This is the worst International airline I have taken ever. I flew with them the second time.
My experience didn’t change at all this time as well. The flight from SFO to Delhi departed 40 minutes past the scheduled time, though everything incl. boarding was done on time. When it was 30 minutes past the scheduled departure time, the captain informed us of the delay due to some commercial reasons. I wondered what stopped him from informing us of this earlier. They have the worst in-flight service compared to any other international airline. Most of the LCD screens are malfunctioned. Some didn’t work at all. The selection of movies shows etc. were so limited and mostly outdated. The screen resolution would remind of 90s experience.
There is no organization shown by the in-flight crew. Some snippets from the plane - People would stand by their seat for an hour or so every few hours; couple guys would stand in the pathway, chatting for 30-40 minutes. Not to mention that it created so much inconvenience for fellow passengers to go to restrooms; a group of 3-4 guys would stand by the kitchen and restrooms for couple hours and chat casually. Surprisingly, I saw a couple crew members joining them as well; Some people in their seat would never stop chatting, though it was a late night. The entire thing felt like a typical Indian fish market.
I had a connecting flight with Air India to Chennai. Since the SFO flight was running late, I inquired with the crew members about the connecting flight status. Some said it won’t wait for us and some said it would. After we landed in Delhi an hour past the scheduled time, I ran towards the connecting flight gate. The flight was still there but I wasn’t allowed to board it. I had 3 other folks who were going to Chennai. We were put on another flight that left 3.5 hours later. Of course, the drama didn’t end yet. This flight was scheduled to leave at 7.55 pm IST. It was 8.15 pm and there was no announcement on the status.
There were two AI staff members at the counters. After I inquired about the status, they made an announcement for the ongoing delay. We boarded the flight 45 minutes past the scheduled time. While we were getting off the plane at Chennai, one of the crew members falsely accused a passenger of keeping his carry-on bag in the restricted overhead compartment. Most of us saw a crew member put it there since we ran out of space. So unprofessional. My return flight from Delhi to SFO saw another hiccup. This time they delayed the flight because 7 passengers couldn’t come on time due to a delay in arrival from Mumbai AI flight.
Remember how I missed the domestic flight earlier and I was told that 300 passengers couldn’t wait so they had to leave without us. But they could delay the international flight for a delayed domestic flight. Such theatrics could only be seen with them. This is the first in my experience. They let down us again with horrible food(no seasoning and bland). Refreshments were barely edible. I would say it was the worst food offered on an international plane. The fish market was back in action. The in-flight entertainment deserved a black and white movie award.
I am no Aviation Industry expert. But I can promise one thing- Give me the operations job for 6 months and I will make sure that this airline meets the basic international norms.
Indian Govt. and airline industry should take a serious note of this and possibly stop their operations until it’s improved