Especially the 787's which are over 10 years old, what are they going to replace them with? The same aircraft? The math was a lot better for fuel efficiency replacing A340's with 787's but unless we see crazy innovation there's no need to. I have never questioned retrofitting AIs B788s, especially ...
Jump to postTotally agree with you. I think people are not familiar with refurbed aircraft. I just flew in an ancient UA 757 that had been refurbished - you can barely tell (it is usually the toilet that gives it away). also DL refurbed their 764’s - they are great now. US airlines runt heir planes to the grou...
Jump to postPre clearance is not the win people should be looking for. Instead of spending the money on that (which really doesn’t do much), money should be spent to improve US Visa processing out of India. Also the Indian govt should be pressing countries to allow the transit of Indian pax visa free. [Off-top...
Jump to postIt's been more than 7 years since I've transited through DEL to and from CCU to NA destinations, and while I didn't face onerous requirements then, there seem to be plenty of horror stories going around both on this and the AI thread. One of India's leading English-language dailies has an article [H...
Jump to postLooks like Singapore CCCS gave conditional approval to the AI + UK merger: [Reuters]
Cross-posted [Air India News and Discussion 2024]
Looks like Singapore CCCS gave conditional approval to Air India + Vistara merger: [Reuters]
May AI adopt the service standards of UK.
Cross-posted [India Aviation - 2024]
BLR does have relatively high yields but a lot of that is to/from the USA. Most US cities fall outside viable range for even the A35K so my guess is we’ll only see non stops to SFO and LHR at most. A non daily service to SEA is possible but not sure how that would work with AA’s hub. 1. I believe A...
Jump to postInteresting that ORD is closer to SFO than DFW is to ORD, even though the Indian population numbers are basically the same. I am not questioning the numbers, but it's hard to believe there is that much more demand from ORD vs DFW. ORD had Indian diaspora for quite some time. The catchment area for ...
Jump to postThis data is pretty dated, no? I would not be surprised if DFW has already passed Chicago over the last 5 years. I'm pretty sure https://data.census.gov already has the raw numbers from the latest census, I'm just so unfamiliar with the site to be able to bring out the latest numbers. Having said t...
Jump to postGiven that they didn't pick IAH which is a *A hub, I can only hazard a guess that AI is either looking to make a cross-alliance (see link) side deal with AA or banking on an adequate O&D traffic between DEL and DFW. Two things: 1. DFW has significantly higher traffic to India than IAH. In fact,...
Jump to postThe first look at the new hard product looks good: https://livefromalounge.com/air-india-a350-first-look/ . I especially love the design of the J-class blanket. It might be a good idea for AI to get a merch store going, otherwise I'm pretty sure teacups and salt-and-pepper shakers will keep dropping...
Jump to postTrying to understand your reasoning for why they should retire the 77Ws in the fleet - is it because of the belief that maintenance hasn't been done properly on the fleet? Haven’t TATA management publicly shared though they will refurb the 77W and first is due out in 6months? https://www.airindia.c...
Jump to post1. While the frame in question was retired early - I doubt that it has anything to do with operating in a hot and dusty environment considering Etihad still operates with the 777s that are older than A6-ETR (example - A6-ETA). I believe EY's decision to retire them has more to do with the fact that...
Jump to postDoes anyone have any idea how these India<>USA flights perform financially? I am thinking the yields can't be great. Same kind of question, but domestically, how does AI cost structure compare with 6E? Business Standard had some revenue numbers from 5 years back, I don't know if those numbers trans...
Jump to postI think they will just extend their leases. It will be too messy for both AI to deroster them: they're a great hard product, best that AI has ever had with rave passenger reviews, and for DL/SQ to introduce them back to their fleet. If their leases end they would be headed for scrapyard probably. T...
Jump to postThey used to operate HYD ORD jon stop , 1x Weekly and at the same time 2x weekly BLR SFO. But HYD ORD non stop didn't work out and was stopped in 6 months or so. Hence they resumed by increasing BLR SFO 3x weekly (after stopping it for a few months). I stand corrected. The problem is AI has committ...
Jump to postRumored details of AI’s DEL-DFW and DEL-LAX. Article says 5X DEL-DFW and 4X DEL-LAX https://simpleflying.com/air-india-delhi-dallas-los-angeles-details-emerge/ Question for people in the know. The article says DEL-DFW will be operated by Delta’s 77L. Can Delta operate its current schedule of the DL...
Jump to postPlaneboy17 wrote:Just curious if ORD-HYD has a chance of coming back?
Wonder why they are still delivering frames in the old livery one would assume at this point there committed to the newbranding ? Presumably because the ex-DL 77Ls and ex-SQ 77Ws are on short-term leases and would be returned once AI starts inducting their 359s from 2025. What will be interesting t...
Jump to postI think it’s more to do with Air India just being Air India. They also revised their A32X order - the new breakdown looks to give them a much better balance of planes than the original. No one seriously expected a 6 frame sub-fleet to exist, I think the question everybody had was what would happen ...
Jump to postBOM - LAX not possible on the A350. Perhaps it is possible from DEL. Not even flying over Russia? SQ operates two SIN-LAX-SIN non-stops using A359 everyday, that clocks in at 7621 nm on GCMap. From personal experience, these are not the ULR frames used on SIN-NYC routes. If we consider BOM-KBL-LAX ...
Jump to postTo devmapper: Obviously you have emotional attachment to Indian metal. You have not pointed out any factual statement how AI or Jet ensured some specific advantage. I did a quick look at AAI traffic. #’s. Airports with highest traffic include likes of Surat, Gauhati, Bhopal, Patna and others. An ev...
Jump to postTo Vadodara - the "problem" is that no major country in the world doesn't balance low fares with local airline growth and nonstop connectivity. You will notice no one on net is against expanding BA's or LH's bilaterals or adding city pairs. The ME3 want to dump seats in BOM/DEL/BLR (which...
Jump to postvadodara wrote:In the meantime if likes of EK, EY and QR subsidize Indian growth, where is the problem?
“Obviously, Essar Steel judgement is not only impairing value for secured lenders but has allowed claims of operational creditors that were above what the resolution professional had admitted," he said. “Now, secured lenders are on the same footing as unsecured creditors, operational creditors...
Jump to postWhy would Indian passengers at BLR, MAA, BOM, Pune etc take a flight to CCU to get to Vietnam? Depends on whether 6E provides a connection to HAN via CCU at an attractive price point. A detour via CCU from BLR/MAA would be around 10-12% longer which translates into an extra 15-20 minute flight time...
Jump to postSJC is a breeze compared to the trek that is SFO (it's a pain!!!) especially from the South Bay where a size-able chunk of AI's customer base resides. As you have suggested if they can parther with AS here for feed from up & down the west coast, it will be game on. The extra cost of setting up ...
Jump to postSigh, some part of me wants AI to try giving UA the finger and codesharing with AS and B6. Shift one of the SFO flights to SJC and codeshare with AS to major West Coast airports. Shut down the IAD flight in favor of a second daily DEL-JFK and funnel passengers through B6 codeshares up and down the E...
Jump to postYet another article that highlights the gross mismanagement of Air India under the previous government https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/grounding-the-maharaja-how-upa-clipped-air-indias-wings/1605836/ But but according to some AI would have not gone anywhere if they had bought 10 A343s. But...
Jump to postThis hybrid model is scary. One of the issue with Jet in the last few years was was that they had an identity crisis for domestic operations. Were they FSC or were they no frills service wearing the designer gown of FSC. -R Well, 9W tried to be everything to everyone. They wanted to be a FSC for pr...
Jump to postBLR still has comparatively has far fewer int'l seats than the big two Indian airports , and is even lesser than MAA as per the last data. Heck, till a year back or so, even COK had more int'l seats than BLR. So your data goes on to prove nothing. Also, if BLR airport authorities go on harping abou...
Jump to post:confused: why would the unions care? If the route is profitable, why would the unions care if they have to spend a day in a hotel in a large Indian city? Those are just alternative facts from a parallel universe. Best avoided. :rotfl: well, other commenters indicate there might be a grain of truth...
Jump to postThat's what I was pondering over too. Why would LF, AF, KL union have a say in what city there is a business case to fly to? -R Unfortunately for them, India is a place they don't want to fly. Union mgmt negotiations are the single biggest reason why EU legacies couldn't expand in India in the past...
Jump to postYet when well-run foriegn flag carriers come and eat your lunch in BLR certain posters on this board whine and cry as to how anti-Air India the Bangaloreans are !! Honestly, I am not even sure why you made this rather hysterical comment. :stirthepot: I can't speak for others, including @dtw2hyd, I ...
Jump to postdevmapper wrote:For comparison, some companies pay US3 to block upto 50 J class seats daily between their critical business centers.
There is no NA-BLR ULH flight yet, all the current flights are 1-2 stops and that means fuel burn is significantly less than a non-stop BOM-NA or DEL-NA. It also means less reserve crews for time outs. In spite of that, the fares are high so yield is definitely high. I meant a hypothetical NA-BLR n...
Jump to postAlso, Bengaluru has the highest yields for any airport in India to the Unites States. This has been stated on the record by their airport authority. The last-minute travel demand to Bengaluru is also pretty high. On an average fares to BLR from anywhere in USA are more expensive than other cities i...
Jump to postOMG. They cannot stop spending other people's money. How are they not making a good profit in this environment? Fares are still elevated. International fares will be elevated longer thanks to AI getting the Lion's share of 9W rights and limited bilaterals have raised fares. AI is structured in a wa...
Jump to postDoes anyone know if AI non stop from DEL-DFW on charts anytime soon? I see AI has closed down BOM-JFK from June freeing up 773's. Is this an indication that they are planning to deploy it on a new route to USA? I think they decided to free up this 77W to deploy on BOM-LHR to fill in lost 9W capacit...
Jump to postIs there any chance of a LAX to India direct flight by a US carrier? If not, why not? It is the second largest airport in the US, the largest on the US west coast and is a hub for AA, UA and Delta. Why has Air India not targeted LAX? AI had announced DEL-LAX starting October 2017 and I believe it e...
Jump to postYou need to realise that nearly all DEL-EU/US flights have to nearly overfly BOM/STV now. There is little point for having someone fly HYD-DEL or BOM-DEL only to come back south to Maharashtra to reach Chicago/JFK. The fact that AI can make US East Coast from BOM but not DEL is telling of this. At ...
Jump to postHonestly if AI can make BOM-US nonstop I don't know what's stopping then from just shifting DEL-JFK/ORD to BOM-JFK/ORD. There should still be some O/D demand from BOM and now BOM is the best positioned Indian airport for Europe/Africa/NA. UA is going to have a lot of trouble on this route if AI is ...
Jump to postI think you're underestimating the chance of PHL working. How do you know people that currently drive up to EWR/JFK today don't live closer to PHL, like my Indian parents in Central Jersey (EWR is technically closer, but PHL is way closer than JFK). Anecdotal evidence: I have close friends living i...
Jump to postUA benefits significantly from their AI codeshare. Not to hijack a thread about AA, but UA and AI don't have codeshare. If they did, AI would be flying double daily flights to EWR and ORD and daily flights to IAD. Re: AA to India, the safest origin would probably be JFK, the most profitable would p...
Jump to postAI and other Indian carriers are already getting the benefit of a government they control not giving EK and EY additional city pairs while letting QR do whatever they want in India. It would be even more punitive if AI did this, but my guess is that they will try. I wish AI had any control over the...
Jump to postHow would the members that are already in Star Alliance feel about that ? Does Star Alliance really need EY ? The alliance seem to be more than well covered around the world. Considering EY is propping up 9W, I think AI would probably veto EY joining *A, unless the GoI decides to do something monum...
Jump to postI would go with IAH (star hub and in Texas which has had a ton of recent Indian immigrants). The issue with LAX is that there hasn't been too much growth with new immigrants. LA is filled with Indians who have been there for ever. Not really the AI lover crowd. Also LA is so spread out. Some from t...
Jump to postMTOW upgrade is just paperwork. Which AI still hasn't completed, especially since it has been flying the 77W to SFO every so often. Chinese carriers are trashing LAX-DEL/BOM yields. So it has to be a repeat miracle after SFO. There is one flight on CA from LAX that allows connections to BOM/DEL. Un...
Jump to postWith Mr Lohani back , I think we can expect AI to better utilize its 77Ws and 788s . Some suggestions (for better utilization of 777s) can be: 77W : DEL-JFK-DEL (7w) DEL-ORD-DEL(7w) DEL-SFO-DEL(9w) DEL-LHR-DEL(Replace one of the frequencies with a 77W because no more slots at LHR so that's how you ...
Jump to postAI has succeeded at SFO probably lot to do with convenience and UA’s apathy. Think it is the sweet spot of UA frequent fliers (who get reasonable FF credit - this matters because it opens AI up to people that might never otherwise fly AI) plus a ton of recent immigrants that, contrary to those on n...
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