Maharajah's gourmet. Review on Air India

Here’s a look at the various aspects of boarding an AI flight as observed by me while traveling economy class:-

1)Ground Staff and Facilities: Air India has more ground staff personnel than even British Airways although the flights of latter far outnumber the former .The ground staff of Air India doesn’t present itself with a smiling face or with a glowing look (thankfully otherwise the situation becomes quite irritating when an unknown person puts on a fake smile at 4 o’ clock in the morning to greet one at the flight).I mean why should somebody else be happy about whether a Tom, Dick or Harry is flying to New York or for that matter Timbuktu. The ground staff of AI is helpful (extremely important if you are carrying extra luggage or lost some of your luggage) and patient (if you do not have a confirmed ticket or some unimportant document) and in general well-behaved .I have found them to be more enduring than the ground staff of most airlines especially those of European carriers.

2) Punctuality – You reach the airport after giving away your last penny of foreign currency to the Taxi driver as tip, hoping that you are well in time for the flight especially if you have a nonchalant attitude like me, only to find out that the Air India flight has been delayed by 3-4 hours (on average), 7-8 hours (if misfortune is your companion for the day) and more than 10 hours (if you see me around somewhere). I have been through this twice one in Singapore when it was delayed by 10 hours due to fog (other flights were on time though) and the other time on Mumbai-Chicago flight which got delayed by 15 hours or so. I also know people who have traveled AI all their life and have never been delayed. In my opinion AI gets delayed a bit more than other airlines a bit typical of the Indian attitude.

3) Cabin crew and Ambience: I agree the cabin crew of AI is neither young nor attractive but I don’t think so it matters much as they are able to conduct their duties well and without fuss. They were patient, co-operative and respectful which is enough for me. I would not prefer a bombshell on board who is great to look at and has a sweet voice but who gets panicky and nervous when an emergency arises, and starts thinking about her boyfriend back home instead of the welfare of the passengers.

The ambience in AI planes is generally good. They are well-carpeted, clean and maintained. You get good leg room and in general it is comfortable. As far as in flight entertainment goes, yes there are no drop screen televisions rather a big screen in front of the passengers where you have no authority to select the shows. The choice of music isn’t great as well but the shawl provided by AI is comparable to the best in the world.

One word of caution here: the AI flights returning from Gulf are just pathetic and dirty and no matter what I judge at the end of this review I will never recommend anyone to return via AI from a Gulf sector and especially don’t take a domestic flight that is coming back from the Middle East.

4) Meals N Drinks: The food provided by AI is comparable to the best in the world both in terms of quality and quantity. If you are a vegetarian then AI is the clear cut winner but if you are an alcoholic or a fruit juice lover then AI is a complete nightmare. No extra fruit juices or punches are served in the Economy class unless the hostess takes a special liking to you which are a very rare eventuality unlike in other airlines such as Singapore which gives you so many times that you become sick of the hostess coming and asking for another one. Though I am a non alcoholic myself, I do believe that if liquor can be sold on roadside shops, distributed freely during polls and has become socially accepted then why cannot AI serve alcohol on its flight. I don’t think Indians are known for bad drinking habits but even if AI doesn’t want to take chances it can always limit the amount given to particular passengers.

5) E-tickets: Air India is one of the very few airlines in the world which does not have the facility of E-Ticketing .Its high time they think of the hassles paper tickets cause to the passengers especially careless people like me who have a habit of losing important documents. Most of the airlines have switched to E-ticketing for it cuts down their costs and also facilitates issue of tickets from anywhere all you need is an email id and a printer. Airlines issuing E-tickets include Lufthansa, British Airways, Emirates, Virgin,……with Austrian not issuing such tickets on Indian sectors only.

6) Open tickets and Validity: This I believe is one of the strongest points in favour of AI as its one of the few carriers (why does it always have to be different from the rest) which allows return open tickets even in Economy class unlike all European carriers which charge INR 3000.00 for one date change (they don’t allow return open tickets) and other carriers which charge the same amount if you change your returning date twice (the first one they allow for free).

7) Network N Cost: AI being the national carrier has the best frequency of flights in and out of India and is also quite cost effective than other airlines. However with the advent of other carriers such as Jet Airways and Air Sahara into the international market and other foreign carriers getting more flying rights within India, this AI monopoly of flying non stop to US would not last long.

8) Luggage Handling: I have thankfully never faced any problem with AI in terms of luggage, but my parents once found their suitcase broken during handling when they traveled to Germany. They were given another suitcase but nevertheless it was proved that such events may take place even when you are traveling by Lufthansa.

I confess I have been a tad hard on AI in this review and have generally compared it with the best in the business but that’s because I want to see AI regain its lost position as the No.1 carrier in the world but I think for that I might have to become the Maharajah myself. What do you say!!!!

Thank you, for reading my long review (applicable only if you didn’t just scroll through but read the whole of it) and I would be delighted to reply to your comments. As always any suggestions/opinions would be welcome.