Jaunted - Tag: Air India

No Naan for You: Air India Ditches Some Free In-Flight Meals

kjb — 2012-02-08T10:23:54-05:00

There’s bad news for those who enjoy the in-flight catering aboard Air India flights, and that’s because it’s going away. Just like many of the airlines in the United States, Air India has decided to ditch in-flight meals for some of its passengers on some of its flights. Of course the blame falls squarely on the cost, but at least they still might throw a granola bar or something your way.

As of February 1, short-haul domestic flights received this new revised in-flight menu, and that means no more freebie meals for those in the economy cabin. For flights less than 90 minutes the typical breakfast, lunch, or dinner selections are gone, but in their place the airline is promising “heavy snacks and soft drinks.” Honestly, for less than 90 minutes we’d be happy with some in-flight Naan and a Diet Coke, but still, clearly this is an overall bummer.

Winter Airline Strike News Getting Better and Better

Omri — 2011-11-02T17:57:01-05:00

As the airline industry settles in for a winter of labor turmoil, we here at Jaunted are becoming resigned to what will be an endless series of airline strike stories. And while we could just update you with lines like "were you thinking of going to [destination X that's totally hosed] some time soon? If so, don't"—that seems just a little bit flippant. Although if you were thinking of going to Canada, France, Australia, or India some time soon, there's a good chance you're going to want to consider travelers' insurance.

A few days ago we told you that the Qantas and Air France strikes were winding down, which was technically true. As of yesterday Qantas had resumed all flights and Air France was operating at 90%. But—because this is how things are going to go now, apparently—none of the issues have been resolved. So everything could kick up again before the month is over.

Air India's Epic Tarmac Delay Almost Triggers Full-Blown Riot

Omri — 2011-10-17T09:03:29-05:00

Air India can't seem to do anything right. The company tried for years to join Star Alliance—we covered some of their bumbling efforts last May—only to recently give up and suspend integration efforts. Star Alliance's minimum membership requirements, which other airlines seem to be able to meet just fine, turned out to be just too difficult for the Air India people to figure out. On its face, that's not a particularly encouraging signal of competence.

Now comes news out of London that the airline was responsible for a truly epic nine hour tarmac delay, which came at the end—not at the beginning, but at the end—of a long-haul flight from Mumbai.

200 passengers plus one Boeing 777 minus any food unsurprisingly equaled grumpiness. If you're saying to yourself, "I can't believe cops weren't called to put down a riot," you'll be interested to know that cops were indeed called to put down what almost became a riot.

Air India Reconsiders Trying to Make Its Own Low-Cost Airline

kjb — 2011-08-03T08:57:10-05:00

It’s time for another low cost carrier to hit the market, and this week it looks like Air India is going to try their best to get their brand of cheap fare into the air. Unfortunately, don’t expect the 787, as we’re pretty sure they’re going to save that for the more expensive routes.

At first it sounds like this will be just a domestic venture, so your dreams of cheap nonstop flights to New Delhi from JFK might have to wait a few years—or longer. Air India already has its own regional carrier known as Alliance Air, but it sounds like those at the top of the airline are looking to revamp things into a true LCC capable of cut-throat fares and little to no frills.

We Finally Know Where the First 787 Will Fly, But We're Still Waiting on When

kjb — 2011-08-01T14:15:02-05:00

It’s August and all continues to go well for the Boeing 787. We know that the very first plane should finally be delivered to All Nippon Airways in a matter of weeks, but the exact date still remains a mystery. However, we do know where the plane is scheduled to do its thing for the first time, as ANA has finally decided on a couple cities to welcome the first flight of the new bird.

The very first flight will head between Tokyo-Narita and Hong Kong right around a month after the plane is delivered—we guess they need a month to take in the sights and sounds of the new plane before allowing people to spill Diet Coke all over the new seats. Anyway, with the first delivery scheduled for September that means that the first flight should—hopefully—be sometime in October.

Air India Racing Against Time to Join Star Alliance

Omri — 2011-05-11T14:32:32-05:00

Air India has been given a hard deadline of July 31st to finally meet the entry requirements for Star Alliance, something the Mumbai-based airline has been trying to do since they got an invitation to join Star in 2007. The airline needs to standardize its operations and computers with the rest of the alliance, so that happy alliancey things like code sharing, seat upgrading, and reward traveling can start happening.

Integration has proven to be something of a problem, and Air India has already requested and received three deadline extensions. We're guessing that a fourth extension won't be forthcoming, given Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht's subtle hint that "we will not extend this deadline anymore."

Air India Needs To Build A Better Mousetrap After Rat Sneaks Aboard

kjb — 2009-09-29T08:58:58-05:00

We’ve seen our share of airline delays due to weather, mechanical delays, and even wacky passengers. However, there aren’t too many delays caused by furry critters. Well, that’s exactly what passengers of an Air India flight had to deal with as they were stuck to wait things out for about 11 hours.

Apparently a flight with over 200 passengers from Amritsar, India was supposed to head out to London over the weekend. Early on Saturday morning passengers spotted a rat on the plane, and then the rest of the day was spent searching for the little stowaway. After all, it definitely didn’t go through security.