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

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.

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Qantas / Air France / Virgin Australia / Airline Industry / Airline Strikes / Air Canada / Air India / → All Tags

Winter Airline Strike News Getting Better and Better

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.

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Airplane Hell / Air India / Star Alliance / Airline Industry / Airline News / Airline Alliances / Travel Hell / LHR / LGW / London Travel / → All Tags

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

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.

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Low Cost Carriers / LCCs / Air India / Airlines / Airline News / India Travel / → All Tags

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

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.

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Airplane News / Boeing 787 / Dreamliner / 787 / Boeing / Airline News / Airplanes / ANA / Air India / → All Tags

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

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.

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Air India / Star Alliance / India / India Travel / Airline Industry / Airline News / Airline Alliances / → All Tags

Air India Racing Against Time to Join Star Alliance

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."

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Flight Delays / Airline Delays / Air India / Airline Travel / → All Tags

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

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.

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First Class Travel / Air India / Travel Snapshot / → All Tags

Air India Breaks Out the Bling In First Class

When we last took a peek at the first class cabin of an Air India Boeing 777, we were a little concerned about the bright Bollywood-purple lighting in the publicity shots. So we sighed with relief when we saw this "real life" shot of what business class and first class looks like on a recent flight from Delhi to London.

The scary purple-ness is gone, and now what we see is blissful gold bling. Beyond what you can see in this picture, there's even more shiny gold bits with gold trim on the windows and other parts of the seats. This is so Bollywood that we're practically awaiting dancing girls to come down the aisles; we already spot a colorful sari off to the left.

In case you're tempted to mix in with this bling, a one-way business class ticket—they call it Executive—from Delhi to London will set you back just under 72,000 Rupees ($1,500); or you could just rent a good Bollywood DVD for $3.95.

Related Stories:
· Air India's First Class Seats Have That Bollywood Glow [Jaunted]
· First Class Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: vm2827]

First Class Travel / Air India / Travel Snapshot / → All Tags

Air India's First Class Seats Have That Bollywood Glow

Is it special lighting they used for this photo shoot or is Air India actually flying UFOs instead of airplanes? Our first impression of the first class cabin of Air India's Boeing 777-200LR was that this soft purpleness would freak us out a bit.

But, we took a deep breath, looked beyond the lilac and actually were pleased with what we saw. Spacious? Check. Comfortable and private? Check, check. Even a nice satiny-looking pillow there to keep us company.

Our only question now: with all that space there, was it really necessary for Air India to ban fat stewardesses?

Related Stories:
· Air China First Class Is Great But Not Fantastic [Jaunted]
· How First Class on Singapore Airlines Spent Christmas [Jaunted]
· Air India Bans Fat Stewardesses [Jaunted]

[Photo: kapil_b]

Airfare Deals / Travel Deals / Air India / Kingfisher Airlines / Jet Airways / → All Tags

Flying Getting Way Cheaper. In India.

It may not help you get to Vegas to take advantage of awesome hotel deals, but the across-the-board fare cuts in India will make your trip there quite a bit cheaper if you plan of flying from city to city to see all the giant country has to offer.

Air India is slashing domestic fares by as much as 82 percent while competitor Jet Airways announced Monday it would cut ticket prices by 40 percent. Kingfisher Airlines says it too is planning to lower fares in 2009--two days from now--but hasn't yet released specifics.

Indian carriers are facing the same softening demand as airlines in the US, but since fuel bills are also dropping, they can afford the fare cuts--at least for now. Not long ago, we were hearing that the airline meltdown is hitting Asia hardest, so we're waiting to see just how sticky these deals will be.

Related Stories:
· Air India Announces Fare Cut [Economic Times]
· Go To Goa, But Don't Party On The Beach This Xmas [Jaunted]
· Air India Bans Fat Stewardesses [Jaunted]

[Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas]

Airlines / Air India / Flight Attendants / → All Tags

Air India Bans Fat Stewardesses

A court has ruled that Air India is within its rights to fire overweight stewardesses. The airline ended up on trial after they instituted strict weight limits for their 1,600 flight attendants. Several of the grounded cabin crew members sued arguing that they're weight doesn't affect their ability to do their jobs, but the court ruled in favor of the airlines.

The BBC summed up the court's position:

Overweight crew present a safety and health hazard ... In the highly competitive airline industry, an air hostess's physical condition and appearance played an important role in her overall personality.

Air India, whose FAs wear traditional saris, has been facing increased competition from newer airlines with staffed with scantily clad flying hotties. According to a Scottish newspaper, one of these flashy carriers, Kingfisher Airlines, "boasts young, mini-skirted hostesses in scarlet stilettos."

Related Stories:
· India Grounds "Fat" Air Hostesses [BBC]
· You're Too Fat to Fly, Court Tells Hostesses [Scotsman]
· Flight Attendants coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of a Kingfisher FA: Tawheed Manzoor]