I am writing this blog post from my home city of Mumbai in India, where I arrived almost a week ago on my annual visit to see friends and family. The mood in Mumbai doesn’t seem as despondent as in the US though the Mumbai stock market like other global stock markets has also taken a beating and is down nearly 40% from its January 2008 high. People have seen a large chunk of their wealth wiped out but are going about their business especially since it is the festival season here with the Hindu festival of  Diwali being celebrated  this week.

India has undergone many changes since my last visit and these changes have largely taken place in its rather vibrant aviation sector which has grown in leaps and bounds and now includes a plethora of low cost and private carriers in addition to the two government owned carriers Air India and Indian Airlines who have dominated this sector since the 1950’s. Until recently these new carriers like Jet airways and Kingfisher were confined to serving the domestic sector alongside Indian Airlines while Air India hogged the international routes. However now these new carriers have begun to spread their wings and fly on international routes as well, especially Jet Airways which now flies to destinations in the UK and the US and has developed a reputation for great service among many international travelers. This has somewhat threatened Air India’s position and it has risen to meet this challenge by upgrading its fleet and improving its service.

As I live in New York and need to go home once year to see my family, I am always on the lookout for good fares. In June this year a friend mentioned to me that he had received a flyer for unbelievable promotional fare on Air India’s daily direct service to Mumbai from JFK. This service had been launched last summer had received plenty of accolades from my friends and family who had already flown on the  brand new Boeing 777-237LR  aircraft which had been introduced on this route. Moreover the direct service gets you to Mumbai from New York in a mere fifteen hours which is an unbeatable time saver. So I went ahead excitedly and booked the promotional offer which gave me a ticket for a direct flight to Mumbai for a great price of $995.

As soon as I received my e-ticket in June I logged on to the rather old fashioned Air India website and booked my seat and meal preference. Though the Air India website is clunky and not very user friendly the fact that it allowed me to pick and book my preferred exit row seat months in advance has made me it’s a fan for life as no other airline until now has allowed me to do so in coach and some like Virgin have even asked me to cough up extra for the privilege of sitting in a bulk head or exit row seat.

The Air India flight from JFK to Mumbai departs daily at 9.30 pm and having traveled Indian carriers before and being familiar with their long check-in lines I decided to get to check-in right on time at the recommended three hours before departure. That evening even the traffic gods smiled at me as my cab got me to me JFK in a mere twenty minutes from my apartment in Manhattan. Though when I arrived at the check in counter, I was shocked to see that there were almost a hundred people already waiting in line ahead of me including a big tour group from Boston who were on their way for a tour in South India.

I was expecting to be in line for an hour or so when I was called aside by the ground staff and asked to check in at the business class counter as they were trying to reduce the load at the economy class counters.  My check- in was swift and as I was given my boarding card I was told that boarding would commence as early as 8pm so I was to make sure that I cleared security before then.

Knowing that security at JFK can be a veritable nightmare for full flights to Asia I grabbed a bite at one of the many fast food outlets and bought some duty free before I proceeded to board the flight.  Boarding was swift and before long was I was settled comfortably in my seat for my fifteen hour flight.

The aircraft was reasonably clean which is a first for Air India as in previous years it has been accused of poor aircraft maintenance and I also noticed that along with the headphones for the in-flight entertainment each passenger had been supplied with a complimentary bottle of water, extremely surprising in an era where most airlines are looking to cut costs and all kinds of freebies.

Soon after we were airborne after a long wait on the tarmac at busy JFK, we were served complimentary drinks and snacks, unlike American carriers Air India doesn’t charge you for alcohol and in fact the steward who was serving my section gave me second bottle of wine without me even asking for it!  The meal service followed the drinks service and I received my specially ordered low fat meal which was composed of a substantial portion and had two salads and yoghurt too. My seat mates also seemed happy with their meals which they had chosen from a selection of vegetarian and non vegetarian choices.

After the meal service I hunkered down in my seat for a nap but I could barely sleep as there was young mother in the adjoining seat who was traveling with her six month old infant who wouldn’t stop crying no matter what she tried. I gave up trying to sleep and decided to pass my time reading and walking around the cabin so I didn’t get too stiff on the long journey.

The crew at this time had gone for their rest but near the pantry they had laid out trolley with bottles of water, soft drinks, sandwiches, cookies and crackers all for the benefit of the passengers who were not asleep but were watching the many channels on the in-flight entertainment system. This had me truly gobsmacked for in recent times most of the carriers that I have been using have become increasingly stingy with food and drink in an effort to cut costs.

 The rest of my flight continued in the similar vein as were again served a great breakfast when we were a few hours away from our destination. The service all throughout the flight was extremely attentive and helpful and the cabin staff even took turns to calm the howling infant in the neighboring seat so they the young mother could get a breather and have her meals.

The piece de resistance of our flight was our arrival into Mumbai as the aircraft landed one hour ahead of schedule thereby shortening the fifteen hour journey into a fourteen hour one. I was so impressed with my journey that I can’t stop singing Air India’s praises and I do hope that my return journey to New York will be  just as pleasant as my outbound one.

Images of AirIndia direct posted on http://www.flickr.com by lemoncat and MitRebuad