Recent travel experience with Air India - August 2023

Booking Reference: 38OSMU.

The tickets were issued by Lufthansa with the Pune-Delhi, Delhi-Frankfurt route operated by Air India, and the final leg operated by United Airlines. It seemed like a good deal at the time, but little did we realize just what was in store for us.

I am writing this article in the slim chance that someone at the company reads it and looks into my case(s) - no pun intended

Flight LH 5289 Operated by Air India (PNQ- Delhi) - August 7th 2023

We were stuck in traffic and arrived just in time for boarding at 9pm. The check-in counter staff was extremely rude. Instead of starting with a greeting, he immediately launched into a tirade of how late we were, how irresponsible we were, and how inconvenient it was for them. Then,they fumbled through the entire check-in procedure. They either didn't know it, didn't care or were just going through the motions. Mind you, there were three of them and yet couldn't figure out what to do. They printed the baggage tags after much discussion, a phone call somewhere, a calculator and some more paperwork! But we realized this only much later, just how badly they had bungled this up. We had six bags to check-in. What they should have done is, checked in 1 bag for each, and then charged for 2 additional bags. What they did instead was check all the bags under one name, making it seem as though only one person was traveling. Instead of paying $200, they came up with $500. They never bothered explaining how they arrived at this figure. They sent my family ahead through security and left me waiting at the counter. They made me sign some document, and then asked me what I wanted to do? What was I supposed to do anyway? My family wasn’t there, the flight was about to leave. I signed under duress and paid the exorbitant amount, hoping to have it resolved it later (wishful thinking on my part).

We rushed through security and ran all the way to the gate. The gate crew started yelling at my family for being late. I was genuinely shocked and outraged. What kind of people did they have working? Shocked and embarrassed, we seated ourselves. Please note that there were still 20 minutes left for departure. Several other people boarded after we had been seated; unsure if the same treatment was meted out to them or reserved only for us. The flight still left on time and was 20 minutes early.? Was that the end of our troubles? No, not by a long shot. Did I mention that they didn't print our boarding passes for the Frankfurt to Chicago leg. We were told to collect it from Delhi; they told us to collect it from Frankfurt.....

Flight LH 7253 Operated by Air India (Delhi- Frankfurt) - 8th Aug, 2023

This was by far the worst experience of my entire life. The cabin had way too many issues. It was unbearably hot when we boarded. The Captain (Lukesh Arora) informed us of some “technical issue" but never elaborated on them.?It became so hot that bugs started crawling out of the seats. We sat in 90+ degree Fahrenheit temperature for over 2 hours. It was so bad that my son soon developed a fever due to heat exhaustion, dehydration, bug bites or a combination of them. There were passengers begging to be let out, only to be ignored completely by the cabin crew. The Captain kept feeding a steady stream of disinformation that it would be fixed in “5 minutes”, but it never did. The crew never bothered to check on the passengers, they oddly kept disappearing and were also annoyed when passengers complained. We were finally let out for a few minutes only to be dragged back in. There were old couples, pregnant women, children in extreme duress due to the heat.?The captain didn’t bother making an appearance or make an attempt to personally face the passengers. In fact, he shut up for the remainder of the flight.?The flight finally took off 2 and a half hours later.?The entertainment system didn’t work for the entire trip, not just for me, but for the entire aircraft. Can you imagine sitting in this cabin, reeking of urine and sweat for 13+ hours with nothing to do, but watch the crew ignore all the passengers.?And if that wasn’t enough, we were dumped somewhere on the tarmac at Frankfurt, to be shunted into buses like livestock by equally impatient employees, then deposited at passport control.?While we were able to get through there, other people weren’t. They weren’t clear on what they were supposed to do. There was no help on what to do next or how to get to the next terminal.?This was a terrible,, terrible , terrible flight.?We ended up exhausted, tired and sick after the trip.

Note the temperature on the flight.

Final Leg Frankfurt-Chicago operated by United Air Lines - 9th Aug 2023

This was the only saving grace. My compliments to United Airlines. The flight was operated by a professional and competent crew, however upon landing in Chicago we discovered that our luggage didn’t make it through. Can you imagine the scene at the airport? Our family waiting like fools for an hour around baggage carousel 7.?The customs officers too were surprised that we came in from the sub-continent without any luggage.?My wife and youngest son were in tears.?Our bags contained clothes we taken, purchased and gifted, all the shopping we had done, my children’s belongings, perishables that would now be rotting, and other items of unimaginable value.?We spent another hour at the United Airlines counter trying track it down. They couldn’t even find it. It either never left Pune, Delhi or Frankfurt.?Additionally I had gone through great deal of trouble and expense to rent a mini-van in this busy season to accommodate my 6 bags. I couldn’t even change it or cancel it. I drove it back to Michigan empty.

How does one track the lost luggage? This was the conundrum we faced. We opened cases with Lufthansa, Air India and United Airlines. One would naturally assume that Lufthansa would be the one managing the problem end-to-end, but that isn't so. They simply point to the fact that the leg is operated by Air India, therefore we would have work directly with them. This is very convenient for them and completely absolves them. I opened a claim with United, got a file reference number. I also opened individual cases with Air India. I even had my family back in India go to the Airport to check on our baggage. It's been three days and so far I haven't heard anything. We've no idea where Air India sent my bags.

I am hoping this article serves as a warning to others using the same route. We certainly will not be using Lufthansa and Air India anymore, and I would sincerely advise you to reconsider as well. Book at your own peril. If all goes well - great, otherwise you have virtually no support. You endure a terrible trip and are made to suffer even more at the end.

@ratan tata

Rajesh Dogra?

Airindia Limited?

Tata Group?

Tata Trusts

Satya Ramaswamy?