Air India Reviews

About 8 years ago, I vowed never to fly with this lousy, greedy and penny-pinching airline. Their seats are broken, service is very poor and food is horrible! Not going to mention about the dirtiness of restrooms because it is basically the poor etiquette of ** travelers. The plane had very bad smell also. Their fares are very high in spite of such poor conditions of their aircrafts. DO NOT PUT YOUR LIFE AT RISK IN THE NAME OF PATRIOTISM FOR INDIA. The owners are very unpatriotic and have no regards to human safety!!!

I would recommend everybody to never use Air India again unless you can not avoid it. Here is the background for that advice: I’m a United Airlines Platinum member, and a Star Alliance Gold member. I bought a fully refundable business class return ticket from Delhi to Kathmandu. January 13th I had a chance to fly into Kathmandu another way, so I called Air India to ask how I could change the return ticket to a oneway KTM – DEL. They told me to cancel the return ticket and buy a new business class ticket one way – And they assured me that I would get all the cost of the return ticket ($1,400) refunded. So, with all of the above in mind, you would think everything was good. However, today 5 months later I have not received a penny from Air India.

I have booked flights for next month with @airindia from Washington to Hyderabad and had a very disappointing experience. Here's what happened: #AirIndia #TravelExperience. I have booked the flight and done seat selections as I am travelling with my family/kids. However, they have changed the flight schedule from Washington to Delhi and I am going to miss the connecting flight to Hyderabad now. So, I called them and requested for an alternative. They managed to get ticket in the next flight to Hyderabad with no confirmed seats.

1. I recently flew @airindia from Toronto to Chennai and had a very disappointing experience. Here's what happened: #AirIndia #TravelExperience 2. I paid extra to reserve a specific seat, expecting more comfort for the long-haul flight. But the seat turned out to be non-reclining — extremely uncomfortable. #FlightIssues #TravelFail 3. I informed the flight attendant mid-flight. She acknowledged the issue but said I should contact customer service after landing. #CustomerService 4. When I did, customer service told me they "checked with the crew" and found no supporting evidence — basically dismissing my complaint. #PoorService #Disappointed

Booked business class with Air India from Mumbai to Toronto via Delhi, most of business class seats are broken, or partial functional, suffered with 7 months old, Air India does not understand priority check in for business class and with kids passengers, had to wait for boarding in line with economy passengers, All entertainment system is broken, none of screen are functional, wondering why still they offer headphones, can't fly with Air India in future.

After privatization last year, the service has improved tremendously. It was actually comparable to Qatar airlines, we flew business class from Delhi to Chicago. The flight attendants were polite and welcoming. The service was so good it could be compared to Qatar airlines service. Food was delicious. Loved the hot towels given in the beginning and in the end of the travel. The smoothie and the buttermilk were delicious.

This is the worst airline. Most mismanaged and has the worst staff. Yet to see such irresponsible workers. They have misplaced my nephew's baggage. It had to be delivered at Delhi airport from USA. They have sent it to Baroda. He will be taking off soon and still he does not have his luggage.

I had a business class ticket on AI 187 from Delhi to Toronto on 3rd March 2025. My seat number was 8A and at the last minute at the gate I was told that my seat was not working and was told to sign a consent form and was told I would get a link and then a refund. I have got a photo of the consent form and boarding pass which I am attaching with this complaint. The person I dealt with at the gate was Neha (Duty Officer) and Mantasha (Supervisor- I think). They were not helpful. I should have been advised before so that I would have changed my date and flown on another day but I had no choice. I called for the manager but he did not come. I had no choice but to sign. I was told there were many seats in business class that were not working. I entered the aircraft and Business class in charge, I think his name was Abhishek came to meet me and he said sorry and that nothing could be done since the aircraft was full.

First of all don’t even deserve a single star. The flight and the customer service is so poor at Delhi airport front desk the duty manger Jaswinder don’t know how to talk. I missed my flight from Amritsar to Delhi by I reached Delhi by car to take my next flight from Delhi to Toronto but the front desk don’t let me in. They said, "You can’t fly on this ticket you have to buy new one for 1 lakh and 13 thousand." They shout at customers.

Worst, pathetic, unsanitary and unpunctual airlines. Food served was rotten, cold and airlines staff needs to treated like royals. Customers have to self serve. Beware to use washroom earlier because later there won’t be any toilet paper. Infotainment never worked both ways and hence keep on staring the broken screens. Take some extra bandage if needed to treat cuts and bruises from sharp broken plastic corners and seats. 80s corded remotes never worked and USB ports are taped for aesthetic.

We flew AI from Raipur on Jan 3rd and had connecting flight for Air France to JFK. The flight AI 2798 got delayed at Raipur because of Fog in Delhi. the 8:20 pm flight flew at 11 pm and could not land in Delhi until 2 pm. After several request to AI staff in Raipur we were told that someone will be with a placard in Delhi and will assist us to go through security and immigration so we could take the connecting flight. When we landed no one was there. We ran though immigration and security to Gate 12 to learn that our AF flight got cancelled. Horrible service by AI staff.

Air India is using old planes on the Chicago to Delhi non-stop route, and so far, I haven't seen any news about interior upgrades for the Delhi-Chicago route. I flew Air India on November 7, and it was a very old plane. The seat entertainment system wasn't working on either leg of the trip (both from Chicago to Delhi and from Delhi to Chicago). What does Air India expect people to do during such a long flight? Half of the USB ports for cell phone charging also didn't work. The only reason I'm giving one star is because the hospitality was good. I am planning a trip to India in March 2025 and I am looking for other options so I can have a good experience during the flight.

While going from SFO - BOM the flight was new and good. Coming back from DEL - SFO, it was the old, dirty, broken seats aircraft. The crew have 2 uniforms, one in blue and the other in Red. The crew in Red give you warm feeling but the ones in blue look at you like you are making them do chores if you even ask for a glass of water. Not sure what's going on there.

I would give it 0 stars if I can. The most horrible customer experience for online booking cancellation. I had made the booking with Air India website during beginning of the year. Due to personal reasons, I had to cancel the booking. Their website is the the worst when it comes to booking cancellation. I had to make a call to the support center. The representative mentioned that the refund will be issued within 7-10 business days but never heard back from them in that timeline. I had to call back after 10-12 days and they said it's still under process.

I booked a fully refundable Air India ticket from Vizag to IAD for $7000. I contacted customer care to cancel the ticket within the allowed timeframe, but due to a technical error, the cancellation was not processed. I've been waiting for my refund, and after several months of reevaluation, I received only $200, which appears to be the amount deducted for cancellation charges. However, this was refunded as part of the total amount, which is incorrect. During my interactions with multiple customer care agents, they confirmed they could see the notes about my cancellation request and even mentioned verifying the call logs to process my full refund. I have a recording of the call as well. Now, when I reach out again, they are claiming that the case is closed and cannot connect me to the back-end team. Has anyone else experienced such fraudulent behavior with Air India?

If you can, avoid this airlines at all costs. I went to the airport 3 hours in advance & the check in took about 2 hours. They kept changing my lines and then said my visa was not valid to the USA, because they were looking at the wrong page the whole time. The staff was non communicative and honestly the worst.

I would not fly with Air India again, I took a flight from Newark to New Delhi and it was horrible, the sitting where my wife and I sat were broken and extremely uncomfortable. On our flight back to the U.S. I decided to upgrade my seats paying an extra $100 dollars for each seat, the day I arrived at the airport they put my wife and I in seats we had not purchased and were similar to the ones on the first flight. The attendants told me they could not do anything about my seats, when I arrived back in the U.S. I asked for a refund. Basically, I have been asking for a refund of $200 for the past 6 months, the airline always responds with some excuse and has told me 2 different times that my bank accounts don't work, plus they won't even let me know that my bank accounts supposedly "don't work", they only do it to keep me in the process of just not giving me my money. What a horrible airline, garbage airline!

On 30 Jan 2024, we were travelling from DEL to DXB. Once all passengers were boarded, our flight was delayed for more than 4 hours. The flight crew did not communicate and completely ignored our queries. I contacted the airlines to claim the minimum compensation for flight delay under Air Passenger Protection Regulations. They refused to comply with the regulations and rejected my request. We will do our best to NOT fly with Air India anymore.

With my experience I would highly recommend if you want your journey to pleasant, please don't book Air India Flight due to below reasons: 100% flight delay/Cancellation. No compensation. Unfriendly Air India Staff and will not listen to you at all. Flight interior seats are broken, screens not working, urine smell around the cabins etc.... Please avoid AIR INDIA … If you still want to travel AIR INDIA better remember you will waste your money and regret later….

Hyd to Atl via AirIndia - Aug 2024. Worst experience. JFK to ATL connection is broken by Airindia staff and missed my flight with 2 kids. Provided a different flight (12 hrs in New York) from Newark. Both AirIndia flights screen didn’t work. Seat doesn’t recline (at least the little it’s supposed to). No help from Staff to fix it. No refund option. Customer care number is only auto-response, no actual person response. Very expensive. New flight from Newark also got deboarded due to tire issues and another 1hr delay. Worst experience with Air India. I was hoping TATA’s would save Air India. Now I wonder if they made it worse. God save them. Don’t fly Air India until this changes. Not recommended.

This was the worst flight ever.

Very bad experience at check-in/bag drop area on 29th July for JFK to Mumbai flight. I reached at 11:15 AM when boarding was already started and flight was for 11:55 AM but check-in counter didn’t allow me to drop bag even though I was already had online boarding pass. Person lied to me that boarding is closed and will not allow me to go. When I asked my option for next flight then they didn’t entertain and asked me to go to ticketing counter. They didn’t do anything even after 20 minutes waiting in queue then called on phone. They told me no-show and ended up buying new ticket for next day. My PNR OEMI7R. I have boarded again after 24 hours on next day flight and could see that gate closes 20 minutes before departure. AI manager lied to me and wasted my full ticket price.

I was traveling to New Delhi for my father's funeral. My stay in New Delhi had been very stressful due to my father's death. I had been sleep deprived. On my way back to USA, after checking in on July 24 in business class, flight 103, I fell sleep in the business lounge and missed my flight by few minutes. When I arrived at the gate, it was closed, although the plane was still there. I begged to ground staff to let me in but they were very rude and unhelpful. They would not listen to me at all. There were several flights leaving for USA at that time. I asked them if they could help me get on another flight. They showed total apathy. They instead started the deboarding process. They also cancelled my ticket.

I flew Air India from SF to Delhi with a connection to Bangalore in 2022. The flight was delayed more than 10 hours. I live an hour away from airport so me and my 2 kids (4yr old and 9 yr old) came back home before going back to airport. In addition to that, flight was super old, unfriendly staff and bad food quality. Upon reaching Delhi none of the air india staff had a clue about the connecting flight. After a lot of chaos and me yelling on the clueless air India folks they finally decided to help me. Half way to the Air india boarding gate, the guy named Rahul didn't wanted to help me. When no one else came to replace he had to unwillingly help me and my two little kids to board the plane. Even after all of this, the shameless staff never shied away from asking for tip. Worst experience ever.

Worst airlines ever. They changed the connecting flight whilst I was mid air in an international flight, after issuing the boarding pass. Had me waiting in the airport for more than 12 hours with no food or water provided. Customer service is infinitely negative.

The Supervisor “Tizyzu” was an excellent guy and his team is very customer service oriented. Great maturity for his age and very Customer oriented. Fabulous crew and team. The whole experience in SFO airport was awesome.

We were waiting at the boarding gate at Delhi for 4 hours and no one checked our visa to Canada. They showed up just before the flight and we almost lost our flight waiting for approval since visa was on an old passport. The flight was pathetic. Food terrible, no choice for continental or gluten free food. In flight system didn't work for a 14.5 hours flight including the route. We didn't know where we were. There was no wheelchairs at Canada. My husband is a heart patient 77 years old. The airport staff was very arrogant too. Were served half cup of coffee and juice. Nothing in between too.

Have a plans to book a travel to Delhi, it’s challenging for me to overcome reviews here. But will give a shot under the impression that Mr. Tata has done wonderful turn around in the past, So give chance one time!

Air India is an extremely awful airline. Long queue at the check in counters. In fact shift change happened at peak time and counters were unmanned for 10 mins. When it was pointed out for the slow process, the person at payment counter had the audacity to say that is how it happens in India. Wow...Tata group should pull up their socks else whoever flies once in air india they never will fly with them again...I for one and all my family members will never put foot in air india flight again.

Nothing changed, same service, same staff, same harassment. I don’t think it will be change. Doesn’t matter who owns it. This is my second time in Air India. 1st time I travel I decided not to travel with Air India. But I thought now it’s different. But not at all … still Mera Bharat Mahan.