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A Premium Rendezvous, the Air India Way – AMD-DEL-JFK
- Maanav Parikh
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
As my graduation in the United States approached, it was soon time for us to book our flight to the Big Apple. With many options, we surprisingly went forward with the dark horse out of all contemporaries: Air India. Ahh, good ol' Air India! From broken seats to mind-boggling delays and horrid customer experience, the Airline has seen it all. However, putting faith in the brand new A350-900 and the newly introduced premium economy, we nevertheless booked this flight.
Our Journey began at Ahmedabad, where we first had a short hop to New Delhi. Once we reached the airport, we received some good news. Since our flight "upgraded" from a legacy A321ceo to an ex-Vistara A320neo, we were also bumped from economy to premium economy for this sector.
After a mundane check-in and security, we headed upstairs. Within a few minutes, we were on Gate number 3 boarding our flight to New Delhi.
16th May 2025
Air India Flight 456
Ahmedabad International (AMD) to Delhi Indira Gandhi International (DEL)
VT-TQA
Seat 3B
Time of Departure-23:25
1 hour and 16 minutes
After boarding early, we proceeded to our seats. I was assigned seat 3A, but ended up seated on seat 3 B. Premium economy on these ex-Vistata A320neo and even on the newly refurbished Air India A320neos are in a 3-3 configuration similar to economy, but offer far superior legroom and recline compared to standard economy.
After a 10-minute wait, we began our taxi towards the runway as another vistara plane passed us. A little behind our original schedule, we took off at about 11:25 PM after a Malaysian 737 Max arrived. A few minutes into takeoff, we were served a snack, having been given just a choice of veg or non-veg. Having chosen the veg option, we were served chole kulche, a chickpea curry, along with a thick flatbread, served alongside a mystery dessert and a bottle of water. The meal was alright, and plentyful for such a small flight.
Some time after the meal, the captain announced our descent into Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. We landed precisely at 12:40 am and docked in at a remote bay besides fellow vistara sibling VT-TQW.
To say our 2-hour transit at Delhi airport was chaotic would certainly be an understatement. Not only did we have to complete immigration and security at a packed and chaotic Delhi airport, but had to do it short of time since there was a delay in bringing in the coaches, which would take us to the airport from our aircraft, which killed 15 minutes of valuable time.
Despite all of this, however, we managed to reach gate 26 on time for our ultra-long-haul flight to New York.
17th May 2025
Air India Flight 101
Delhi Indira Gandhi International (DEL) to New York JFK (JFK)
VT-JRH
Seat 10H (shifted to 10K)
Time of Departure-23:25
1 hour and 16 minutes
It was in no time that boarding had commenced for fellow premium economy passengers like myself, soon after Business class passengers, and passengers with small children.
After a long walk, we soon boarded VT-JRH, a 1.5-year-old Airbus A350-900. Initially destined for the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot, it was later bought and delivered to Air India due to the sanctions on Russia.
The seats onboard were the Collins Aerospace MiQ seats, configured in a 2-4-2 configuration, which were quite comfortable, and the seats also had a fair bit of legroom as well for a 6-footer like me. A pillow and blanket waited on the seat
Later, we were offered a choice of water, orange, and apple juice as welcome drinks, where I chose the apple juice, followed by a cold towel.
We soon began our taxi as the new safety videos graced the screens, and in no time, departed on time into the night skies of Delhi.
Since the Pakistani airspace is closed, our route for today will take us through Gujarat, Iran, Armenia, Turkey, and Europe before entering the North American continent. Some time into take off, headphones and amenity kits, consisting of Lip Balm, Eye mask, and Socks,s were offered. Menus followed soon after.
Wifi was also available onboard complimentary, as Air India looks to introduce it fleetwide.
The entertainment system is a massive step up from the older Air India aircraft, as not only is it working, but also has several movies to choose from, both from Western and indian cinema.
The map is another feature I seemed to enjoy. With the A350 being an Airbus aircraft, a tail and front camera were also featured, a feature I frankly seem to love.
As I seemed to tune into a Bollywood comedy film, the snacks service commenced. We were served a corn, cheese, and spinach roll with a side of crunchy corn snack and a choice of drink. The roll was mediocre since I'm not too big of a fan of this combination.
After this meal, I decided to get some much-needed shuteye, but not before a quick bathroom visit all the way back in the economy class. If at all, there is a drawback in AI's Premium Economy class, it is the fact that the bathrooms are super far away.
I eventually woke up while cruising over Armenia, 6 hours into the journey, and just before breakfast service commenced.
Having chosen the veg option, breakfast was a potato curry served alongside paneer paratha and a cutlet alongside a side of fruits, croissant, yogurt, and a choice of beverage, which was orange juice for me. Again, the food was below average in taste, a little too bland and rubbery for me.
As I finished up my movie, I decided to visit the business class galley, which was stocked with all different types of snacks and drinks, where I got chatting with the crew.
The crew onboard was extremely friendly and gracious, which was a massive step up in regards to the quality of service seen previously on such long-haul flights aboard Air India. I went back to my seat to get another hour of shuteye.
I woke up just above Europe and decided to tune in to Anthony Hopkins' starrer "The Silence of the Lambs," which was on my list for a seemingly long time.
Here's the thing for long-haul flights, if one isn't so used to travelling, time is incredibly tough to kill; however, for a seasoned traveller like myself, it isn't so hard since sleeping on a flight isn't so hard. As time went on and as we cruised over the Atlantic, lunch was served 3 hours before landing, which has always been a pet peeve of mine since the service feels slightly rushed. For lunch, we were served Palak Paneer, a spinach and cottage cheese curry, served alongside spicy cauliflower, rice, and accompanied with bread, pasta salad, a mango dessert, and a choice of drink, which was just water for me.
Unlike the previous meal, this meal was pretty good and tasted well, well done AI!. After the meal service, I decided to get some much-needed coffee.
After time spent sleeping, eating, watching movies, and procrastinating, we begin our descent into New York.
Unlike the last flight, we landed at New York a little ahead of schedule and parked beside a fellow Air India 777-300er arriving from Mumbai.
Final thoughts
Air India seems to have gotten into a lot of hot water recently due to their abysmal flights, but man, this flight was certainly an outlier. The seats and the condition of the aircraft were top-notch, which seemed to be lacking in the older aircraft. The highlight for me was the crew, which was not only professional but extremely helpful and courteous, a massive step up from the old grumpy crew one was used to onboard AI. However, the cleanliness of the toilets and the meals can take a little bit of improvement since they were lackluster. Overall, I would not mind flying Air India on this sector again on this aircraft and would also recommend this sector to other fellow travellers.