I flew from Bangalore to Delhi in the Indian Airlines flight IC804 on 23-Nov-2005.
I had booked the ticket through Trade Wings and the ticket cost was about Rs.4000/-. This was my first flight experience and I enjoyed it very well.
To start with, the flight was delayed by 15 minutes and we got an announcement for
the same while waiting at the hall after collecting the boarding pass and the security check. After some time there was another announcement for the passengers to board the plane via Gate 2. One surprising thing was that, while the Jet Airways and Kingfisher staff stood at the Gates and guided their respective passengers to their aircrafts, there was no one from the Indian Airlines to take care of their passengers. They can improve on this aspect and can be a little more helpful. Anyway, I followed the other passengers and reached the aircraft.
The plane, in which I went, was an Airbus A320. I found the leg room to be
ok and was comfortably seated near the emergency window.
Then, when the flight was about to depart, we heard the announcements/instructions from the Captain and the Cabin crew. After that, there was a demonstration of the safety procedures and the flight took off.
We were initially served some chocolates. This was followed by a Fruit Drink (like Frooty). At around 7.30 AM, we were served breakfast. This consisted of fruit salad, upma, 2 vadas, sambar, bun, an orange jelly/jam, curd etc. The upma, vadas and the sambar were hot when served. After the breakfast, tea and coffee were served.
The flight maintained its time and we reached Delhi by 9 AM. (its scheduled arrival at Delhi was 8.45 AM and it was late by 15 min since it started late by 15 min). But I found at the Delhi airport that other airlines like Jet and Sahara had also many flights delayed on the same day.
Overall, I found the cabin crew to be polite and helpful. When I fly in the future, I will definitely explore the IA option and would fly with them if I manage to get tickets at a low cost.