I flew EWR - CDG - EWR in March 07, booked through Expedia. I was quite worried about what might befall us after reading the reviews not only here but elsewhere. Security at AI is more stringent than most other airlines(similar to El Al’s), which is fine by me. The flight out to Paris was on time with the exception of some ground delays at Newark that were clearly not the fault of AI, and we arrived essentially on time.
The video did not work, and all of the audio stations were Indian(I was prepared for both, and brought my iPod, so I didn’t care). The food was fine(yes, Indian - it is AI and anyone travelling AI expecting beef is just being silly). Legroom was adequate even in coach/economy, equivalent to most long haul 777s. Cabin crew was efficient if a bit brusque(my drink sweated onto the tray table and the attendant basically tossed a napkin at me to clean it up). Return flight was better - left and arrived on time, video worked, and food was, again, fine if you like curry.
AI generally has more young children flying, and they had already been on the plane from Delhi and were burned out - therefore, I HIGHLY recommend noise-cancelling headphones(use the money you saved on the airfare and buy some good ones). One TIP, for those of you(like me) who prefer to just use carry-on bags for short trips: while the ground crew in Newark allowed us to carry on our(slightly) overweight bags, the AI folks in Paris refused to allow us to bring them back in the cabin, so we had to check them.
So, the word to the wise is to either be very sure that the bag is within the limit(8 kg) or be ready to check it on the return(which was a pain and added an hour to our trip back in Newark, retrieving our bag from baggage claim). Overall, I’d fly AI again, but would not expect it be luxurious.