This was quite honestly the worst experience I’ve ever had flying international. Last summer, I booked Air France on the JFK-Paris-Mumbai route(roundtrip) as some friends had recommended it. What a mistake! To start, check-in was fine. The problems began when the aircraft was ready to leave JFK. We sat on the runway for 2 1/2 hours due to "weather problems in the New York area". Surprisingly, this did not appear to impact Lufthansa, Virgin and American flights - all of which pushed back from their parking bays and took off in front of us! Makes you wonder as to the competence/incompetence of the Air France pilots, huh? Then we were told that due to the late departure, those of us with connecting flights in Paris would miss all our connections. You can imagine how we felt! Landing in Paris, I was relieved to find that the Mumbai flight had not yet left, only to be less relieved on hearing the aircraft was delayed for "technical reasons!" Outside the departure gate, the arrangements were terrible, not enough seating(it was a full flight) and no food or water provided for passengers despite this being a much delayed flight. Finally, we took off more than 4 hours late and reached Mumbai 4 hours late. My journey’s end is Mumbai but I felt sorry for the passengers who had onward connections as most if not all of them missed the connections.
Coming back, it gets worse. On the night I was leaving(Saturday), I checked online for the status of the incoming flight from Paris(it turns around and goes back from Mumbai) and became alarmed when it kept showing "aircraft delayed due to technical reasons" - sound familiar? I tried calling AIr France’s numbers, but no one answered. Finally, after 2 hours, I got through to their airport number(by that I mean that someone actually answered!) and was told that the incoming flight had departed Paris for Mumbai but was then sent back to Paris for "technical reasons". So that night’s Mumbai-Paris flight was cancelled, and no, they could not help me get a booking on tomorrow night’s flight, that would be handled by reservations! Only one problem - the next day was Sunday and the reservations department in Mumbai was shut! Early Sunday morning, I called Air France in Paris and thankfully got through to someone who helped me get a confirmed booking on Sunday night’s flight. Of course, I had to call work and leave messages as to why I could not return to the office on Monday as scheduled but would have to delay to Tuesday.
To come to Sunday night’s flight - that was miserable as well. Not only was it full(overflow from Saturday night) but also left Mumbai 2 hours late due to "technical reasons", I am not kidding! The attitude of the Air France personnel in Mumbai leaves a lot to be desired - very unhelpful and behaving in general as if any problems are the fault of the passengers. Reaching Paris late, I made the JFK flight with all of 10 minutes to spare. Of course, on landing at JFK, I was told that my bags did not make it - perfect! I was told to go home and they would arrive on a later flight that day and would be sent home. I was also told that since I use TSA-approved locks, no damage would be done to the bags when they were opened by customs(standard procedure for unaccompanied baggage). Well, the bags finally reached home at midnight, and although no damage was done to the bags, I was dismayed to see that my locks were all missing! That just capped off a truly miserable experience all around.
I was so upset by the whole experience that for the first time in my life, I sent a letter of complaint to Air France in both New York and Mumbai. I got a letter a month later apologizing for the experience with a$100 voucher for future Air France travel(needless to say, that got tossed!) I would honestly say to avoid this airline, they appear to have aging aircraft with a lot of technical hassles, and very poor customer service in Mumbai(no one to answer the phone, no effort to re-book passengers, and snotty attitude to boot). You are better off going with other airlines, this was just the experience from hell.