you how not be. Just one day before flying back we were told that the flight from Mumbai to Narita was cancelled and that was rescheduled from Delhi for the reason of "fog"!!! If at all the reason was fog then i guess there is more fog in Delhi than in Mumbai. We were told to travel to Delhi from Mumbai and some S2-205 flight no was given. We went straight to International Airport nad went to Air India check in counter. The people tell us there about three hours before the flight that that flight was Sahara Airlines flight, a domestic one to boarded from domestic Air port. The Chief Manager of Air India Sahar International Airport kindly told one supervisor to give us the taxi fare to deomestic Air port which eventually was not enough. At the domestic airport we went to check in counter and were told that Air India should have issued a tkt to us and that Air India tkt was not valid for Sahara Airlines (which was very obvious). Now we had to run to Air India office (domestic airport). It was still lunch time there and we were not even allowed to wait in the office and were made to wait outside. The lunch time is till 2:00 P.M. The flight time is 3:30. We sincerely hope that the staff would be back in time but till 2:10 nobody turns up. After a while they do show up and then start arguing whoc would do this job of issuing the tkts to all the passengers like us (around 10-15 of us) since the entire tkt was to be reissued which would take at least 15 mins per tkt. The staff is still not trained to use computers and they don't know how print and simple cancel print if the print is wrong. They send word documents for printing on flight tkts!!! Many tkts are wasted and of course lot of time of the other staff too to help out. At last we got the tkts and went to board the flight. Many Japanese passengers were stranded too not knowing the language and absolutely not knowing what to do. We could not help them all because boarding time was nearing so fast.
New worries started now after boarding the flight: how to go to International Air port in Delhi.
Luckily there was shuttle nad we could easily go to International Airport.
Traumatic experience of Air India leaves us no choice but to travel by other Air lines.
I LOVE MY INDIA!???
But do I really? I thought I did, but my recent trip was an eye opener..and I saw what my dad had been telling me about the issues in india come to life right before my eyes. We talk about booming economy, great minds and aggressive teams.. What I saw was the complete opposite and what any foreigner would have seen would ensure that he/she for many generations would never come back to india. In anycase… I would like you to visually see what I am about to narrate..
I land with a big thud made by the Air India flight, which took off fashionably late..just an hour later than the original time of departure, not bad I say to myself ;). Obviously, if you are flying in from the middle east you can completely forget about services, since it is 90% labor dominated, hence the tv screen refuses to work while passengers in the next block are watching 'Hey baby', I watch a blank screen; the switch to call the airhostess is just a show piece, how can you think of disturbing them? Shame on you!! And finally, a blast to the past..when I attempted to have the dinner, which tasted exactly like what it used to about 2 decades back when I used to travel with Air India as a 7 year old. Wow! How nostaligic !!
But the arrival was not as exciting as the departure. I enter the wonderful IGI airport at 7 AM to catch a 9:10AM flight by the low budget (read- low priority) airline- Air Inda Express. I could just see a sea of heads.. Bopping up and down, straining their necks to see when they would be able to check in their baggages. With about 1000 people there and 4 counters open, it was the heights of indian efficiency at work!! The term chaos is toooo small to describe the scenario. No one had a clue of where to stand. And just to give you a flavor, a few quotes:
A very old woman: " I have travelled all across the world, but only in India are the old treated so badly, I have been begging for a wheel chair for the past hour and they have kept me standing here"
A fight between a brit and me when I just went to enquire about my flight
Brit: "I have been here for 1.5 hours, get lost and don't cut in"
Me: " I don't need your bloody spot, I need to enquire about my flight"
Brit: "enquire somewhere else"
Me: "I have the right to enquire anywhere I want, it is a free country you know"
The politician in the crowd speaks up after 1 hour of fights occuring between officials and passengers every 5 minutes.
" WE WILL START SHOUTING SLOGANS IN 2 MINUTES, IF THEY DO NOT CHECK US IN"
And the beauty of it all, the screen showed ALLLLL Air india flights as being on time. That was nerve wrecking!
A few of us took up the responsibility of moving the trolleys from the counter towards the outside..I and another woman began doing that, then a brit and a chinese started to help us, then the indian men realised they should move a finger and they got in with us too. Ofcourse the helpers in the airport were very busy to do their job
After having checked in, I went to grab a bite from Subways..only to find the vegetables were all stale and that I would have to be sharing my breakfast with 3 cats hovering around the subway stall. YIKES!!!!
I walked around like a headless chicken attempting to find an official to enquire about my flight, which showed 'On time' at 9:30 for a 9:10 flight with no boarding gates indicated. Finally they announced boarding at 10, I was impressed because I met some passengers who had been waiting since 5 in the morning. I boarded the aircraft, covered my face with my shawl and fell asleep. Woke up finally at 12 only to discover that we had yet not taken off and the pilot had left the aircraft. The restless laborers fought with the stewerdeses and then got off the aircraft to fight with security. After a lot of mayhem, we were transported back to the airport and given free lunch at the disgusting ashoka lounge as a way to shut up and not bother the officials.
The laborers settled infront of the big screen to watch India get clobbered by Pakistan. I befriended another professional, Mr.Sam and we took it up to fight a battle with the Air India professionals. And the best answer I received was" Flight will leave at midnight, why don't you sit and watch the match". My husband in dubai messages me of other possibilities, Sam contacts a friend from Air India who honestly tells us to offboard ourselves because the flight will never take off and I try calling Air India officials on the phone, please note the conversation:
After 10 rings they pick up " I am an air india express passenger, I need to get out or give me some info on my flight"
" yes mam, let me get duty manager" click
Hmmmm now what is that click??
Blank…….
Light voices
Click-blank…….
Light murmurs… then I respond " I know you're there!! Helloooooo!!"
Click-blank…….
Light murmurs… then I respond " I know you're there!! Helloooooo!!"
Click-blank…….
After 3 such rounds of calls, we give up and we request customs to offboard us. I take off to indian airlines to get another set of tickets and sam waits for his luggage which should take just half hour and actually takes just 1.5 hours, making us almost miss our next flight. Getting a ticket is not an easy task too, because after massaging a thousand egos inside to get outside, I need to stoop myself from an engineer-mba professional to a damsel in distress who can be saved by the oh so mighty indian men…oooooh!! The airline officials first say I am waitlisted.. Then after my begging they say I am confirmed. When I go again to book sam's ticket, I am told to wait..but there is no one around and it's almost time for the flight.. But nooooooo..so what if no one is there is what I am told.. I am told to just wait while the official finishes his update on the latest gossip with his counterpart. Yet again I beg him 'sir sir sir sir' and then he books another ticket.Sam struggles and gets the luggage, which is also a story in itself..but in brief.. After 1 hour of bullshit that 'hum kar rahe hai, hum dekh rahe hai' he walks into the duty managers room and puts up a fight.
We check in Indian airlines after fighting with the official who was busy on a very crucial economy shaking call of how he will meet his friend tomorrow at 9:30 and what they must wear and where they must go etc etc..but only once we had landed in Dubai at midnight India Time did we both breathe a sigh of relief. That must be the longest flight on the shortest distance ever.. It took me 17 hours to reach dubai!!!
I have had 2 major revelations in this entire episode:
- I have developed more tolerance than I have ever had
- the slow motion scenes in indian movies are actually a reflection of reality, because from check in to the security check to the boarding.. Everyone in india works in slow motion..you can actually see ppl moving at the pace of 1km/hour..even that is toooo fast
And I wonder now " How much do I really love my India?"
Don't fly Air India. Hopefully, this way the government will have no choice but to privatise the damn thing.
I travelled on BGE-BOM-LHR-ORD sector with Air India about 3 months back. After taking the 4am flight from BGE to BOM, they told us that our BOM-LHR-ORd flight has been suddenly delayed by 15 hours (original: 10am, new time: 1 am next day). They offered free breakfast as a way to make up. When people started protesting, they adopted an extremely callous, I do not care about you attitude. But the miracle happened when they suddenly found a plane and announced the departure for 1pm the same day. As a result a lot of local people must have missed their flights. The service at LHR was nasty, disrespectful and just plain bad. The flight landed at Chicago at 1am, about 7 hours later than originally expected. I have learnt my lesson, never again am I travelling with AI. Even when they start non stop flights from US, I am not getting on their planes. The service is bad, planes are old, attitude is pathetic,,,, the list is endless!
Last year, I travelled with Air India from Delhi to Amritsar. It is only a 50 minute flight, yet it was delayed by 7 and a half hours. I was travelling in Business Class and we got no information from the staff in the lounge. They kept changind the expected time of departure every couple of hours.
Once we boarded the plane, the crew gave no attention to any of the passengers and did not even offer us a drink (bearing in mind it was Business Class). I would have expected a much better service than that in Economy Class.
After the 50 minute flight and having arrived at Amritsar (to our relief!!!), we waited ages for our bags. The entire crew of the Boeing 777 came along to the baggage reclaim belt and their suitcases all came off first and off they went to a hotel for rest and recuperation. It is a joke that a crew change takes place after a 50 minute flight and they would have stayed in Amritsar until the next flight in 2 days time, when they would have flown on the Amritsar - Birmingham leg. Once the crew had disappeared, only then did the fare paying passengers suitcases start arriving.
I will not travel with such an ineffecient airline, with rude and overweight crew members, who struggle to get through the aisle. Thank God that Jet Airways and other such airlines are now developing fantastic worldwide networks, which represent India at its finest. I feel sorry for the Indian taxpayers having to subsidise this hopeless airline.
The people above who seem to have travelled 4 Excellent trips on AI in a month no less and those who compare the inefficient, pathetic flying blot on the national psyche of India called AI with the woes of JetBlue look like the AI staffers or their cronies for whom the airline is solely in service in the first place. Ordinary tax paying citizen of India who pays for their salaries be damned!
Firstly, I have travelled widely on a variety of airlines from many different countries, except the ones in Africa and Russia and I can say with absolute certainty that AI has the most lothesome, lethargic, unmotivated, inefficient staff compared to any airline I have flown so far. The JetBlue incident is peanuts compared to the disaster story of AI which seems more like a daily ritual. The isolated JetBlue incident (6hrs on tarmac) has created so much furore in US that the CEO has personally gone apologizing on almost every media outlet he can reach to those effected and the airline compensated the victims. Have we even heard a proper reason yet from even a mid-level officer on the current AI delays and absconding of staff without explanations, leave alone the head of AI or civil aviation minister apologizing? There is another govt. enquiry which will take another decade to perhaps figure out that AI is pathetic and incompetent with loathesome and useless thrash staff if Indians are lucky! Pathetic loser airline to say the least.
Air India makes gobs of money on NRI suckers who want to feel as close to the mother land as they can, so they choose to fly AI.
It's a vicious cycle, AI can be the airlines it is because NRI's and all indians will fly it at least once and there are enough first time fliers to keep this cycle going. In my humble Opinion AI is not competing for any awards, just focused on staying afloat, barely alive, there are always the tax payers to bail them out.
NRI's are one of the biggest income sources for India and it's sad that the National carrier, the first point of revenue generation from these people for India should be such a sad pathetic reminder of what else is wrong with the country.
What's more, if you are white, you are treated marginally better. If you are indian or darker indian (gasp) or not very "pada likha" or a manual worker flying to
gulf or other countries find another air lines. Air India will judge you unfit to treat you like a human with dignity, more like cattle that need to be whipped and shoved around.
The usual "warm indians" "great hospitality" is a delusional myth, we are one of the rudest and impolite people around, AI staff seems to have embraced this indian-ness to their core. After all they represent the rest of the country.
For me it was the three strike rule, AI screwed up three times and that's it. Each time they were pointlessly rude. No more Air India for me. It hurts more, because I'd really like to fly a national carrier and feel for some odd reason rather ashamed that I don't want to fly AI. Were another indian Airlines been this bad, who'd give a rats ass, I'd not be writing here, it would not be an issue, Air India hurts.
I'll take efficiency and guaranteed service any day, you can shove the "warm Indian hospitality" and other bullshit up yours where it's dark and smelly.
-signed
Really pissed frequent traveler, never flying Air India again.
A couple years ago on a flight from NY (JFK) to Delhi with my wife for which I had purchased tickets four months ago, I requested seats online. At the airport I was told that my seats were given to someone else and that nothing could be done about it. My wife and myself were assigned other seats and upon boarding the aircraft we saw that our seats had a police line yellow tape around them and the seats were physically broken. I asked the flight attendant and was told that i need to dis-embark as it was not their issue. We were told that we could not fly because no other seats were available. The station manager came and got us some seats (not together) and told us that he would let London know that we had this situation and we would be taken care of.
On reaching London we were told that they had no information about us. The managed to get us seats for the remaining leg to Bombay and then onto Delhi (we got our original boarding passes in NY).
We got to Bombay and were told that the flight to Delhi was delayed on account of Fog (no worries, it happens) we stayed at the airport in Bombay from 11:00pm to 12:30 pm the next day, nothing was provided to us. I had some local currency and had just enough to buy some cookies for me and my wife.
We boarded the flight to Delhi the next day and a couple people came to our seat with the same seat numbers as us. I informed the flight attendant and she told me it was not her problem. I told her that I got the seat assignment in NY and she told me to go and complain in NY and not to her. We walked out of the plane feeling like criminals. They finally got us on again not together.
We finally made it to Delhi about 18 hours late and it took our luggage took another 3.5 hours to come out.
I go to India frequently and if Air India is the only option I change my plans. I WILL NEVER FLY AIR INDIA AGAIN......If the airline was to go under and make their un-employed employees come and work in the realy world(work for a living like ordinary people)it will thrill me.
I am Kurian Thomas an Indian national living in Hong Kong. I was on a trip from Hong Kong to Sri Lanka, it was a peak travel season and was unable to get tickets in other route so decided to take an Air India flight from Hong Kong to Mumbai and then a Sri Lankan air flight from Mumbai to Colombo. I had approximately 4 hrs of time available for the connection to Sri Lankan with my previous experiences on Air India I thought this should be sufficient!. However, this time they air India staff made sincere efforts to prove that they can only be the worst airline in this world.
The chain of delay happened like this.
90 mins delay in boarding the flight at Hong Kong
30 mins delay for take off from Hong Kong
45 mins delay due to congestion in Mumbai airport and the worst
1 hour delay for finding a parking space in Mumbai airport!!
And no one was available at the airport to arrange immediate transfer or even to respond to my queries and even strange… the crew mentioned that they only know about in-flight arrangements and they can not talk to ground staff regarding other connections. The ground staff had a very different version as I finally missed the flight. They said they are not responsible to make any arrangements for me as it’s a different airline in which I need to make my connection flight, also they said I can not access the lounge in air port nor will be given any hotel accommodation till next connection. On the other hand they threatened that if I don’t leave the airport immediately the immigration will not allow me to leave airport after 1 hour of the arrival of flight as they will close the counter for all passenger arrived by AI flight from HK!. I decided to wait in the airport as I wanted to talk this with some senior officers when the office opens in the morning (it was already 1 am in the morning!). But no one was available in the morning and the worst.. the staff on the morning shift/duty doesn’t even know that the flight was late or they just acted as if they are ignorant!
The way the staff treat passengers was with a clear attitude which shows their arrogance. I know I can not change anything with Air India but I decided for myself and my family that we will never ever fly Air India in our life.
I've never expected a flag carrier as bad as AI.They are talking about professionalism but are far away.The problem is that the whole management (specially all operational ones)are too dumb to learn, to observe, changing their minds and listen to advises and suggestions of others with more or better experience and solutions how to run an airline.The skills and knowledge of their flightdeckcrews are below average standards but they think they are the greatest!Incidents, accidents and overall impression around the world doesn't impress them - they think they are untouchable.As long as the management does not change this company completely nothing will change.The people in charge at all positions must be responsible!They need professionals to learn and adapt professional behaviour - they need to listen instead to hear only!
As an expat working for AI I must say that incompetence and lack of skills and knowledge as well as their resistance of listening to suggestions and improvements from professionals nothing will change the bad impression AI is well known for.Their bad habit and attitude as well as seeing themselves as the best will not change unless the management will take some rough steps.
But I doubt about.
Their own positions and power is more important than the success and future of AI.
Mr. Tata had never ever expected what they did to this airline!!!
The pilots payment is very high - their professional workout very low.
THIS IS THE KING OF ALL AI HORROR STORIES...flight from new york to bombay had to be diverted to paris because of bad weather in london...pilot parked the plane at the end of a runway, in the middle of july, at 9 am and the entire crew left the plane...food and water ran out and at 6pm. one of the passengers deplaned and ran across the tarmak to complain to the airport authorites, who tired to get Ai to feed us and put us in a hotel...they refused...at 10pm, the french took pity on us and arranged to feed us and put us in a hotle till the weather cleared.....finally, we reached bombay, my connecting flight to hyderabad had gone, the AI ground staff said the only thing they could do was to endorse my ticket and i was on my own to fly to hyd....they refused to help me find a seat on any of the other airlines, i tried and tried only to learn that all flights to hyd were full for one week...my father was on his deathbead and i had to get there fast, i pulled aside on of the indian airlines officers, he demanded a bribe of 3000 rupees which i gladly paid, i was the first one the board the flight, did not even go through security as this official escorted me and told me to have a nice flight.....bottom line is this is a govt. airline, THE EMPLOYEES COULDNT CARE LESS, THEY WILL NEVER GET FIRED, REPRIMANDED OR LOOSE THEIR YEARLY INCREMENTS....anyone who flies air india or indian airlines needs a reality check.....
Response to - King of ALL AIR INDIA STORIES:
In this case and for that matter ALL OF THE COMMENTS on AIR INDIA, it is the employee (the PEOPLE) are responsible. They need to change their attitude.
BE responsible, accountable, know their duties and the strict rules and punishment(FIRING FROM THE JOB) that they can get. In India, most of the people want to go abroad but they donot want to pick up NOT even a single good thing from abraod.
THIS BHAI BANDI HAS TO STOP.
Air-India/Indian airlines does not provide a good service is a well known fact for a long time. Again and again we here same horror stories about these airlines. Now these 2 airlines are merged, on top of that Indian Government is buying almost 120 new airplanes.
Problem is who is going to fly these aircrafts? New nonstop service from Mumbai to New York is a flop as hardly there are 70 paying people flying these airplanes.
Worst news is that Indian Government is thinking about ordering 160 more airplanes on top of these already ordered to add to a entity which already loss making.
Let's make a vow never to fly these 2 airlines. Hopefully this will lead to their privatization and passengers will then get a better service.
Again and again , always . Its a perennial problem of Air India.I feel ashamed , when i see the service of Govt carrier.What happened to the Top Management.Hey Black Sheeps r u listening?Fligts operating out of Riyadh-Saudi Arabia are always late.No one gives the correct information.About airport staff, they are the worst.What is the duty of Airport Manager and the Supervisor , when a flight gets delayed?They run away from the counters and leave the passengers with the UNASCO handling staff.Where u will find the AI Airport Manager and the Supervisor?Well they are in the Executive lounge, either watching TV or on the Internet.Because of the CTO staff s good behaviour and service , we oblige to travel on AI.Now where you will find the AI - Manager of Riyadh station?He will switch off his mobile and delegate the junior staff to hear curses and bad languages of the passengers.Well , its obvious he comes on deputation for 2 or 3 years.He is busy in making Riyals to be converted in Indian rupees , which he gets from the GSA -Kanoo Travel.Hope vigilance guys of AI - headquarters are listening .When you come for Audit query , will give u more information .
What else can one expect from a GOVT. controlled airlines ? How can a Govt. employee in INDIA be courteous , polite and patient enough to help the public ? The main problem is with Govt. employees attitude. Privatise the airlines,AI & IA, and you will see a sea of change in the service of the air hostess and flight services.
I stay in USA and stopped flying AI 3 years ago.It was a horrible flight. The AC in the airlines didn't work at all . Can you believe it ? Also, I couldn't withstand the treatment given to my fellow co-passengers who were dark skinned . I was shell shocked by the air hostess attitude towards INDIANS in AIR INDIA.Since then I've been flying EMIRATES,JET AIRWAYS . I am glad that JET started their service to USA.
My wife was flying from Singapore to Delhi, 2 months back, in Novemeber. We had booked the ticket directly from Indian Airlines office on 9th September for one of the mondays in November. 2 days before the flight, my relative who was also taking the same flight was told by her agent that the monday flight had been permanently cancelled since 1st October 2007 and she should go to Indian airlines for alternative flight. It was a saturday and Indian airlines office was closed and there is no 24 hour help line. We and our relative rushed to airport on Sunday morning to get alternative flight. After lot of hassle, we were given ticket for Singapore-Chennai-Delhi flight for Sunday evening, i.e. we had to get ready to fly withing 4 hours. Both my wife and my relative (2 ladies and 1 child) spent the night sitting at Chennai airport with mosquitos. They had to check out all the luggage and re-check in next morning for domestic flight. Unfortunately, the return flight was also permanently cancelled for the day we had reserved it for. After I created a ruckous in IA office, they finally agreed to give a direct ticket for return flight. The apathy of airlines was such that they continued booking tickets for no-flight days even upto 2 weeks before the cancellations. And after the merger of IA and AI, and hence the re-scheduling, they did not bother to inform any passenger about the cancellation. We were just lucky that my relative was also flying on the same day and she was informed by her travel agent. After this experience, we have vowed to never take IA or AI again, even if we have to pay few hundred dollars extra for other airlines tickets. To hell with Air India and Indian Airlines. IA and AI are faces of India and their management puts whole India at shame. When I told about my wife's plight to my local colleagues in Singapore, they could not believe it. But they also decided never to take IA and AI if they ever have to fly to India.
I travelled by AI last year Chicago-Bombay route with a short stop in London. My observations were as follows.
1. The plane was in disrepair and had peeling panels and jagged edges and the hygiene was not up to par.
2. The restrooms started out ok, then got really unhygenic as the flight progressed.
3. The crew was ok and some were quite friendly and attentive and food was very palatable.
4. The passengers were walking around and overloaded with stuff/luggage and it really seemed like a bus depot :)
5. At the stopver in London, the deplaning was ok, but clearing through security and re boarding was a nightmare and not managed properly at all by the AI Staff. It was more due to lack of proper traning/procedures. Also, the London gate provided was really shabby and the London airport crew was really quite mean/ derogatory to the Indian passengers in general. It seemed like they were used to treating passengers on Indian origin this way.
6. Passengers who are normally docile/compliant on international carriers are very different with Indian flight crew, and this contributes to ill will on both sides. The clamor for more free food/ booze and beverages is baffling as the US Carriers would never oblige Indian passengers in this manner.
Several passengers have left disparaging comments on the age of the flight crew (female flight attendants) and that is absolutely unbecoming. IF they are legally permitted to be employed, then its a very discrimanatory remark to comment on age (please--40 is not old, hello! and they are in the prime of their working life). Here in US passengers dare not judge poor customer service based on age.
The Indian passengers behave quite differently when on board AI vs other airlines. This has been my observation. Think that the passengers also need to show courtesy to the flight crew. Of course on both my departing and return flight, the crew was reasonably helpful.
Ground crew on arrival in Mumbai was ok, the bags were missing and we got them after 3 days after several phone calls. This is a very common issue with AI--missing baggage. The ground crew coming back was a horror, wanted money to transport bags, they were swindlers and the constables standing by did nothing. We finally grabbed our bags and checked them in ourselves and brushed past those pestering porters. This nonsense really needs to be cleaned up. The security was easy and the female security personnel were courteous--stark contrast to the those at Atlanta, NY and Chicago airports where they grope and humiliate all passengers.
So just presenting both experiences, AI definitely needs to improve its service/fleet and customer care as well as its arrivals and departures on time. But lately, I feel the US airline service is falling to AI levels so AI really doesn't seem like its the only nightmare out there...
no doubt, AI is time and again proving that they are the worst airliner in the world! it is very frustrating that they do not even update their website for any delayed/cancelled flight! they are just an example of how irresponsible an airliner can be! i am writing this from jeddah (ksa)from where AI recently forgot to carry a deadbody! This proves that their cruelty is not only towards those who are alive, but to the dead also! will they ever change their attitude?
Let us be fair in dealing with our national carrier, we know that the government run enterprises are not answerable to anybody let alone passengers,I am still travelling in AI because it is more desi for me and I feel homely as soon as I enter the aircraft, but it is a hell on the ground and since I have travelled from Riyadh in AI I have never caught my connecting flight from Mumbai to Bangalore. The worst part is you donot have anybody to talk to in the Riyadh airport and the flight is regularly delayed once by some 16 hours and me and my family always travel by buisness class and were not allowed to check in as the counters did not open and nobody informed us earlier that the flight was delayed, due to this we were stranded at the airport and could not use the VIP lounge as we had not checked in yet. The thing shich made us more angry is some embassy officials came at about an hour before the flight when I asked them if they had information about the delay they answered that the airline ground manager had informed them, when I asked the ground manager about why he had not informed all the passengers he asked me to sue the airlines and not to talk to him. I want to sue the airlines everytime I travel and get delayed the staff should behave in a courteous way of prepare to surrender the airlines to a private operator as we have seen with Jet Airlines, Kingfisher etc. The government has to be more answerable to the public like us who travel to their homeland once in a year to enjoy and forget all the stress of hard work and detachment from our beloved country, but with these experieces you feel better outside the country or in a foreign airlines, we should learn from Emirates, Gulf Air and Ittihad airlines about how to attract customers.
Dr.Bilal Delvi
Riyadh
Saudi Arabia
I had a flight from London to Delhi this summer, which I had booked from Thomas Cook 2 days before departure. The flight to Delhi was ok, though for some reason AI have decided that the plugs for charging the laptops will be a non-standard one and so I could only work as long as I had battery power on my laptop. The food was bad too, which is surprising coz I had travelled on BA before and their food was not bad at all, so it isnt an airline thing. Still I made it to Delhi without any major issues. I was only carrying hand baggage, as I was supposed to return after a day only. When I went to check in for my return flight, I was told that my bag was "too heavy" and I could only take it as baggage. I was surprised, as I had taken the exact same bag on a full AI flight 2 days ago, and had not faced any such issues. Since I was only carrying 1 unlocked hand bag, I was in hot water as I couldnt afford to leave anything behind. I decided to take my passport, travel documents and my wallet on my person and get the rest checked in as baggage. I had not locked the bag as I didnt know this problem would arise and I couldnt carry my phone with me, as my hands were already full, and hence I put my phone in my bag as well. When I collected my baggage from Heathrow, I found the phone was missing. Clearly someone from AI had gone on a theiving spree. This stupidity and double standards of AI has cost me 250 pounds, they could have easily accomodated my bag as hand luggage in an nearly empty flight, and no problem should have arisen when I had carried the same bag on the same flight 2 days back. I have taken a vow to take the more expensive, safer route and go with either BA or KLM next time I go to India.
I find the comments on this blog are somewhat unfair to AI, I travelled AI from Singapore to Mumbai and back on my way to Sydney last month and found the service of the staff courtious and fair. I had some problems with my baggage getting over 24 kgs... normally other airlines dont make a fuss but I was made to take out the 4 kilos by the lady at the counter..fair enough if she was sticking to the rules.
I was so apprehensive about the flight as I had read this blog and was rediculed by people(Indians in Aus) about flying AI. everyone wished me best of luck and hoped to see me back in one piece...
On board the staff was helpful, smilling and courtious. Food was much better than the crap they serve in other airlines. in fact I found the passangers acting like royalty and treating the hostases like waitersses. Free booze was their birth right and noone dare tell them to fasten the seatbelts or move the seat upright during takeoff. If these were the 'padha likha' passangers then I pity the staff on the flights from gulf ( someone has commented passangers in these flights are not treated well as most passangers are the labourers, well I can imagine their behaviour on board )..
I would not mind travelling AI again and recommend it to others. I have seen many rude and impolite crew on Quantas and Cathey and european flights but we Indians never seem to complain about it.
Go AI..
Thank you, that was extremely valuable and interesting...I will be back again to read more on this topic.
Hi there,
Thanks for sharing this link - but unfortunately it seems to be down? Does anybody here at airindiastory.blogspot.com have a mirror or another source?
Cheers,
Oliver
I've been searching in google for some new ideas and accidentally found this airindiastory.blogspot.com web site. Thanks for sharing this information. I find it very cognitive as I have been studying a lot lately on practical matters such as you talk about..
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