Non-stop Air India flight from US to India: Economy Class experience

The aircraft for the main flight was a 17-year-old Boeing 777-300ER. It had the Start Alliance livery rather than the standard Air India livery.

BHPian Foxbat recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I just flew economy class from Newark (about 10 miles from NYC) to Lucknow with a stopover in New Delhi with Air India. After reading all the negative reviews, Air India was never going to be considered but the airline was offering the cheapest fare and that too a direct flight! In my dozens of trips between India and the US, I have never flown a direct flight so I thought I would take a risk. I have never flown AI on an international flight either.

AI 106 flight from Newark, NJ to New Delhi was non-stop and took about 12.5 hours (a little before the scheduled time) and the distance was about 12,000 km. The flight from New Delhi to Lucknow was just 45 minutes and 400 km.

The aircraft for the main flight was a 17-year-old Boeing 777-300ER Registration VT-ALJ named "Bihar". It had the Start Alliance livery rather than the standard Air India livery.

Check-in and security check was a breeze and was done within 15 minutes. I was traveling on a long weekend so I got to the airport 3 hours 40 minutes before departure and was pleasantly surprised by the experience. This is the fastest check-in and security check experience in my entire international traveling career including times when I had dedicated counters and lines for premium class of travel.

Boarding was a bit chaotic but the blame lies more with the passengers rather than the airline. No one wants to listen to instructions and just wants to get on board as quickly as possible. The seats are old and a bit dirty but they have huge legroom. I'm 5'11 and I had a pretty comfortable experience sitting for nearly 13 hours. The legroom is more than some US domestic airlines' "Business Class" and even some low-cost carrier's international Business Class.

I read in the reviews the airline doesn't provide any blankets, pillows, earphones, screens don't work etc. so I had come prepared and had brought my own. However none of this was true, everything was provided although the quality was a bit questionable. The earphones didn't fit to entertainment system but you could screen on your phone via closed Wi-Fi.

The AI crew was efficient, kind and well-trained. They have to put up with all types of nonsense from Indian passengers with a smile and I admire their calmness in stressful circumstances. My flight was delayed by 15 minutes because a passenger thought he could sit in an empty business-class seat because it was empty before take off! The air hostesses spent a considerable time asking him politely to go back to his seat before he finally agreed. If this was a US airline they would have promptly called the police and he would have been thrown off the flight. On a recent Delta flight (which was delayed by 18+ hours!) I was talking to an old lady next to me and we were wondering if the flight had been cleaned after so much delay. The big brawny air steward stood over us and said menacingly "Is there a problem here?"

The interior is pretty dated and needs a thorough cleaning and updating. The washrooms were clean however and I liked they provided magazines to read even to economy passengers. I managed to read India Today after probably more than a decade.

Two main meals and two snacks were served during the flight. Quality was decent and definitely better than what I have experienced on my recent travels. I recently travelled Business class on American Airlines NYC to SF (5+ hours flight) and was served chips and soda as lunch!

I am a collector of scale model aircraft and while on the flight I remembered I have a model of an Air India 777 and upon checking at home I realized it was of the exact same aircraft I was flying on. I had acquired this model 6+ years ago and posted it on the Scale Aircraft thread.

The aircraft earlier had the standard livery (as depicted by the model) but had later been painted the Star Alliance livery.

Massive GE GE90-115B engine over the Himalayas in Kashmir.

De-boarding was a bit chaotic but again this is more due to the passengers not listening to instructions rather than the crew. My New Delhi to Lucknow trip was uneventful and on time onboard a new A320 NEO.

Snacks were served even on the short 45-minute flight. Another great plus of AI is they send updates on WhatsApp about the flight status and when they receive your luggage which is very helpful.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. The direct flight from the US to India, decent food, great legroom and the cheapest fare are all huge plus points and I would definitely recommend AI on this route and try it again in the future.

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