From New York and then London we will fly to New Delhi on Air India. What has been your experience with this air line? Many thanks.

I have never travelled Air India. Indians themselves don't feel too enthusiastic about the airline. The food is reputedly good (if you like Indian food) but everything else is sub-par. They have an ageing fleet and I hear even the business class seats look weary. A better site for you to find out more about this is:

http://www.airlinequality.com

Go to Passenger Opinions and then to Air India.

probably the worst airline in service today.

Our Indian friends have varied opinions. Some like it, but mainly for the food. Others dislike the airline due to inconsistent service, mediocre maintainence of the planes, and so on. I ahve also heard some recent opinions about an improvement in quality. My Indian wife adamantly refuses to fly them. The Indian gal at work at my side just said she did not like it due to lack of cleanliness and poor service. Pretty consistent comments it seems.

Here is a recent thread (June 04) on the Europe board about Air India. Most experiences were favorable.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34506944

I just read the thread YK referred to and actually the pos. vs. neg. comments are about the same.

Good news!. i have flown Air INDIA about 20 times NY-dELHI, so that is my first point. And, beleive it or not, I actually kind of like the Airline. why? becuase i am going to INDIA, AND they are the national carrier and a grand intro to the County?.Why, the passengers are IDNIANS with plenty of chatting, children, and kingfisher beers flowing.Why?.the food is really good, spicy, abundent and plenty! Why? The pilots are excellent, they know INDIA and how to deal with all fog-related circumstances. OKAY, there are a few things i do not like, for exapmle, the general chaos in the terminals, and lack of info if there are delays or soemthing is amuck. But, all and all, i enjoy the flight, the service, the food, the entertainment, BUT ALL and all, Air INDIA helps build the excitement for my return to INDIA and gets me there!.

The food is quite good. However, the flight from JFK to London is usually PACKED (less so from London to Delhi). If you don't mind the chaos that Bonita described (lots of kids), you will be fine.

I have flown Air India in the past, and I wouldn't hesitate to fly the airline again.

I would rather fly Air India than British Airways (I am British).

My preference is Lufthansa or KLM. Reliable and great service. We also get ff miles with the former. However we are considering Air Canada in Jan. we also will get miles and they get into Delhi earlier, around 1800 then the others who arrive late, around 2200 to 0100. Why is earlier better? Due to fog at this tim eof yr. I'm hoping we will be in early enough to factor out this issue. Last time we got stuck in Bombay for 9.5 hrs. due to fog in Delhi.