Air India Reviews

So we have tried to call the staff at Delhi airport (**) and we got really bad service from them such as they try to not responding our phone call, not politely answer and unprofessional handle situation. They always transfers our case to other people' hand, we really feel disappoint with Air India. Right now we don't have any clothes left! They ask us to go back Delhi to get back our stuff without any compensation which is not our fault at all.

After finding new address, I reached to new address at 2.30 but counter was closed at 2 PM. I called Air India Airport number but no one was picked my call. So my ticket was cancelled. Next day, I went to Airport again and Mr. ** created new itineraries Y1J30 and YF8BW for June 7th and said that Mr. ** will take care of rest. Mr. ** made me to stand at counter for 4 hours and at end he came and said come tomorrow morning , there will be a lady who will take care everything. I woke early morning and reach to Airport at 10 AM. When I explained all story she started shouting at me I don’t know how to make international booking. How come Mr. ** told me my name? They have not provided me the training and asking me to take care everything. I will leave the company, I will go out to eat something, leave the PNR number and come after 3 days.

I will check if I can do anything. I said “Madam, my son has surgery and I was out of town.” She said it does not link who live or die for rescheduling ticket. She was very rude and left the office to eat something. After all these frustrations, I called help desk and requested them to take care of rescheduling and payment. After that everything done by customer care person. I had to pay $1199 USD. I was all set to fly on June 7 but my son blood report was not good. And Doctor forced us to stay one more week and suggested to fly on 13th or 14th. I could have gone to air India counter and explained everything but based on experience, I decided to call Customer care and have done the rescheduling on 14 June.

I made the payment of $1527 USD. I have attached both medical certificates. I would appreciate if you can review the certificates and refund my rescheduling charges that I had to paid ($1199 + $1527). I would also appreciate if you can take some action on Mr. ** and that Booking woman who didn’t respect and handled client properly. I thought to go to consumer forum to file a complaint but I came to know about this email where you can register complain. Let me know if you have any question. Thanks.

Aug 11 - sent emails to ** ( airport manager), **, and ** (requesting info on baggage compensation) - not a single response. Again called main # and spoke to floor manager (L and F baggage Mum), same response. Aug 12 - called and spoke to the Mumbai baggage center (it's actually a call center) and guess what - it's still in Mumbai and said will be shipped in 4-5 days! Nobody seems to know exactly where the baggage is OR when it is scheduled to be shipped - gross mismanagement. The call center person said the same happened with Aug 11th flight too - how ridiculous!

If hundreds of pieces of baggage are sitting in MUM then they should arrange a cargo flight, not piece by piece. We have some important stuff in the baggage (medication for my aging in-laws, documents etc). Feel sorry for tourists and other short term visitors. In spite of travelling by business class (with Priority Tags) this is the status! AI should have the basic courtesy to send an apology note to affected passengers and keep them updated. Not communicating with the passengers only shows the 'don't care' attitude. AI is not a private company, it's a govt. enterprise and the staff carelessness reflects a nation's reputation. At this point not even sure if we will ever get our stuff back.

On asking local police, they said that private taxis are not regulated and they cannot do anything about it. Anyways, I reached International Terminal T2 at least 45 minutes before departure. I had only cabin luggage. Air India staff just bluntly refused entry, even when security recommended them to let me go in. No cancellation was provided and in addition, they were smirking and mocking other passengers who had missed the flight on their face and said that they see such people everyday. I specially remember two people who had medical reasons for flight and Air India help staff were mocking them. Was quite a experience!

This was my first and of course last flight with Air India. They should not be in Star Alliance, it made me feel that it was a good Airline. Airport Security said that they are government employees and they don't care about these stuff and nothing can be done about them, I wonder how can a country's national carrier be so irresponsible. Also, ticket booked by them only was not reimbursed. I had a good impression of Mumbai Airport earlier, thank you Air India and all the airport taxi mafia at Mumbai Airport and all other insiders involved by whose efforts such flight experiences were made possible.

A ex-AI employee, who is now a NCP member, justified the strike saying on TV that few people losing money was not important. Now, today I lose luggage checked in Mumbai after customs. Land in Hyderabad and no luggage. There is also no one at the counter to talk to. All contact is only till 1730, which is worst than kindergarten schools. Don't know when they will close and save us this trouble.

Relevant details: My sister (Kavita) and I were traveling a single ticket issued by MileagePlus (Frequent flyer tickets) from United connecting from AI 101 to OS 34 (Vienna) and onto OS 561 to Zurich. We reached the check in desk well in time, however, the ground staff were rude and unhelpful. This behavior extended to the regular staff and the supervisor (who was actually worse). The main issue was that they wouldn't check the bags directly to Zurich, though the primary attraction of a Star Alliance ticket issued by any airline is that bags are SUPPOSED to be checked through to the final destination. United confirms this.

The galling part of the behavior of the supervisor comes from this statement made by a supervisor: "This is a United ticket, show us the baggage rules which require us to check the bags through." This, to a couple of 20 yr olds traveling alone for the first time (without their family). Firstly, the Star Alliance rules must have been clear to ground staff; secondly, this is no way to talk to any passenger (experienced or otherwise).

3) Someone at Chicago forgot to load bags.

They gave us a contact number for international baggage claim for which I am calling them but no body is picking the call. Lady picked call once and disconnected while saying that she don't have information and since then not picking the call. Customer service is worse in Air India. Don't know why we pay so much money for direct flights and end up being treated like beggars. Compare their services with other airlines and you would never come with Air India. While writing this complaint, I am still dialing their phone from last 2 hours but no one is bothered to at least respond to calls or email.

Finally after much begging the Air India airport agent agreed to talk to the United rep. They haggled for 20 minutes, and finally the United guy gave up and told me he will rebook me on the next day's flight (same flight). By this time, me having learned the lesson, flatly refused an Air India award ticket - finally United agreed to put me on a flight operated by United from EWR.

Lesson learned. I am surprised they let Air India into Star Alliance - woe to Star Alliance people for letting such worse airline into what is otherwise a good network. Also as an Indian, I feel ashamed India has to put up with a career that is in such sorry state - recently a friend's bag got torn and partly burned and the AI baggage people refused to own up any mistake... saying "You file a complaint form and we will get back to you." Poor guy has given up trying to follow up with them. Travel at your own risk!

It is now 2 months and still no official response from Air India! What is the purpose of Star Alliance and partner air services? Is there not a common computer system between member airlines to determine whether passengers are entitled to frequent flyer points? Why does it take months? Furthermore, Air India takes no responsibility between international and domestic flights. I will be flying again from Melbourne to Delhi in July. Originally the flight was booked on Wednesday 1st July, but because Air India had changed their frequency days to Melbourne, I was put onto a flight on 2nd July. The airline made no attempt to notify me. It was only by coincidence that I talked to my travel agent who notified me of this change. Problem was that I was due to fly out of Delhi to Calicut the next morning and thus I would miss my connecting flight. I therefore would need to change my Air India connecting flight from 2nd to 3rd July.

Air India refused to change my booking without penalty... the penalty being more than the ticket cost itself! This is the last time I fly with Air India... I will avoid them at all costs, and I would recommend the public also to avoid them! There is no customer service... they are truly pathetic and are not worthy of being a Star Alliance member airline.

I strongly recommend to avoid Air India flight at any cost. Opportunity lost is an opportunity gone, this will never be understood by a complacent institute like Air India. I think it is not the Make in India campaign that our government should run, instead we should run a campaign that aims to bring some discipline in Indian institutions.

The airport staff in Milan TOLD me that they have rebooked my flight from Delhi in the next available one which leaves at 5:00pm. But they DID NOT gave my boarding pass. They assured that I shall receive the boarding pass as soon as I land Delhi. This was a total lie. They never re-booked my flight, which I came to know when I reached Delhi. I was ill treated by airport staff members in Delhi Ms ** and Ms **. My parents were almost fainting with all they have to face at the airport and with the inhuman behavior of airline staff members. If you can avoid this cheater airline company, NEVER travel with this carrier. Otherwise, please be prepared to face the consequence.

At last I went to consumer forum to demand compensation. There they are providing false evidence that I have already received my 2 baggage and if at all I did not receive them, they would not be of much worth and thus be given compensation of maximum 450 Rs per kg. Till date I have not been given back my baggage all thanks to AIR INDIA and its incompetent management along with staff.

Once at check-in the agents seemed more interested in their own conversation They said we had to show boarding passes from the incoming flight. I replied they had all the information in their system. They told us to speak to security. At security the agent yelled at us and said to proceed. I emailed Air India numerous times and spoke to somebody in customer service. I was given numbers to call that weren't in service. I'm disgusted they can be in business.

Our biggest issue however was we called Air-India 4 times from Delhi on 23 March 2015 about jacket left on Flt 102 JFK/DEL. After being cut off, told to call another number three times after waiting each time; we decided to write an email instead on 23 March 03/23/2015. We got a form email saying Air India would reply. When we heard nothing more we wrote several more emails before we got a response 10 days later, asking us to provide eticket number which we did despite fact we had provided info previously to identify our flight, seat number etc.

We had to fly back to JFK on AI Flt 101 5 April 2015, some 14 days later on without our jacket! When we mentioned our issue to the Air India clerk at DEL she looked at us like we had two heads and ignored our concern! Several days after our return to JFK we were advised that our jacket was now in a Delhi Customs warehouse for our pickup!? Our home base is New York and there is no one there to pickup our jacket. Had we been notified in the 14 days from 3/23/2015, when we first notified Air India of the loss, to 4/4/2015, we could have picked it up in Delhi. Every other airline we know of would have either shipped this jacket back to our home or made it convenient for us to pick it up at our local airport. Air India handled our air carriage both ways so they’d be aware of our home airport.

Our request that they please do what is right and transfer our jacket either to JFK airport in New York USA or directly to our home was ignored despite the fact we copied in their CEO Rohit Nandan on our emails. More than a week and about a dozen emails after our return our jacket is still in India. About three weeks after our first notice Air India finally said they return our jacket to us but we'd have to pay customs warehouse fee of 270 INR (about $5 USD). When I worked as an airfreight claims manager some years ago, and we never, ever charged a customer to get their belongings back to them. Especially when we were told immediately that item was missing. Air India did not respond to our notice in a timely manner and that is why there is this fee- their fault. We need our jacket so we agreed.

The following points were noticed: No ground staff in assistance for single female passenger travelling through their carrier (Air India). No guidance after landing to Domestic airport and further assistance in guiding to the connecting flight. No co-operation in adjusting the passenger in other partner Airline and leaving the passenger in state of shock. The Flight for the same evening through Jet Airways - Mumbai to Aurangabad was booked by me coordinating between things without any help or support costing in additional of Rs.15,000. Now that the flight has been booked there is no activity to trace the passenger luggage and it is declared as lost!

Being unprofessional and unapologetic is one thing but stranding the passenger in a emotional state without any remedial action surprises the India representative carrier. As a Proud Indian resident I fail to understand that a situation that could have been managed by the ground staff and Duty Manager was left with a very regretful and angry feeling.

National Commission has considered the points under Section 4 of the Right of Information Act, 2005. What is the action required to sort the situation and handle customer service? Is there no preference to handling such situation when in question is a Aged or Female passenger. What is the end result damage has already been done? Is it not just about money here it is about being responsible for your actions!

Same incident happened when I was returning, AIR India employees was so rude stating “do whatever you want” and using abusive words which was not expected. I didn't understand if my booking was confirmed and they gave me the boarding passes then how they say that the booking is cancelled due to overbooking, I have seen overbooking in buses but in Airlines strange. I do have all the written documents with me if in case if court ask me to present I will do the needful.

My frequent flyer number is **. More than Rs 93979 deducted from my account. Ticket booked is from Port Blair IXZ to MAA and MAA to BOM. We have not received the confirmation of booking, but the deduction from my account is already done. Even the seats booked. I have already contacted customer care for 3-4 times, but they have not helped me. They told that, I will get a call from Air India Delhi office. Till now after 2 days no one has contacted me from AIR INDIA. I have not got reply from any of the agencies of Air India. Air India is holding nearly 1 Lakh rupees from my account from 2 days without giving any service or any response to me. I am helpless and planning to take strict action to this.

When I landed in Ahmedabad, I technically did not have a valid visa and was stopped by immigration. As stated by the officials at Ahmedabad airport, they do not have the capability to stamp any visitors for ETA visa at that location. That said, I was stranded at the Ahmedabad airport with my 4 year old. I was about 5 months pregnant at that time and was extremely sick after the 24 hour travel. After about spending 4 hours at the Ahmedabad airport and tremendous hassle/requests and paying about $100 additional fees, I was allowed to enter the city on a 3 day EVF visa. I was told to get an exit permit from the CPO office.

This was another big trouble. I spent almost 2 days (from my 15 day stay in India) at the police commissioner's office with my sick daughter to see what needed to be done. They asked for all sorts of documentation, paid ANOTHER approx. $200 fees, and made us go through a long process. Had to make multiple visits to the office to have the exit permit figured out. ALL THIS HASSLE DURING MY 15 DAY STAY IN INDIA BEING PREGNANT AND WITH A 4 YEAR OLD CHILD DESPITE HAVING THE VISA, JUST BECAUSE AIR INDIA DO NOT HAVE THEIR ETA VISA PROCESS FIGURED OUT WITH THE AIRPORT. Based on the information I got by the officials, all the other airlines DO make it a point to notify/check the travelers about the visa before they allow them to travel internally.

In addition, I was not the only one stranded at the Ahmedabad airport if you feel it was a single case. There were many such people and as per the airport officials there are such cases every day travelling by AIR INDIA ESPECIALLY and they were going to fine AIR INDIA/ Delhi airport for Rs. 1 lakh for their negligence. I had to pay for EVF visa and exit permit apart from paying for the ETA visa for myself and my daughter (about $300 apart from $220 visa fees for 2 people I already paid in advance in US total approx. $500).

Airline still CANNOT compensate for the tremendous trouble I went through in my pregnancy and with my young child in my short stay in the country. I will be escalating this case to the highest level possible given the difficulty/stress I had to go through in spite of having all legal documentation/visa because of lack of process/irresponsible officials at the airport. I am HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED at the treatment I received by the airline and the monetary loss I had to take even after paying the visa fees etc.

On the way back home some of other passengers called my mom that when they argued with them they were allowed to fly on the scheduled flight. All I understand is AI involuntarily bumped some passengers without even the passengers' knowledge. Not even offered accommodation/compensation who came from long distance to the airport. Am not sure who/where to complain. And don't even talk about their customer service... the worst customer service ever from the ground staff. Lack of politeness and respect, great attitude as if they are doing everything for free, asking question as if it is port of entry if you look innocent, no kindness toward the children... the list goes on.

I've been trying to reach Newark Airport with provided 973-242-0078 number with our property irregularity Report, but no one is picking up. And getting VM is full msg.?? No one is calling us and it's been a hell with this...No e-mail response either. Why can't we get our all bags? How come it takes so long? What's stopping you them bring back to our bags? Who will compensate us for all this pain and nonsense? Never Fly with Air India... No Service, they're just taking an advantage of consumers. Thanks.

In the hindsight, be warned that you will receive a better service from the lady attending the toilet than Air India staff.

As a customer, I checked in online 2 days earlier on the efficient SIA website which simultaneously allowed me to check into AI Mum-Goa so I assumed they were the same booking and the same ticket. I assumed this because nothing like this has ever happened to us on any other combination of airlines . So we carried 3 babies and bags to the domestic airport. Each of us was carrying one child and maneuvering a very rickety trolley up and down the empty check-in lane while a blank faced human stood ignoring us at the lonely counter.

There was no offer of help, no offer to move the maze to make our struggles easier, and no sign of any salutation. He only looked up when I had finally struggled my way to the front , he then glanced up and curtly said "Can I see your ticket?" His name is SUNIL ** and he proceeded to show us a glimpse of hell in the next hour while he calculated exactly how much money he could squeeze out of our family, claimed he was unable to waive off any weight, we apparently had no options and we had to pay 18000 rs or "take your bags and go see the manager if you want". My three year old girl fell at the counter and got a bleeding lip a minute before, but he thoughtfully raised his voice above the crying of three tired and disgusted babies to give us that pathetic suggestion and demanded we take her away.

The same suggestion was repeated to yet another irate customer moments later for suggesting that they open another counter to service the long line of passengers that had formed behind us. I really should mention that on my way through the empty check in maze, an Indigo porter came up to me and asked if he could help and if I was traveling on that airline. I told him I ardently wished I was. We have had the most disgusting experience and we haven't even boarded the flight yet!

Finally, after 4 painful hours it was time to board. After a detailed security check I was still detained at the gate as one security tag had fallen off. The guard made me wait aside like a criminal till the last passenger had boarded so they could empty my bag and make me re-pack it. I boarded the flight (after checking in and choosing my seats 2 days earlier) only to find that the air hostess has re-assigned my seat , away from my children, to the emergency exit with no apology, to another lady traveling with a 10 year old kid. The only explanation I got from this hostess was "They made a mess at the counter, I did it to save time, please store your handbag as you are not allowed to hold it, and take your seat." Once again, I have only my God to thank that I had my sister traveling with me and she was able to manage three kids alone for this journey.

As a family, we refrain from using Air India much as previously I did not have a good experience flying with your company. As my parents were travelling alone it was necessary for them to book a direct flight as they have difficulties in walking and we felt that using Air India would make it easier for them, as well as taking advantage of the luggage allowance. We had booked their tickets via an agent and had requested special assistance with a wheel chair. Upon check-in we were faced with the rather unprofessional and shocking attitude of Air India check-in staff. In the UK we thrive on providing excellent customer service in most companies.

However that does not seem to be the case with the representatives of Air India. The female member of staff who checked in my parents firstly did not display her name badge correctly so we were unable to find out her name. She also felt it was her place to make assumptions and discriminate against my mother due to her disability. Also the seating allocation had been mixed up and my parents were told they could not sit together, which was later resolved after much discussion. The staff member felt it was within her rights to say to my mother that she was capable of walking 5 minutes after a wheelchair was requested. She later then decided to make it worse by adding you don't really need a wheel chair you are only requesting it because it's free! As expected my parents were horrified and completely shocked by this and tried to challenge her on her assumption, only to be told that the staff member did not wish to argue with us. This in effect made an already stressful situation, ten times worse.

Once they had gone to board the flight, we felt at ease and returned home only to receive a phone call a few hours later by my father to tell us that the air craft had encountered a technical fault and had to emergency land in Budapest. Understandably this was the safest option in the interest of passenger safety and the right decision made by the pilot; however there was no comfort or reassurance given to the passengers to explain the situation which is unacceptable.

We were pleased that we had regular contact with my parents but obviously we were very concerned sending my parents alone and did not expect that they were in a place which was not expected. 5 hours had passed and no information was given to passengers as to what is happening. Please bear in mind that there were many elderly and child passengers traveling and none were offered any food until a passenger had to complain. It was only then that they were presented with an orange, yogurt and a croissant. My parents, both of whom are diabetic had to take their insulin which requires having a decent meal. My father then had to go to a coffee shop and purchase two coffees and two sandwiches at the cost of £15.

All passengers were given many false hopes and alternative false times of a replacement craft and had to wait until 5 am Budapest time to depart. In total the passengers were delayed by 13 hours with no adequate food, explanations or assistance provided and is by far the worse service we have ever encountered as frequent fliers.

My parents have now safely reached their destination but we are now left with covering the costs of our receivers whom had to stay the night in a hotel due to the airline arriving 13 hours late. Having spoken to my parents (who are now recovering from exhaustion) they have decided that they no longer wish to travel with Air India ever again.

The next day I met Ms Usha ** (manager on duty). She was kind enough to allow me to bypass the line (on my request) and had my bags checked in at the first class counter. This is the last time I fly this pathetic airline. I hope this review is read by one and all. I took this flight because it is a direct option but at this cost, it is not worth it. The ground staff are far from helpful and no one gives a damn about personal commitments which are at stake due to their lousy and greedy attitude.

Here, it must be noted that my co-passenger had spent the night at the Mumbai airport, having arrived from Kolkata the previous evening. Despite sitting right in front of the customer care desk all night, he had not been informed of any of these developments. In particular, we would like to express our deep dissatisfaction with the behavior of one Ms. Michelle. After much deliberation, she finally agreed to put us on a flight to Delhi and then on another one from there to Heathrow. Also, we had been given coupons to avail free breakfast at the airport owing to the delay but the cafe in charge of doing so had not been intimated. Hence, another round of harassment and waiting around as numerous calls were made to confirm whether in fact respectable international jet-setters were entitled to free breakfast or attempting to rip-off a paltry cafe.

Our entire travel schedule had been thrown into disarray. We had missed the last train to Liverpool for the 13th and had to spend the night at London and proceed to Liverpool the following day. The accommodation that had been booked at Liverpool for the night of the 13th was also lost. The loss we faced cannot be expressed in mere monetary terms (although we lost train tickets worth a total of 370 GBP due to repeated cancellations). Finally, it must be mentioned that the luggage that arrived from Kolkata was in shambles. The lock had been tampered with and the suitcase cannot be used anymore (loss of another INR 4000). Further, when we had complained about this at the customer desk during our return, the staff nonchalantly commented that this is not an unusual phenomenon! Needless to say, I am never travelling by Air India again. I sincerely hope they make amends to compensate for our losses.

And when asked, sure enough, none of the officials had any answers and in turn in their rude and unruly behaviour asked us to stay in the line and wait for our turn. As I was unsure of what was going on, I called my parents and asked them to stay on until I was sure, who were still waiting outside the airport for almost 2 hours now. By now we all started realizing that there was definitely a screw-up and this is the reason why the officials that two, hardly 3 of them catering some 100-200 people, had gone mute. So within seconds of their such behaviour, the so-called queue no longer existed, people started rushing in towards the 3 counters open to understand the situation, and in no time there was a chaos or in literal terms - a local fish market in front of the AI counters. I was a little lost, because I was travelling alone and I was in a fix, because either I could have taken care of my luggage or shoved it aside and somehow made my way to the counters through the crowd.

But it didn't take long for us to understand when the mum officials of AI finally broke their silence and told us how AI115 was overbooked and they won't be able to send us on that flight, and will have to accommodate us on another flight. What's surprising is that it took them almost 2.5 hours to tell us something they knew all along. They were just playing us passengers. So what came next was not at all surprising - the reactions of the passengers. They were loud screams and shouts and loud voices and people hooting 'hey hey Air India' from each and every side. And those AI officials still had the audacity to speak to us rudely and arrogantly. Anyway, somewhere around 06:45 am (mind you 06:50 am was the time of our actual flight), another official of AI came and asked the other officials to start issuing us the boarding passes for the next flight which was at 02:45 pm same day. Yes, this was a little relief, so yet again there was literally a mob attack at those counters, everyone rushing into get their boarding passes before they fill up that flight as well and we are left with nothing.

So I called my parents who were still waiting outside and asked them to leave now that I shall be getting booked on a new flight soon. But after all this, they refused to trust the airlines so soon and said they would wait until I have it in my hand. So I made my way somehow with my luggage through the crowd to a counter and asked her to issue me a boarding pass and informed her how I have a further connecting flight to Canada, only to realise that the 15 other people standing around me were also complaining about the same. And once again the AI supervisor sitting at the counter goes mum. For the next 30 mins. she kept taking our passports and tickets and said she is issuing us our boarding passes, and upon asking what about the connecting flight, she said she is working on it. I guess it was stupid on our part to trust them once again, thinking that they were honestly trying to figure out something for us.

Meanwhile, other passengers only travelling up to London were issued their boarding passes for 2:45 pm and were promised a hotel 'til then and meal vouchers (which they NEVER GOT and I saw them fight for it 'til the time I was at the airport). And here we were still standing at the counter in hope that we will get ours soon. So guess what happens next: at around 07:30 am (it's been 4 hours since we have been at the airport now) the supervisor who was apparently helping us starts explaining the situation to some new official, and that's when we understand that all this while she has been unable to find any connections for us since all Air Canada flights were fully booked and also how she was unable to contact any AC official. Oh, and why was she explaining all this to the new guy - because the shifts were changing.

As soon as we understood the whole situation, there was a fit of rage from all of us standing on the other side. And we pleaded her to stay on and leave once she is able to fix the situation because she knew what was going on better than anyone else, but she simply walked off. I just used the word plead but I don't understand why we had to beg these officials when WE are the passengers and have paid FULLY for these tickets, and its not like they are obliging us. Anyway this is how ** WAS THE CUSTOMER SERVICE OF AIR INDIA. Sure enough the new official was clueless and we were impatient, so on repeatedly questioning him, he snapped and started behaving in an unruly manner. Anyway soon enough, we realised that he was also USELESS like any other official there, and had failed to provide us any answers and kept us hanging for another hour.

So now it was 9 am, we have been at the airport for 5.5 hours with no answers, solutions, boarding passes, food/water being offered, and still victims of foul and impolite behaviour of the AI officials. Finally after 15 mins., a senior AI official walks in unaware of what was going on. On learning the situation he promised us that he will figure it out for us in the next 15 minutes. So we believed. And yes my parents were still waiting outside in the cold so I called them and informed that a senior is here and we might just get lucky now. So, now we are running back and forth with him from the ticketing counters to the AI counter, and sure enough it didn't take 15 mins., but good 45 mins. Yes it was 10 am and I had been at the airport for 6.5 hours hungry, thirsty, lost, mentally harassed, abused, and HELPLESS for the first time - I didn't know where to go, what to do.

I had tried raising my voice, tried to talk softly, tried to threaten that will report to social media; tried everything and nothing worked. Finally I broke down. I was tired, very tired and honestly did not know how long this could go on for had lost all hopes. And outside my parents were equally impatient, tired and cold. So finally around 10 am my dad who is an advocate - angry and frustrated - called me up and asked me to leave. AI had really tested our patience. And I had to be back in Canada asap because I had work to join. So after another 30 mins. of haggling with the senior official I learnt that he was unable to do anything. There were no connecting flights available up 'til the 14th January and that too he wasn't sure of whether we will get or not, and he refused to provide any further answers or help but a piece of paper saying that the passenger was offloaded due to overbooking, and if I want, I can complain basis this paper; but there is nothing more he could do.

Oh and cherry on top, while leaving the senior official of AI himself said that it was our mistake that we booked AI, and now that we did book we need to suffer because this was bound to happen. I was quite shocked at this statement. So after 7 hours of ruthless wait at the airport, and with my parents waiting outside the airport, we decided to leave. And because it was important for me to get back to Canada at the earliest because of my job, we had to book a one-way ticket at our own expense for the day after and this time made no mistake and booked my preferred airline, Jet Airways. This was my first time flying via AI and MOST DEFINITELY THE LAST. It was the biggest mistake that I could have ever made. The staff and the customer service was really bad, inefficient, had no empathy for their passengers, ruthless, arrogant and ignorant.

No one had any care for the time, money or feelings for their passengers and in turn made us feel that it was our mistake. I would honestly advise each and every one of you to think a 100 times before booking AI. It was a MAJOR MENTAL HARRASMENT. And I ended up spending SO MUCH MORE MONEY AND TIME, of which AI has no regret.

Finally after wasting 1.5hrs they registered my complaint. Next day I emailed them about exact loss I suffered - $700+ which included clothings, cosmetics, perfumes, electronics and even medicines. Finally after 30 days of repeated calls and 2 trips back to Amritsar Airport they sent me Rs7500 ($120) as compensation cheque with final advice that this is last thing they could do and rest I can do whatever I want. One advice I will give you - DO NOT FLY THRU AIR INDIA. SPEND FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS EXTRA AND TAKE SOME REPUTED AIRLINES!

If any Air India staff/employee is reading this then I would like to tell him/her that 90% of your staff is doing most pathetic job out there which is ruining reputation of genuine 10% as well. Get a life if you can and act like responsible people. I have no doubts after this for why everybody in Canada/US make fun of Air India! For my rest of life I won't fly thru Air India no matter how urgent the need is!!

Well, Air India made multiple changes to their Udaipur-Delhi flight causing us to check into our hotel at 9:30 that night!! No response from them to my communications on Facebook. When I asked for the name of Air India's GM (so I could write an email) they refused to give me his name or contact details etc.. Through my own diligence I have managed to track down names of execs at Air India, sent them e-mails and, of course, they bounce back!! Big thumbs down for this airline.

We landed into Delhi at around 06.00 and to my shock I found out that my suitcase has not arrived at Delhi Airport. I thought, how is this possible when all our suitcases were checked in together under my brother’s name? I was even more horrified to find out that an assistant at the airport had a list of all the baggage that did not arrive on the flight. She said that these baggages (18 in total) are still in London Heathrow and will not come until the next flight arrives into Delhi Airport. To my surprise there was unclaimed baggage everywhere at the airport and the assistant also said that this luggage is of people on the previous flight to ours that were left at London Heathrow which had to be put on our flight.

We went to report the suitcase missing/not arriving at Delhi Airport and gave them details of where to deliver the suitcase in Haridwar when it arrives (this was one of the options given to us). They said that they will contact us when my suitcase arrives and also provided us with a telephone number to ring just in case they do not ring. We tried contacting them on the phone number they gave us but there was nobody answering the phone or the phone was getting cut off. Then finally we got a phone call on Sunday 23rd November 2014 from a customer service person called Samir who said that my suitcase has gone to Amritsar Airport. This was even more shocking as we advised them to drop the luggage to Haridwar. We asked them to send the suitcase back to Delhi Airport as we were coming back to fly to Ahmedabad with Spice Jet on the 24th November 2014. We had no problems with that airline at all. All nice smiley faces.

The reason why we kept ringing the phone line no. was because all my medication was in the suitcase besides all my clothing. I ended up buying new clothes in Haridwar. I would like you to know that I suffer from epilepsy and also suffer from colitis. I have just finished a 10-week course of steroids and I stayed without my medication for 4 days in India which really is not acceptable. I was lucky that I was fine and nothing happened. But not receiving my luggage was incompetency on your behalf as your airline has no consideration for people's health or wellbeing.

Not only that, we travelled from Ahmedabad into Rajkot on the Friday 24th November 2014 by taxi. We stayed in Rajkot until Friday 28th November 2014. Then again to mine and my family’s luck we were flying with Air India on a domestic flight from Rajkot Airport to Mumbai Airport. Again we have issues. Issues about baggage allowance. We explained to them that we have a connecting flight from Mumbai back to London Heathrow and there were 4 of us together. We ended up paying 6,000 rupees in total. Air India staff really need to go on a customer service course. They treat people in a really horrible manner, they have no respect for anyone, this includes the managers as well who were very rude to my father in Rajkot. We came to India for a specific reason and should not have been treated in this manner. Our trip had become a disaster. We were mourning for our losses while still having issues with Air India's incompetency. We came back to England and found that my suitcase was broken.

I and him kept pleading to one of your floor supervisor or whosoever he was, named, Mr. Ashok **. This person is the most unprofessional person I have ever met in my life. He clearly told us on our face, "Don't ever fly with Air India again" and when the person with me told him that the just because of a couple of mins, the seat will go vacant and it would be a loss for Air India, Ashok said, "By purchasing a ticket don't think you are doing any favor to Air India".

I mean, if a passenger is late and you deny boarding, that may still be fine, but how can your company afford to have such impolite and unprofessional staff making such derogatory remarks to the passengers who choose to fly with you? I also met another guy thereafter who I thought may help me. This man's name was P J ** (that is the name I could catch). He was also not a lot better than Ashok **. He did not talk to me unprofessionally but while I kept trying to talk to him, all he did was ignore me and call his fellow employees and talk to them about all possible crap than listen to/help the passenger.

After few more minutes, he made a personal call from his cellphone and started talking about his personal family matters on the phone constantly abusing and using profane Hindi and Punjabi words. This all was happening on the floor right in front of the checking counters at Delhi Airport. I mean what kind of employees do you have? Do you think this type of people will leave a very positive impression on the passengers minds? Or does your company, just like your employee Ashok **, does not really care if a passenger will ever fly with you again?

Finally, somehow I met this gentleman Mr. Viresh **, who spoke to me with all empathy and concern. He tried helping me and got my ticket price adjusted in the next flight fare. God Bless him. Air India must try and bring more people like Mr. **, sack people like Ashok ** and warn those like P J ** and teach them how to behave. I had to pay a very hefty price for being just 2 mins late, but I would not ever prefer flying with Air India nor will I advise anyone to. AIR INDIA Has never responded to my complaints to this day even after a follow up message on their Facebook page. Speaks volumes of the unprofessionalism they are indulged in.

When I got to the flight desk the lady checked for availability but I felt there was no concern about what I was going through, but busy just talking and laughing among themselves with a member of staffs. Children behind the desk giving them preference first. Finally I was just given prices and then I went for the 19th. I waited more then 30 mins for ticket to be issued as they seemed busy doing their personal stuff and dealing with their own known people. At no time did any member of Air India staff feel any concern for the stress I was going through. I was just told to pay for another ticket. I had already paid £600+ and then another £517.75 I also had paid for my connecting travel from Delhi. If this was with any other airline I am 100% sure they would have offered a solution and I would have not had to pay over £1000 for such bad customer service.

I am very unhappy flying with Air India and will not be fly ever again with them and will never recommend to anyone. The only reason I booked Air India was because that was the only flight I could get on that date, and my parents are very old and they are asking for me to come and see them. My wife is flying out on Wednesday, unfortunately also with Air India. This is not the first time we have had bad experience with Air India. I hope you will take this matter very serious and come back to me as I was not happy paying for another flight when Air India could have been more accommodating. I have sent several email and to date still not had a positive reply back. Everybody keep passing me on to different people. Air India staff need training in customer service.

Regarding this matter I talk many times with Kathmandu office and specially I went to Delhi for this purpose to find out my baggage but I could not get any response till now. 22nd of September I went to Delhi to find out my baggage with Air India three days I stayed in Delhi. I talked in Delhi given below mobile no. more than 100 times and nobody given a proper reply.

Three days I was at Indian Airlines counter on arrival and the lady sitting on the counter her behavior is very bad. She is not ready to talk anyone and take any initiative to help me out. She was talking me like that I am her servant. The above no. I have given you can check the particulars dates that how many times I called and how many SMS I send to help me out. Nobody was to take the initiative to help me out to find my baggage. I am very disappointed with service of Air India. The guy I met in Delhi said they will pay my air ticket charges Kathmandu-Delhi-Kathmandu and my hotel stay of Three Nights. That Approximately 1 lakh NRS. I hope that you take this matter very seriously otherwise might be I have to file case in consumer court. SO I HOPE THAT YOU TAKE THE INITIATIVE AND ARRANGE TO DELIVER MY BAGGAGE.

The next morning I reached the Air India office and there were NO flights the same day. Then they asked me to come the next day and as such I had to cancel my meeting at Kolkata and also cancelled my next day's early morning flight. I had to make another ticket from Kolkata to Bangalore which cost me INR 11,539 as I had no choices left. Then on 18th Oct I boarded the plane which was again delayed by 15 mins but luckily I didn't miss my next flight from Kolkata to Bangalore. And the worst part is I have a Flying Returns Membership for Air India (Number: **) . So don't be a nonsense like me and enjoy other flights.

A couple of emails were sent to your email in France: d.gras@airindia.fr - NO reply of this day!!! My whole stay was without toilet kit nor any clothes! No indemnity was proposed regarding that claim! No reply to any of my numerous mails to Air India in India and France.

This flight was supposed to leave at 4 pm on 26 Oct from Delhi to Pune. I was like OK. Next day I reached the airport and I am told that the flight from Delhi is rescheduled for 6pm. I was like - what the hell? Again, I tolerated it and went ahead with their plan. When I went to collect my boarding pass on Delhi airport, I was told that the Delhi flight of 6 pm was overbooked and they were putting me on 7:15 pm flight without asking me again. It was ridiculous. I tried to reasonably argue but all in vain. At least I told him to please ensure that my luggage is transferred from the 6 pm flight to the 7:15 pm flight.

Finally I landed in Pune. My luggage was not there on the conveyer belt. I asked the officials. It had come from the 6 pm flight. Seriously? They did not transfer my luggage from the 6 pm flight to 7:15 flight. And after such a hectic and horrible day, I had to wait for another half an hour to get my luggage. This was such a nightmare! The travel experience sucked big time.

I waited in Delhi airport for 6 hours and the flight to Bahrain (Air India AI 941) took off at 7pm IST. I reached Bahrain at 8.30 pm (local time) and took a connecting flight from Bahrain at 12;30 am to CDG. This was through Gulf Airways, Flight No. GF 019. To my horror, my luggage did not reach CDG. The flight reached at 6:30 am CET but didn't carry my luggage. I have already lodged a complaint with Gulf Air at CDG airport on 12.09.2014 vide complaint No.**.

My all valuables including electronic devices and all types of garments and important official papers, medicines are inside the bag. I have been suffering a lot for not getting my misplaced baggage so far. I am stranded in a foreign country making frantic phone calls at least 20 times a day to either Gulf or Air India but they are not able to trace my luggage. They are harassing me by false call back promises and when you call the same no. after half an hour they never pick up the call.

I feel seriously ashamed that Air India being our national carrier is not giving any importance to the issue and harassing an Indian national. Please refer to below mail where Air India asked me to contact Paris finally. When I called Mr. ** from Air India in Paris airport, he told me he is not the right person and I shouldn't irritate him.

I can't explain how shocked I was. This incident is so serious that I've contacted a doctor to prevent an infection. I don't have to explain to you how dangerous eating unclean food, especially with a worm, is. The most shocking thing is that event happen in the national airline of India, member of Star Alliance, sharing flight with Swiss, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and United!

Now I'm in big trouble that I don't have any place to stay and I have to spend 10 hours at Airport and loss of 5281/- INR. I talk with other staff of Air India at Hyderabad Airport but nobody is interested to compensate their mistake. I like to make an escalation for this Misconduct, Inconvenience and Financial Loss I face. This is highly humiliating that I am using India's best airlines service and on name of trust and services, I'm facing Humiliation and Financial Loss. Take Necessary Action and Compensate the Loss I bear, else I'll take this matter to further escalation. Your authorities is having no right to make such malpractices in people.

I have tried Complaining, Yelling, Writing, but nothing seems to work with this People as from Down to Top, the Guys seem to be happy as long as they can get their Salary at the end of the Month. Their Service is the Worst, Their Air Hostesses and Pursers like they are badly in need of retirement. Most of them are too tired to carry themselves--forget about running Errands, the Food is the worst, the Ground Staff are Rude, and nothing good ever comes out of their mouths. In Contrary to the Other World airlines and the Local Carriers of India I would rate Air India on a Rating of 1 to 10----Would give this Airline a 1. If we are left with an Option----my family and friends will avoid this Airline altogether!!!!

Then suddenly at 2:30 AM we were told to go to a different gate since now our plane was at a different gate. Here we finally boarded the plane thinking we were ready to fly our 15 hour flight. But instead, without an explanation we were forced to sit IN the plane until 8:30 AM. At this time, we were told to get out of the plane and directed to exit the airport because now we were going to be transported to a hotel. We waited over an hour outside in 6 C just to get on a bus. It was so disorganized that only one bus came at a time for the 300 passengers waiting and everyone had to crowd at the bus door hoping that they would get on this time. It was a chaos because all the buses stopped at a different place and we were going from bus to bus trying to get on the bus. There was no priority given to the people with wheelchairs or kids.

Tired and sleepless, we were taken to a hotel that was 45 minutes away. Once we got to the hotel, there was more waiting for over an hour just to get a room. When explaining our frustration to the hotel clerk we were told, "Ma'am, the same thing has been going on for 15 days now." Not knowing when our flight would be or what would happen about our connecting flights, we went to our room. Finally, at 8:30 PM buses started coming again to take us back to the airport and again it was the same chaotic scene with everyone pushing each other to get on the bus in rain this time.

There were 3 people sitting on 2 people seats for 45 minutes to get to the airport. When we reached the airport, we were told that our connecting JetBlue flight from New York to Orlando would be taken care of. Upon our arrival to New York, we were just given a piece of paper stating that our Air India flight had been delayed and asked JetBlue to take care of it. Not knowing that this piece of paper had zero significance we changed terminal with our 10 bags and went to talk to JetBlue representative who told us that our flight had not been rebooked by Air India so we would have to repurchase all our tickets.

Not understanding what was going on, we went back to the Air India terminal and were told over and over that they couldn't do anything about it. At this time, with so much confusion and frustration we asked to talk to a manager. We stood there waiting for almost 3 hours just for the manager to come out and talk to us. When we explained our problem to the manager, he admitted that it is Air India's fault that we missed our connecting flight, but since they are not affiliated with JetBlue Airlines they cannot rebook our tickets. We asked him to help us out somehow with the airline that they were affiliated with but he stated that their responsibility was only to get us to New York and that the connecting flight was not their problem.

After shooting down our appeal so many times, we were forced to purchase whole another set of tickets with JetBlue for 5 passengers for $1595. Over and above to all the inconvenience, get no apology or any compensation. Air India gave us the worst experience. Even though our journey was delayed over 24 hours, they did not have any understanding towards their passengers and did not take responsibility for their mistakes.

They said its Air India's mistake as the seat should not have been allocated. By the time we reached Birmingham, I was in severe pain with swelling in my joints. And I had to be admitted in the hospital for another week in the UK. I called up the customer services to report this and they asked to submit a feedback online. I did that twice. No one has taken any notice of it. I called the customer service again. They gave me a telephone number for the Air India head office in London. I have been calling them for days now. No one is picking up. How pathetic can the services be?

So then I called the customer services team again and they gave an email ID. I hope someone will see this and get in touch with me. I need compensation and refund of the money I paid for the business class ticket. Better to fly in Emirates Economy services, 10 times better than Air India Business or First Class.

Air India staff at the Bangalore airport was very rude to me, made me run from counter to counter with no help.They were completely uncooperative, did not offer any accommodated seat to Delhi on their flight. I had to buy a fresh ticket there for 11,000 rupees. The flight delay was because of Air India and they did not inform the Go Air people (carrier) and I had to bear the brunt of all this.

My original flights had a gap of 4:30 hours between them and Goa to Bangalore is only 1 hour. I don't understand what my fault was? It was all Air India's fault. How can you delay a domestic flight for 2:30 hours and then lie to passengers that you have informed the further carriers? And the staff? Some guy called Mr. ** on Bangalore Air India staff was very rude, disrespectful and uncooperative. He told me do what you can do... call the police whatever!

When I boarded the flight, one old Flight Steward came and said, "Sir, we can't take this nine-kilogram bag on our flight. You need to check in this bag and pay $200." I said, "Why do I need to check in the bag when your representative at the check-in desk allowed this baggage?" Old steward replied in a rude tone, "Sir, we don't know what they do at the check-in counter; we can't take this bag on the flight." Then I said, "Can I speak to a manager?" Then he called a manager. He came and I told him the issue. He said, "Sir, if both the carry-on baggage have, in total, 16 kilograms, then we don't have any problem," and he allowed the baggage. So here, you see two different people telling two different things. By this, I understood the management is very poor and the Air India staff don't have manners to talk with a customer politely.

Second Scenario, when I reached Mumbai Airport: when I reached Mumbai Airport, the representative at the Air India desk said, "Sir, you have a layover of six hours here so you can stay. Air India provides free dinner at Curry's Kitchen upstairs," and he wrote Curry's Kitchen on my boarding pass. I headed to second check. After completing a second check at 8:30 PM, I went to this Curry's Kitchen and showed them the boarding pass for dinner. He said, "Sir, come after 9:30." After 9:30, I went again and asked for dinner. Then he said, "Sir, we don't have any information about this; you can speak to Air India staff."

Then I went to the Air India Maharaja Lounge, which is exactly next to Curry's Kitchen, and I spoke to a catering person who was sitting at the desk. With me, there were four other people with the same issue talking to him. The Air India rep said, "Sir, I am calling the upper management, but they are not answering me properly. I don't know what to answer you." Then I said, "This is how you treat your every customer who is spending $1,000 for a ticket?"

Then he called someone from the transfer staff. The old lady with spectacles came to sort out the issue. Her name was Uma, and I discussed the issue and asked her politely, "Are you sure if I go this time to Curry's Kitchen, they will not embarrass me by saying, 'Sir, we don't have any information regarding your meal?'" This is the interesting part: instead of apologizing, she yelled at me saying, "Keep your ** American Accent with you and go eat and run away." There were two other customers and an Air India rep who witnessed this rude response. Even the Air India rep said, "Sir, what can we do when our seniors behave like this?"

I wanted to complain about that old lady Uma who spoke to me rudely. I went to the Transfer Department, which is exactly opposite the Maharaja Lounge. That old lady Uma was standing there and I asked her, "Can I get your full name and designation?" Without answering me, she ran away, as she was sure that I was gonna complain.

I went back to the Maharaja Lounge and asked the rep, "What should I do to complain?" He said, "Sir, our seniors will come in an hour here. You can speak to them." I didn't understand what the ** she had to do with my American accent??? And instead of apologizing, they are rude. No one turned up to sort out my issue. I left for my next flight to Ahmedabad.

I strongly suggest you to never, ever travel through Air India, the worst flight and customer service I have ever seen in my entire life. This is the first time I traveled through Air India and faced these problems. I always take Etihad Flight for international travel, and I never had a single complaint or issue with them in the last seven years of USA-India travel.

AIR INDIA: WORST IS NOT THE WORD FOR YOU. Your service is pathetic, and your staff and management is not there to help customers but to ruin customers' happiness who travel in your flights for 19 hours. You gave him such a pain when he wanted to rest in his layover time. I will never travel through Air India ever, and will spread my experience about your rude and worst customer service to the world. At least a few people will be saved from your worst service. Call me at ** if any Air India upper management cares to speak to me in detail about the issue I mentioned.

At 9:30, his shift changed and the next person told her to come at 3 am. She requested them to manage but the staff named Vishwas told her, "It's your problem that you come alone and you're supposed to give your luggage at the international airport only." When I requested on the phone with him that she had traveled 15 hours and seeing her age and health problem to please help her on the grounds of humanity, in contrast of helping, he showed his anger and talked in absurd language and concluded by saying, "You people are not gratifying us by traveling through Air India."

After seeing his attitude for a simple request, I pledged that in the future neither Mother nor my family will travel by Air India. Seeing the gesture we get in foreign countries, it's very unfortunate that we're not getting 1% of that in our own country and that, too, is our own national carrier.

Furthermore, we were charged a criminal amount of money for "upgraded" seats. The agent told us there were no seats left in economy class the following day, only on a flight 4 days later. We were told that we were now in "premium economy, and had been upgraded from V class to H class." This is a flat out lie, as no such categories exist on Air India; there is either first class or economy. When we boarded the plane the following evening, we discovered we had all been booked in separate rows in the back of the plane. (So our original seats were 26 A/B/C and our "upgraded" seats were in random rows 44, 45 and 47?)

Everyone we encountered at the Delhi airport was impossibly rude. The staff ignored our guide's request for help several times to chat among themselves. As a side note, the aircraft (77W) is dated and in need of repair. The seats had little to no padding, and on our return flight, my father's in-flight media broke and one lavatory was out of order. They also don't re-stock toilet paper or provide soap. Pretty disgusting.

This is a disgusting experience. I had to plead that I have a sick child at home, and I have to return. The staff were pathetic, lying creeps. They told me that flight was downgraded (from 160 seater to 120 seater). Within half an hour, in front of me, the same bald, dark, short guy tells others that they filled the AI 608 seats with passengers stranded from 7pm flight. There was not even an apology offered by the staff. They were all the time trying to make passengers believe that it is passengers’ fault (that they reported late). Horrible experience.

How can they even tamper the web check-ins? Can they not adjust the 7pm passengers in other airlines (as they did to us in the end after making us wait for 2 hours)? Isn’t there common sense and passenger convenience never in mind for dumb, clueless, impolite staff? They were even gloating that they do this every day. Most pathetic experience. This is a national carrier with tax payers’ money drained every day into it. If they start cheating passengers, where will passengers go? In the name of cost cutting, they are giving curry puffs as snacks throughout the day. Then they are lying to valid ticket holders, making them go away and possibly selling the seats to someone else. Can anything be worse?

The end result was that my son who was to catch a KLM flight from Delhi to AMS departing at 02:30 on the 24th could not do so. I had to rebook him for the flight on the 25th at an additional cost of $435. We had to make arrangements with some friends at Amritsar for him to spend the night and he was rebooked by AI to depart from Amritsar on the 24th. I sent an email to AI recounting the whole experience but of course, I did not expect any reply or apology from them. Some customer service. Never again Air India.

For my July trip, I booked an electronic ticket through Air India’s website for the 02-July-2012 (details produced below), but mistakenly it was booked Mumbai to Hyderabad whereas I had to travel from Hyderabad to Mumbai. So when I reached Hyderabad Airport and realized the oversight, I approached the Air India counter who advised me to purchase a fresh ticket and keep this ticket on hold for my next visit. They further stated that the changes will be valid for one whole year. Accordingly, I changed the said ticket to 17th of August, but when I approached Mumbai Airport on the 17th of August and tried to book a ticket for Hyderabad, they simply stated that no seats could be available in this short time and I need to book in advance by calling the call center or the Hyderabad office, etc.

As such, now I am trying to call Air India’s call center from South Sudan for 15 minutes, but it was the same electronic message that your call is on hold. Then my wife called the call center numbers from India, but the call center executives are reluctant to give proper information and stated that they could do nothing about it and I should make the changes at the place where I modified the ticket, which is nothing but Hyderabad Airport. I don't understand the necessity - are Air India offices not linked with each other or what? How can I come to Hyderabad Airport and book again for Mumbai to Hyderabad? And why at the first place your Air India staff at Hyderabad Airport advised me to keep the ticket on hold (open)?

Advise me how I can proceed with using this ticket for my upcoming trip Mumbai to Hyderabad for the October 7th, 2012. Please mind that I will be reaching Mumbai Airport from South Sudan/Ethiopia on October 6th, 2012 early morning and advise accordingly so that I am confirmed of the booking, or else I have no option but to look for other airlines and skip Air India in all future travels. I am expecting a professional approach.

The fax machine was not on and after five attempts to send the fax, a good guy gave us his personal email address (Thanks to Mr. **) who received the letter. Now that we have the letter, it was given to the check-in staff who doesn't know how to process it and were trying to contact the supervisor/manager. Somehow that gets approved, but why was the hassle needed when you did not require any such letter when we entered the country with my grandson. They said that we need this authorization all along at Delhi and JFK, but everyone was so nice at both Delhi and JFK. I have been traveling with Air India for the past 30 years and never had someone discriminate us so much as it was done in my hometown Hyderabad. I hope that someone can do something and not let people like this defame my city and country.

We arrived upon the plane exhausted and sick. The food that was given to him was so spicy that he had stomach cramps, which caused him to have convulsions on the floor. He had to rest on the floor of the plane in major pain because no space was offered to him to stretch out on. The food was not what we had asked for, we were badly treated, and he almost had to go to the emergency room upon arrival in London. It has been four days now and he still has not recovered from this experience. We will never fly with this company again.

The fax machine was not on and after five attempts to send the fax, a good guy gave us his personal email address (thanks to Mr. **) to receive the letter. Now that we have the letter, it was given to the check-in staff who doesn't know how to process it and was trying to contact the supervisor/manager. Somehow that got approved, but why was the hassle needed when you did not require any such letter when we entered the country with my grandson? Then, they saw that a couple of my bags had a kg more. We asked how much it will cost and we will pay it (I have an AmEx card and they refund us any baggage charges). The staff at check-in said they don't know. Can you believe it? If they don't know then why are they sitting there?

In the meantime, another passenger (probably related to the check-in lady) gets his bag, which is 3 kg more than mine is and got the check-in done with no problem. This is crazy. I had to remove my items in the airport lobby with my grandson who is asking for a drink, wants to go to bathroom and no one seem to even ask if they can get something for him. I just can't believe it. If no good customer service, at least have some compassion for the little child. I am an Indian but have to regretfully say that I would rather take Emirates in the future. I hope that someone in Air India check on their check-in staff and avoid such future instances.

Second incident: I took my return on 27th 1415H and flight was delayed to 1440H. I met a friend in the Chennai Airport traveling on the same flight. So both of us checked in together and the officer in the counter asked me to pay for the extra weight of 25kgs. Both of us were having allowance of 60kg and total was 85kgs. After making payments, we got our boarding passes and were heading to immigration. We got a call from Air India ground staff asking us to proceed to Customs regarding one baggage which contains inverter which is about 37kgs. After customs clearance, the duty manager threatened me to take the luggage and asked me to leave. At the same time, my friend tried to explain to the manager what happened, and then he simply said both of us had to leave the airport after refunding the amount which I paid.

I couldn’t explain why and he didn’t allow me to say a single word. He was behaving in such a poor manner as a duty manager. I, as a master mariner, was surprised to see such unprofessional behavior toward the passenger. Both of us left the place under his rude, threatening behavior. Then I managed to book a flight the next day (the 28th at 1415H) for my friend and 29th 1415H for me, paying extra. Next day, my friend flew to Colombo and I arrived on 29th for 1415H on AI273 flight. The baggage which was rejected by the Air India duty manager, I was able to put as air cargo. Unfortunately, the same manager was on duty on the 29th. Flight was on time and all passengers were boarded. Inside the flight, I was uncomfortable due to insufficient A/C. After 10 minutes, the captain announced that there was some technical issue and will call for technician.

Forty five minutes later, he made an announcement to leave the aircraft as they were unable to rectify the problem. In about 15 minutes, all passengers were packed in two buses with no A/C. Later, all passengers were kept in port complex waiting with no clue. Then I asked the duty manager (the one who kicked me out two days back) for the new flight time. His answer was, “Do not disturb us and wait," while observing his usual threat. Around 1600H, another fight was ready for Colombo and all passengers boarded the fight. On the way to Colombo, the captain apologized to the passengers for the delay saying that previous flight was suffering some serious technical issues.

I strongly do not recommend flying Air India due to the following: They didn’t accept the fault during baggage weight check and refused to take after paying all extra charges and customs clearance; Poor unprofessional senior management; This kind of people we can find in coconut or fish market not as a manager of airline ground staff. Old flights do not have enough A/C, and had heavy noise and heavy vibration in cabin. Food served on board have expiry dates; and serious technical issues were noted after all was checked by the ground technical staff and the flight was just about to fly. They lack professional pre-departure checks. I have the video clips to prove all of the above.

5. Even after take-off of the flight, A/C was not running at all and after the passengers' escalation it was switched on. Are you guys not having A/C facility also in the flight?

If you are running under loss and try to do all these kinds of cost cutting, then why are you guys running the flight service internationally? I feel you guys do not have the capability to run the flight service domestically.

My wife tried asking two different passengers if they could switch seats. One was a single Indian guy, about 20-23 years traveling by himself. He refused and said he was not moving, imagine that. Another option was to ask a couple if they would sit separately and they also said no. My wife and 3 year old daughter had to sit separately in a flight for the duration of 15+hours! After hearing about this experience, I am disgusted at Air India and I am ashamed to be an Indian.

I asked the lady sitting on counter, that I had booked for four members (one infant). She checked twice in computer and then asked her senior for our concern. I handed over my one bag for luggage to that counter on my ticket and went to her senior. That gentleman also checked and verified and said that system is showing one ticket for Nishesh **. He advised me to go to Air India booking counter and tell the details. My wife and daughters were nervous because it was around 8:20 a.m.

I followed his advice and went to the counter. There Mr. ** was sitting at the the counter. I told the details. He said the same story, that only one ticket is booked. Then I asked the availability of the two tickets in same flight. He said, "You can purchase the tickets, but confirm from the boarding pass issuing counter". I ran to the row E and confirm. He said, "Do it immediately, otherwise he will not be able to give you the boarding pass".

Then I rushed to Mr. ** and purchased two tickets for my wife Urmils ** and Shaivya **. I paid Rs.13410 through my credit card. When I checked the itinerary receipt, it was wrongly made for next day i.e., 28 Dec. flight no AI 688 ( ticket no ** and **).

Now you can understand our situation. Mr. ** said you go immediately and take the boarding passes. I went to row no. E and met the same gentleman. By the time all four boarding passes were in his hand. I asked about the mess, then he noted down few details from my new purchased ticket receipt. I took the boarding passes and traveled to Mumbai. After reaching Mumbai, I started calling on different numbers, found with different sources. I dialed one number, **, and reached Mr. **. He was trying to understand me, but unfortunately, call was disconnected. Then, I again I called the same number. One lady picked the phone. She talked rudely and said she can not help me. Time was around 12:30 pm.

Now I moved for Nasik (as planned). After reaching Nasik, I found one number in hotel (**), I called that number. The person who lifted the phone was really nice. He understood the issue and tried to cancel my new tickets. But I do not know when the money will be returned in my credit card account.

Now just think about my agony and the pain. I was having a very good opinion of Air India. I request to the concerned authority. Please go into the details and compensate the appropriate amount as early as possible.

Next day I went to City office to pay the amount and customer service in city office told me to pay $279. I was surprised and I tried to explain the complete matter what happened and what was agreed. He call another office and confirmed the price of $279. 03-Feb-2012.

Immediately I called up the customer service and explain the complete details. Initially, he tried to convince me by saying that dollar price fluctuations, mistakes made by representative and so on and he provided me fare of $254. I requested the customer representative to check the call recorded between myself and customer representative whom I have talked last night. She came on call and agreed that she quoted $230. But on that day no conclusion. Again, I called on Monday, 06-Feb-2012, explain details to new customer service person. He told me price of $279 telling me the Taxes got increased, so I have to pay the $50 dollar difference i.e between $230 - $279.

I am sick of calling and looks like I am cheated by Air India. It does not matter of $50 but why should I suffer of someone else mistake or miscommunication. I would never changed my itinerary if I've been quoted $279. Right now, I am in situation that I have to pay $279 and cannot revert back my itinerary. Please let me know what can be done over here. Thanks.

So we decided to buy a ticket and the earliest flight was an Air India flight no.101 at 1:35 am (December 15). So we checked in almost 3 hours before the flight. After couple of hours the captain announced that the aircraft was going back to Delhi because of some mechanical problem in the aircraft. So, we came back to Delhi and waited until the airline arrange us another aircraft.

Next flight they arranged for us was actually at 9:30 in the morning but by the time we checked in again it was 11am and that was a direct flight from Delhi to JFK airport New York (15 hours). My question is, if there is some problem in the aircraft who is responsible for all this? We suffered on the airport for so many hours with the two young kids who still drinks milk from the bottle. This is not fair with us at all. I am looking forward to get a justice either refund or credit.

Today Monday Dec 19, I spoke with the Air India agent at 416-776-3930/31 and she passed me over to some guy who apparently was on his way to the start of his shift and asked me to call him back, which asked for his number, he said he rather take mine down and would call me back in 5 mins, this was at 10:00 and now it is 12:15 and no callback received. I called again and it went to their VM with a recording that they open until 3 pm. They have a horrible customer service and thief staff working.

I have spoken to Heer, and all she said was she will not be able to do the rescheduling, since the server is down. When asked for any other workaround, she said she doesn't know. Now, is that a passenger's mistake that the server is not available for 2 days? This is completely ridiculous, and I wanted to complain to someone in this regard. What will happen if we try to reschedule later, and the flights are not available? Who is questionable here? They have irresponsible staff and no information of the issue they are facing. I will never ever book my flights again with Air India.

The behavior of one of the staff members was very rude. She was introduced as a staff supervisor and she was totally unwilling to help in the situation even when I told her I have email confirmation (with the assigned seat number) about the return flight. No one wanted to take responsibility of the situation and no one showed willingness to help. The airport staff started blaming their call center agents and their call center started saying that they cannot help anymore and kept telling me to talk to the duty manager.

I had to speak to the duty manager and wait until the very last moment before they assigned a seat to my father. The boarding had already begun by then and my father had to rush to the gate. The Air India service made our day really miserable before a long journey. It was a mental exploitation.

I thought the bad service ended with the assignment of the seat but in fact it did not. Air India made my dad gate-check the carry-on bag. Since it was in such a rush my father was only able to take out some valuable items out of it before checking it in at the gate. When he reached the final destination, he was not able to find the gate-checked carry-on bag that had a number of other valuable items. So Air India made the overall journey even more miserable when they lost our luggage containing the valuables. I also noticed there were other passengers who were in the same boat, which means they were given confirmation about the flight and they were told at the airport their ticket is canceled. So it clearly appeared to me as a bad business practice.

I sincerely and truly urge agencies like Better Business Bureau (BBB) to take appropriate and strict action against Air India as soon as possible so that other passengers are not treated miserably by them in future. Such situations are absolutely not acceptable with international flights when the passengers: (a) paid over $1,200 for the fare. (b) has a long journey ahead of them. I appreciate support in this situation!

I will never use it for my family again. They have bad customer service.

I booked two tickets for my sister's wedding but she got had accident in India and due to surgeries and all, we had to cancel the wedding. I shoot an email through Air India site and someone forwarded me an email stating that "your problem (email) has been sent to higher authority". And the person to whom it was forwarded to was not an Air India person at all. (Imagine working as a customer service person and not knowing the person where I should forward respective complaint or issue.) Then I shoot an email back regarding this and followed up many times but I never get a reply.

I contacted through phone and was told to "contact your agent and they will do their job".

My agent is no longer helpful for any concern to ask for higher authority and just said to cancel the ticket. (We think we should not be paying $600 to cancel the ticket; rather if that can be used to family member who is really in need.)

Basically, this process took me about 25 days. And after all these, I end up wasting my time and not getting any consideration and losing money.

It's like we don't care once you book ticket and we have your money--Air India approach.

At the time of purchase, Air India confirmed that two hours was more than sufficient time to get from one plane to the next at the Mumbai Airport. We told Air India that we had connecting flights (seven hours later) from Singapore to Jakarta, Indonesia and that we were rushing to get to a big family event. At Indore, we checked in straight through to Singapore. The flight was delayed by more than two hours.

We told the manager at the Indore Airport that we have a connecting flight to Singapore, and that almost seven hours after reaching Singapore, we have a connecting flight to Jakarta, Indonesia. She said that the flights from Indore to Mumbai are always late and that once the flight reaches Mumbai (due to air traffic congestion), the flights circle the airport for a minimum of 20-30 minutes up to 1.5 hours.

Then, we showed her the ticket. She confirmed that it was a ticket with a connecting flight, not two separate tickets. She also said that this delay with the same flight connections happens all the time with people trying to fly directly from Indore to Singapore. She had said that she told Air India headquarters in Mumbai at least one month prior to stop selling such itineraries. To make a horrible story short, the flight to Mumbai was delayed.

In Mumbai, we were treated like dirt and asked to wait for seven to eight hours in an non-air-conditioned, uncomfortable area and were not provided with water or anything to eat or drink. Because the flight to Singapore was missed, we missed our connecting flight to Jakarta, Indonesia and missed the train from Jakarta to Yogyakarta, both of which were prepaid. We were forced to spend one night in Singapore (unplanned expense), one night in Jakarta (unplanned expense), buy new air tickets from Singapore to Jakarta (unplanned expense) and buy air tickets from Jakarta to Yogyakarta (unplanned expense). Also, we had to eat, spend money on taxis to and from airport, etc.--all of which were unplanned expenses.

Because of all this, we had to spend nearly $2,000 extra, and this was with us being very conscientious about not spending too much money, staying in cheap hotels and taking the cheapest flights. We have receipts for all expenses. This doesn't cover the stress or inconvenience of last minute searching for hotel rooms (it was the Good Friday holiday weekend), finding a reasonably priced flight, finding a hotel late at night in Jakarta (which is a bit unsafe), taking taxis at night, etc. It is utterly disgusting that Air India could sell a ticket like this knowing 100% and full well that there is no way we would ever make it to Singapore on that ticket.

Our luggage allowance was 46 kg per person and we had more than that. Sam, an Air India representative, was dealing with this issue. He had asked us on numerous occasions to reduce the luggage in an extremely rude way. At one point, he told my sister that the UK economy is so bad that they are sending you back to where you come from. Is this the kind of attitude your staff is taught? My sister and her friend cried and I couldn't handle this. He was teasing by passing remarks like such attitude won't help much to negotiate. I became angry at this point and was rude as well.

I am truly disappointed with the service you have provided. The delay of flight was without any apology, the inattentive service provided by your staff (plus no smiling), and even unprofessional safety guide. The waiter said to me that, “Why are you asking for the water, when just now I served juice?” and et cetera.

Hell service, rude waiter and unprofessional.

My date of travel was 26/07/2011; flight travel number was A1 346, and it was from Chennai to Singapore.

1. In the US to Delhi flight (AI102), the sound of the TV/movie in my row of seats was not functioning. Nobody in that row could watch a movie or play a song. Imagine the dilemma and the frustration when you board a long flight home, and you have to end up sitting looking at the flight ceiling. I am not sure how it went unchecked and not fixed by the ground staffs before the flight took off.

Secondly, after we were able to get hold of some staff, we were made to wait for hours without informing us if there is a clear process or agenda in place. Then we were made to wait in the immigration (3 hrs - it was 11 PM when we got out of immigration) because there were no Air India staffs with us; when they were with us they did not know what to do.

While most of the passengers got their luggage and were waiting in the bus, some of us were still looking for our luggage. When finally we found them (some registered lost baggage complains), we found out that the bus had left for the hotel without taking us. We then had to book a Toyota van, and go to the hotel on our own. By the time we reached the (wrong) hotel, Centaur, it was 3 AM.

Fourthly, we left for the airport at 4:30 AM to catch the 6:30 AM domestic flight to Kolkata. In the airport, we found out that we are not allowed to enter because we did not have any ticket/boarding pass and et cetera. The Air India counters had no clue what we were talking about; then began a round of shouting at the Air India boarding pass counter. The Air India staffs there also did not have any idea about our so called reservation. After a hell lot of cries and shouts, and pleading we got our tickets few minutes before boarding. Also, I have to mention that there were a lot of issues about allowing such large checked in luggage (from international flights).

So, what I got from the above is that, Air India does not own responsibility, and does not know how to carry them to satisfy customers. The highlight of this whole issue is that they were nowhere to be found when needed for mistakes that can only be attributed to them and to us passengers (or maybe we did make a fault by taking Air India flight). The passengers had to spend grueling hours from 4:30 PM on 14th November until 2 AM on the 15th of November before we were taken to a hotel.

I can prove to you that there is a refund for partially used ticket. Firstly, Air India reservation confirmed to me when I cancelled my ticket that I will receive a partial refund for the unused part of the ticket. That is why they referred me to ecommerce@airindia.in. Secondly, in the company website, there are clear and legal statements confirming that partially utilized tickets are refundable. Let me guide you as to how to find the statements. Please see below:

1. Go to your website http://**

2. Click on FAQs or http://**

3. Please see the very first Q&A, and I have quoted it below:

1. How do I apply for a ticket refund?

A. You can submit a ticket for refund, which is either partially utilized or totally unutilized, within one year after expiry of the validity of the ticket. The refund would however be processed subject to the fare restrictions of the ticket. If the payment has been done in cash, a check with the refund amount is sent to the address as specified by the passenger. If the payment has been made by credit/debit card, then the amount is credited back to the same credit card account. The refund cannot be processed to an alternate card account. The transfer to any other card account if required would have to be requested by you to your card issuing bank only. If the payment is made by direct debit-bank transfer, the amount would be credited back to the same bank account that it was debited from.

After the above proof, I am not sure how is my request being denied? Is there no authority in Air India, who can ensure that their valued passengers are taken care of in the most professional way, as their counterparts do in other airlines?

Thank you and regards.

They purchased their Air India tickets from an agency called Exotic Journeys in Chicago and also had purchased travel insurance. My parents flew business class with family of seven. Also, my sister who traveled with her had to purchase new tickets because of fog in Delhi and Air India could not confirm her on any date until further notice. Since we have travel insurance, all the insurance company is requesting is a letter stating that the flights were cancelled because of fog on Jan 3, 2010.

I have been trying to get to this for the last nine months through your Chicago office requesting them in person, by mail and phone calls. No cooperation is given to us from your general manager Jude ** at the Chicago office. We have a lot of money at stake and the insurance company is willing to work with us as long as we can provide them with letter stating the reason for flight cancellation. Chicago office informed us that the refund for return tickets was given to Exotic Journey. When we contacted Exotic Journey/Raju ** he stated Air India did no such thing.

We have been at this for a long time now so please help us. I am sending you all the unused ticket numbers for inquiry. Please work on this ASAP so the insurance company can close their file.

To my surprise, when I reached home and opened my bag, I was shocked to find that my valuable collection of American coins worth $500 were stolen. My medicine bottles were opened and my sealed envelopes were torn. I was totally pissed off and called the Air India customer care. But they were not readily willing to help me; instead, they were blaming me for the fault. That was totally a bizarre situation. I was confused to see the airplane people who totally cheated and blamed me for their own faults. I am not sure whom to contact as the airline itself is not helping me in this situation. So I thought that Consumer Affairs may help me in this regard.

I started pushing hard then just 30 minutes before flight time, he gave my boarding card then I came to know this guy was covering up his mistake, that actually he fed the wrong information at the first instance, and also he didn't give me a baggage tag and I have not seen him checking my baggage. So I asked him the reason, then he was telling me he would check my baggage. In the meantime, I can board the flight. So I boarded the flight and then made a complaint against Ajit ** regarding my baggage then the flight staff responded well and got my baggage loaded and a tag number was written with pen on my boarding card. The flight staff had also logged in their departure log book the irregularity of the airport staff and manager.

Whole episode lasted for 3 hours. I was getting harassed for 3 hours for their own mistakes. When I reached home in Dallas, I found out that fruit biscuits which I bought for my kids were missing from my baggage. Thank God nothing expensive was there in my baggage. I requested Air India's higher official to look into the matter. I am afraid there is some kind of scandal going on where passengers are getting harassed and the intention is to get bribe.

As of now, I still have not received my bags and even after repeated calls to 773-686-1435 (only voice-mail available) and sending emails, there has been no response from Air India.

She was unable to actually contact anyone in Delhi, either by phone or email. As of this week, she said that she had turned the problem over to her supervisor but I have not heard from anyone and the phone does not pick up anymore and the voice mail on it is full. I would like to either get the bag (preferable) or put in a claim for it. I have posted this complaint on ** and notified the Consumer Affairs Department.

I came to know about this change from one of my friend and then I started changing this ticket as I always wanted direct flight for my parents (passengers traveling). The passengers traveling on this (PNR: H6TZM) were old passengers and wheelchair was booked for them. One of the passenger was suffering the paralysis and can not walk even 100 feet at a stretch. I called Air India's Customer Service Department (1800 223 777) and they confirmed that the passengers don't have to change the flight in Delhi and the same flight will go to Mumbai.

I also called the Air India office in New York (570 Lexington Avenue 15th floor New York, NY 10022 - Phone: 212-407-1300). They confirmed the same that passengers don't have to even get down from the flight. So I did not change the flight and trusted the Air India staff. But in actuality, they had to change the flight in Delhi and the worst part was that no one provided even a wheelchair for them. They had to walk to another terminal to catch the flight from Delhi to Mumbai. My dad was suffering from paralysis and he can not walk long distances, but he had to crawl to another terminal which took almost 1 hour just to reach another terminal. He suffered medical illness after the travel. Now, I want to sue against Air India. I want to sue against Air India Staff in Delhi as well as Air India Customer Care Service Staff. I called them on USA Toll Free Number (1800 223 777) and contacted Air India office in New York.

Do I need to file a complaint in both the courts in India and USA?

Looks like Air India sells the open tickets at a lesser price and they know customer has to return, so they ask for the extra money and legally they will upgrade the economy class. This is purely a money making scam or cheating a customer! I have no idea what needs to be done over here and how to escalate this issue. I really appreciate if someone takes the action and try to prevent this type of moves done by the Airline company or any other airline. I have been asked by Air India customer representative to pay $161 for each passenger to upgrade from the available economy class and as days money will be more, so reserve as early as possible.

My mother is 60 yrs old and also she was flying first time. It means anybody can enter in India without the proper identification (good news for terrorists). We tried 5 days to get confirmation and every day we were calling 5 times a day and at least half an hour for each call. We still did not get the confirmation until the last day before the flight was scheduled. We had to pay penalty for something that we should not have to, but after all, this is Indian government. What can I say more about the Indian government? The bottom line is that I will never ever fly with Air India and I’ll make sure that I will do everything in my power to stop people flying with Air India. I mean it. We had to pay $125 penalty and my mother had to travel 3 times from Baroda to Ahmedabad just to catch the flight which is at least $300 total for fares.

A return call from AI stated that your tickets are confirmed (when I checked, they booked totally different timings). On the fifth call, tickets are available now without $30.00 extra but you cannot change it because your tickets are already confirmed. On my sixth call, this time I called the NY office. In ticketing department, the person I talked to seemed like a very seasoned fellow on how to handle an unsatisfied customer; with answers like live with it, this is what we booked and you have to take it, and he gave me a suggestion, as you have 15 hours layover at NY, why don't you call your friend or family so they can take you for site seeing (what a **, Like I stayed in the US for 5 months and didn't visit NY). So summary of above discussion, never fly Air India. "Always fly India, never fly Air India." Proud to be Indian, but not Air Indian (TATA was better owner back then).

Rarely you will find a rep who talks to you kindly and uses words like please and thank you. The tone of their voices are so rude, sometimes you think they are going to beat you up over the phone! Often you will find them being abusive, asking you questions like why did you buy open tickets? Sometimes you almost hear them saying why are you calling me? When I called Air India, they could not confirm my tickets.

When I did, I was told that all documentation had arrived; however, the lady helping me was not able to give me any more information. I was told that I would receive a call or email by someone at Air India. She also said that she did not make a final decision on the refund but that everything required on my part was complete. All I needed to do was to wait, and if I did not get my money refunded, at the very least, I would receive credit from the airline that would allow me to fly on a future date.

I want to know why after multiple emails I have never received a response. I've also called every number Air India provides, only to be hung up on, transferred to a recording, or told they do not handle my specific case. Since then when I have contacted the Air India office in New York City (the only number where I was once able to receive some kind of information), I am told to call the 1-800 customer support line. All they do is refer me back to the NYC office, saying that they cannot help me. So everywhere I turn, I get sent back to the place I just came from. What can I do? How many years must pass in order for me to get some help or true customer support?

They placed me in hotel and rebooked me to Northwest Airlines for next day. However, NorthWest Airlines charged me
$100 for baggage weight. Baggage is with in the limits of Air India. However, they did not match limits of NW Airlines.
Had Air India flight came on time, I would have flown by American Airlines whose baggage limits are same as Air India.

So I requested Air India to reimburse that $100. They refused to do so.

Also in one of the checked in baggage, some one opened hard disk and opened screws. But they did not place them
back properly. Due to which I lost some parts and portion of it is broken. I contacted Air India as soon as I arrived.

By the time I ended up with right department and got connected, it was 10 days. I filed written claim.

They rejected stating that it is more than 7 days. Typically no one answers phone from Air India even if I leave messages.

I left neumerous messages at 773 686 1435. No one responds back. 312 782 8761 is somewhat better. But lady who picks up says, she cannot do any thing, as its upto Airport manager to deal with things.

I came across Air India through a travel agent (E Bookers) who offered me a very good business class tariff which, after having investigated all the options and facilities, I decided to accept.

I boarded the plane and sat in my allotted seat, and it was then that small alarm bells started ringing. I pushed, pulled, pressed, and lifted, but there was something clearly missing; where was the personal TV screen. It was nowhere to be found. I asked one of the cabin crew where it was, or if I could get a DVD player clearly and specifically advertised in the Air India magazine. It was then that the alarm bells became clanging gongs! They didnt exist! All I could see was one 14 TV sitting high above the cabin that would have required passengers to use powerful binoculars to detect any specific programme.

I asked further and was told that the plane was rented from Korean Airways and no one, even first class, had any on-board entertainment.

This was ridiculous. I had paid almost 1000 for my business ticket with Air India and I could have received better entertainment with Virgin, British Airways, or any other carrier, for a fraction of that price sitting in Economy. There was no warning or indication that this was the case prior to the flight, and had I know, I certainly would have reverted to my original plan of flying with BA. The agent at the time of booking further reassured me that the plane was fully equipped with multi channel video facilities.

Members of staff on board were extremely helpful and sympathetic and offered headed paper, envelopes and details of the company address. They were obviously as embarrassed as I was annoyed. This situation was repeated on the return trip back to London.

I have written twice to Air India requesting 50% of the fees to be reimbursed. A total of 495.

REGARDING FLIGHT DELAY:

We were delayed from a scheduled Saturday 7:30am flight to a Monday 3:00am final escape from New Delhi. The time in between was spent being fed broken promises, sitting on the plane, sitting at gates and being carted twice in dirty busses to a dirty hotel (my room had wet mould stains growing in the corner of the room). We were never even really allowed to rest in the hotel the two times were were carted over there.

The first visit to the dirty hotel was from mid afternoon to around 11pm and no one could sleep from the lack of information and fear of missing a flight. The rest of the first night was spent in security lines, gates and sitting on an airplane. The second visit to the dirty hotel was no better.

REGARDING SAFETY:

second+ time?

AIR INDIA did not reject this plane, the pilot did!!!

This scares me. I believe this should be investigated further and it certainly begs for more maintenance scrutiny of incoming flights from AIR INDIA. I shudder to think of what damage a landing plane with faulty brakes could do on a busy airport runway.

Medicine ran out and so wasn't taken on time, 1 day of work was missed, days of no sleep left me exhaused for at least a week after returning.