New York by Air India
 

I want to go to NYC mid-September. The cheapest flight by far is Air India but they appear to have a bad reputation - messy toilets, smelly planes, bad punctuality. Has anybody got any up-to-date info on AI flying thies particular route? Have they got any better? Should I go for it anyway?

Come on, surely someone can help?!

Do a search on the Europe and Asia forums.

Most reviews are ghastly (toilet overflowing into the passenger compartment, no TP; and my favorite report, rats in the cockpit a few years ago.)

Which particular route? NYC from where exactly?

They are not known for maintaining schedule integrity.Personally I would never fly any airline from anywhere to anywhere on the planet that only had one flight a day....where is the backup plane??If it's London you are flying from I would choose another carrier.HTH.....S

Tanks for that. Rats in the cockpit.... nice. I am flying from London. Never thought about the "one flight a day" problem. Anyone else got any views?

I have flown IA both internationally and domestically. It is fine, the horror stories are overated, IMO. No airline is great, even the vaunted Singapore Airlines has the odd dud flight. For the price it is worth it I think.

As for the "one flight a day problem", I disagree. Many, if not most long-haul flights are done with one plane, e.g. United from Hong Kong, Swiss Air from Zurich to EWR, the list is pretty long. And short hauls like the Washington shuttle are also one aircraft that turns around all day. No one has spare planes sitting on the runway. . . With long-haul one flight a day aircraft you are actually better off, as flights are generally 10-12 hours apart and so if there is a problem on the inbound, they know about it and have adequate time to find a replacement plane. Short hauls is where this is a problem, as the turn around time is often 30 minutes or less and you already have passengers waiting to board the plane.

Cicerone....Let me explain the concept of "backup" as it applies in the airline industry..If you are on an AirIndia flight from LON to NYC...They only have ONE flight to ONE gateway in North America....So in the unlikely event that flight is cancelled,they have no means to reroute you on any other flight.Whereas if you are on a United flight LHR to JFK and it is cancelled,there are myriad options to reroute you....via Washington,Boston,Chicago,etc etc.That was the point I was trying to make.And I assure, I have been there done that it is in fact a valid point.And IMHO, a consideration.Most travellers will not consider that until it happens to them.

I flew Air India from Kennedy to London and then on to Mumbai (Bombay) a few years back and we got there fine and on time-ish. I will admit that I felt like I was already in India when I boarded the plane, as the scents and food were Indian in nature. Not a bad thing, just different. I have friends who have frequently used Air India between London and NYC because of the price and been fine. Considering they do fly this route daily and we rarely hear publicized news of issues, I would say that if price is your factor, you will be fine. You may also want to check the European Fodor's board for comments on this route.

If you do go on AI, order the Indian food. It is better than the American diet they serve.