This is the return of my trip to India. Hope you enjoy.
Flight Number: AI 101
Routing: BOM-LHR-JFK
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400 (VT-ESP Ajanta)
Date: August 3rd, 2002
Time of departure: 6:30 am
Time of arrival (LHR): 11:30 am
Time of arrival (JFK): 15:55 pm
Total Flight time: 18 hours and 40 minutes
Seat: 72 K
We started from my grandparent's house in Malabar Hill, which is near the center of the city, to Bombay International Airport at around 2:30 am. It was a quick 40 minute drive, since there was no traffic other than the drunk kids going back home after a night of partying. We arrived at terminal 2 at around 3:15 am and we said goodbye to my uncle, aunt, and cousin, knowing that I would not see them for a while since they are moving to Tanzania. We entered the terminal and had our bags pre-security checked and our carry-ons secured shut (I have know idea why they do this) and proceeded to the check in line. I was very surprised and happy since there wasn't much of a line for check in, when usually the line is long and slow. We got to the counter and were greeted with " You guys are late, you have to be here at LEAST 4 hours before departure, now I don't even know if I can get you on this flight!" Well great, I thought. He scrambled around on his keyboard and said "I got you the last three seats in Economy, but they are all apart, but for your mother I have given her an Executive class upgrade!" NOT FAIR AT ALL! So after grabbing our boarding passes from the surly agent, we proceeded to immigration and got our passports stamped. We then headed to the Maharaja Lounge, where I was told that not all of us could enter and only one guest was allowed with the Executive class passenger. Well Fine, I said, even though the lounge looked very inviting and nice. So we headed to the gate, as that was our only option at this point. Before long, security check commenced for our flight and we went through the usual thorough check by the Indian guards. While sitting in the waiting lounge, I saw AI flight 159, a 747-300 (Shivaji VT-EPW), to Delhi and Paris. I must say how much I love Air India's color scheme, but they are definitely due for a change in colors. They have to find a way to incorporate the palace windows with a newer, modern, livery.
We boarded the plane, after clearing a mad dash by everyone trying to enter the aircraft all at once. No priority for upper class passengers. I got my sisters seated together and there was a window open right next to them so I decided I would take it. Soon, an ugly looking lady came, and said that's her seat. I explained the situation to her, and she yelled at me saying that’s her seat and she wants it now! Fine! A stewardess walked by and overheard this and told me that she would do whatever she can to find me another window seat! Great! It was funny, how every time she walked by the lady she would say, "Can't even help a bunch of kids, I wonder how she'll help her old mother?...God some people are so unhelpful, can't even help a small kid sit with her brother and sister. What is this world coming to?" This was great! I had a stewardess on my side, and she said she would give her hell for the rest of the flight! Hahaha. I eventually found my way to seat 72K and thought great at least I had a window, and there is no way that this flight could be any worse than my flight to India. Boy, was I ever wrong! There came this old old old old old and not to mention smelly lady and sat down in 72H. Great, WHY ME! We were offered pre-flight drinks, menus, and hot towels and pushback commenced. During pushback, I observed a rather busy Bombay Airport, with a lot of international traffic consisting of an Ethiopian 757, an Air Mauritius 767, an El Al 767, a Cathay Pacific A330, an Emirates A330 and no fewer than 7 Air India A310s and 747s. We taxied to runway 27 and started our long and slow take off role. We used up most of the 11,500 ft runway before we rocketed into the cloudy morning sky. We set course toward Muscat, Oman and before long, leveled off. Service then began with a beverage service, where i had a glass of OJ. Then came Breakfast. Good cause I'm hungry! It was a choice of 2 items: non-veg and veg. Now non-veg consisted of Eggs, chicken sausages, mushrooms, with fresh fruit, yogurt, and warm rolls. The veg option, which I had, was the Indian option as well, and it was warm parathas, upma, and masala dosa, with fresh fruit, yogurt, pickle, and an indian sweet dish. It was very very good! After this I was offered some tea or coffee, which I never usually have, but said why not had a cup of tea. I now know the reason why Indian tea is so good, and this cup no less satisfying! After the good meal, I decided to take a snooze since I hate IFE that has no PTVs, plus I was dead tired. Wouldn't you know, old smelly lady had the same idea, only thing was that she did not want to sleep on the seat. She lay down right there on the floor in the space between the seats. This was bad, since AI is not known for its legroom. I had no legroom whatsoever and quicky rang the steward. He came over and tried to move her, but she acted like this was invisible and stayed on the floor. After a while of trying, the steward gave up and apologized to me. The heck with the idea of sleeping, so I turned to my trusty cd player and listened away.
I eventually dozed off and woke up a couple hours later to find that we were overflying Turkey. The old hag was still passed out on the floor. My whole body hurt so bad. I needed to get up and walk a little bit, so I decided to stretch my limbs and see how my sisters were doing. My little sister was asleep, but my other sister was awake and I asked her how she was. "That guy by the window thinks he's Grimace!" He was all covered up and snoring with his mouth wide open. It's so funny watching people sleep on the plane. I went to the washroom to freshen up and headed back to my seat. Guess what? It was taken! By who? The old old hag! I told her immediately to move to her seat and gruffed at me, and this time I was not nice. She did not speak a word of English, and she spoke very little Hindi, and started to babble to me in Gujurati, which I don't understand a word of! Finally, she moved and I moved back into my seat. By this time, we were overflying the lovely city of Budapest and Ferihegy Airport. As Vienna and Flughafen Schwechat, lunch serviced commenced. We had a choice of 3 items: Indian veg and non-veg, and Lamb Constantine. I had the Indian non-veg, which was Chicken Nawabi and was served with saffron rice and spiced vegetables, salad with dressing, yogurt, pickle, and an indian dessert, which was halwa. Again, it was very good. Oh, it also came with roti. As I was finishing up lunch with another good cup of tea, we were overflying Dusseldorf, and beginning our decent into Heathrow. Soon we made landfall just south of Southend and proceeded toward London. I viewed LCY, which looked like it was quite busy, and the millenium dome. We circled for a little while and landed on runway 9L.
While taxiing to the the gate I viewed a very busy Heathrow, as usual. Tons of BA and VS planes, and well as numerous European operators, and some exotic ones such as a Kuwait 777, an Emirates 777-300, a Saudi Arabian 777, and a Malaysian 747-400. As we pulled up to our gate in Terminal 3, I observed that there were so many AA and UAL planes and it made me realize how far I was from India already and how much I miss my grandparents (even though they would be flying the exact same flight a week later in First Class(They were booked in Executive!)). We parked next to a Varig 777 and an SAS MD-87. Since transit passengers have to deplane, we did, and got our transit cards and proceeded to recheck in. After this we, sat a while in the dreadful lounges that they have in London and waited for the flight to begin boarding. We had a 2 hour transit in London, and eventually boarded the plane. As I walked back to my seat, I prayed that the old hag got off in LHR, but low and behold my luck was still bad as she was seated again in my seat! I wasted no time in telling her to move, and reclaimed my throne! Soon enough, after all the cargo was loaded, we proceeded again on another 100% full AI flight. As we taxied to the runway I spotted a South African 747-400, an Air Mauritius A340-300, and a Kenya Airways 767-300. We taxied behind a slew of BMI planes and took off from runway 27R. We headed in a northwesterly direction and climbed to our initial cruising altitude of 33,000 ft.
As we leveled off, service began with beverages, and I ordered am ice cold ginger ale that came with a packet of indian snacks. Lunch commenced once again, also with 3 items: Chicken Tikka Makhanwalla, Aloo Gobi Masala, and Pan Seared Salmon. On a side note, Air India does not serve any pork or beef products, due to religious reasons. I had the chicken and it did not dissappoint me! It was served with all the traditional fixings and accompanied with roti. I was stuffed, and passed on the coffee and tea, simply dozing off! Hald way through the flight I felt something on the floor near my legs! You guessed it; old hag back to her old ways! This time I would not let her have my space so I put my backpack on the floor between my seat and hers so she couldn't sleep. It worked and I slept happily! I woke up to find that I Am Sam was playing and we were just making landfall over Newfoundland. Ahhhhhh North America. Home at last! Well not quite, since I had a 7 hour wait for my flight to Pittsburgh. As we overflew Portland, Maine and its jetport, we were served afternoon tea, which was veg and non-veg sandwiches, scones, and cake, along with a beverage of choice. It was good, but the name of the meal was kind of amusing (must have been the British influence!). Immigration cards were passed out, but I only needed a customs form. To my surprise, the old lady took an immigration form, looked at it, then put it in the seat pocket. Wonder what happened to her at immigration? I leafed through the Namaskar inflight magazine and put it in my pack to read later. We overflew Boston and Logan Field, then proceeded over Providence and T.F. Green Field, before starting our decent over Long Island. Islip Airport passed on our left side and passed over the beautiful Long Island beaches. God, were there some hot girls down there! We circled in for an approach and landed on runway 22L on a very bright and sunny NY afternoon. While taxiing back to the international terminal and parked next an ex-Saudi Air Atlanta Icelandic 747-200. Does anyone know where it was going? The gate next to it was a PIA 747-200, and next to that was an elegant El Al 777. We were finally back home in the U.S. We deplaned and walked the mile to the immigration. As I was sprinting to meet up with the rest of my family, I saw 2 Swiss A330s and 2 Aer Lingus A330s all parked in a row. I love the A330s and I hope AI will pick up a few, as I have no doubt in my mind that they will look great in the livery. We proceeded through immigration and then to the baggage claim, where we waited a god awful time for our bags to come. While we were there, freak lady was also there and I gave her some dirty looks which she exchanged back. I'm sure had a bad flight, so I left it at that. We finally got our bags and proceeded to the customs line. We were nicely welcomed home and proceeded out of the secure area. To the left of the Arriving passengers line is the connecting passengers desks and we headed straight to the AA desk and got our baggage off of our hands. This was going to be a long 7 hours, so we headed to the AA terminal and checked in for our flight to Pittsburgh, which was scheduled to leave at 11 pm. Nothing to do but sit and wait, but I was glad to be back.
As always, questions and comments are always appreciated.
Take care,
Pete
Flight Number: AI 101
Routing: BOM-LHR-JFK
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400 (VT-ESP Ajanta)
Date: August 3rd, 2002
Time of departure: 6:30 am
Time of arrival (LHR): 11:30 am
Time of arrival (JFK): 15:55 pm
Total Flight time: 18 hours and 40 minutes
Seat: 72 K
We started from my grandparent's house in Malabar Hill, which is near the center of the city, to Bombay International Airport at around 2:30 am. It was a quick 40 minute drive, since there was no traffic other than the drunk kids going back home after a night of partying. We arrived at terminal 2 at around 3:15 am and we said goodbye to my uncle, aunt, and cousin, knowing that I would not see them for a while since they are moving to Tanzania. We entered the terminal and had our bags pre-security checked and our carry-ons secured shut (I have know idea why they do this) and proceeded to the check in line. I was very surprised and happy since there wasn't much of a line for check in, when usually the line is long and slow. We got to the counter and were greeted with " You guys are late, you have to be here at LEAST 4 hours before departure, now I don't even know if I can get you on this flight!" Well great, I thought. He scrambled around on his keyboard and said "I got you the last three seats in Economy, but they are all apart, but for your mother I have given her an Executive class upgrade!" NOT FAIR AT ALL! So after grabbing our boarding passes from the surly agent, we proceeded to immigration and got our passports stamped. We then headed to the Maharaja Lounge, where I was told that not all of us could enter and only one guest was allowed with the Executive class passenger. Well Fine, I said, even though the lounge looked very inviting and nice. So we headed to the gate, as that was our only option at this point. Before long, security check commenced for our flight and we went through the usual thorough check by the Indian guards. While sitting in the waiting lounge, I saw AI flight 159, a 747-300 (Shivaji VT-EPW), to Delhi and Paris. I must say how much I love Air India's color scheme, but they are definitely due for a change in colors. They have to find a way to incorporate the palace windows with a newer, modern, livery.
We boarded the plane, after clearing a mad dash by everyone trying to enter the aircraft all at once. No priority for upper class passengers. I got my sisters seated together and there was a window open right next to them so I decided I would take it. Soon, an ugly looking lady came, and said that's her seat. I explained the situation to her, and she yelled at me saying that’s her seat and she wants it now! Fine! A stewardess walked by and overheard this and told me that she would do whatever she can to find me another window seat! Great! It was funny, how every time she walked by the lady she would say, "Can't even help a bunch of kids, I wonder how she'll help her old mother?...God some people are so unhelpful, can't even help a small kid sit with her brother and sister. What is this world coming to?" This was great! I had a stewardess on my side, and she said she would give her hell for the rest of the flight! Hahaha. I eventually found my way to seat 72K and thought great at least I had a window, and there is no way that this flight could be any worse than my flight to India. Boy, was I ever wrong! There came this old old old old old and not to mention smelly lady and sat down in 72H. Great, WHY ME! We were offered pre-flight drinks, menus, and hot towels and pushback commenced. During pushback, I observed a rather busy Bombay Airport, with a lot of international traffic consisting of an Ethiopian 757, an Air Mauritius 767, an El Al 767, a Cathay Pacific A330, an Emirates A330 and no fewer than 7 Air India A310s and 747s. We taxied to runway 27 and started our long and slow take off role. We used up most of the 11,500 ft runway before we rocketed into the cloudy morning sky. We set course toward Muscat, Oman and before long, leveled off. Service then began with a beverage service, where i had a glass of OJ. Then came Breakfast. Good cause I'm hungry! It was a choice of 2 items: non-veg and veg. Now non-veg consisted of Eggs, chicken sausages, mushrooms, with fresh fruit, yogurt, and warm rolls. The veg option, which I had, was the Indian option as well, and it was warm parathas, upma, and masala dosa, with fresh fruit, yogurt, pickle, and an indian sweet dish. It was very very good! After this I was offered some tea or coffee, which I never usually have, but said why not had a cup of tea. I now know the reason why Indian tea is so good, and this cup no less satisfying! After the good meal, I decided to take a snooze since I hate IFE that has no PTVs, plus I was dead tired. Wouldn't you know, old smelly lady had the same idea, only thing was that she did not want to sleep on the seat. She lay down right there on the floor in the space between the seats. This was bad, since AI is not known for its legroom. I had no legroom whatsoever and quicky rang the steward. He came over and tried to move her, but she acted like this was invisible and stayed on the floor. After a while of trying, the steward gave up and apologized to me. The heck with the idea of sleeping, so I turned to my trusty cd player and listened away.
I eventually dozed off and woke up a couple hours later to find that we were overflying Turkey. The old hag was still passed out on the floor. My whole body hurt so bad. I needed to get up and walk a little bit, so I decided to stretch my limbs and see how my sisters were doing. My little sister was asleep, but my other sister was awake and I asked her how she was. "That guy by the window thinks he's Grimace!" He was all covered up and snoring with his mouth wide open. It's so funny watching people sleep on the plane. I went to the washroom to freshen up and headed back to my seat. Guess what? It was taken! By who? The old old hag! I told her immediately to move to her seat and gruffed at me, and this time I was not nice. She did not speak a word of English, and she spoke very little Hindi, and started to babble to me in Gujurati, which I don't understand a word of! Finally, she moved and I moved back into my seat. By this time, we were overflying the lovely city of Budapest and Ferihegy Airport. As Vienna and Flughafen Schwechat, lunch serviced commenced. We had a choice of 3 items: Indian veg and non-veg, and Lamb Constantine. I had the Indian non-veg, which was Chicken Nawabi and was served with saffron rice and spiced vegetables, salad with dressing, yogurt, pickle, and an indian dessert, which was halwa. Again, it was very good. Oh, it also came with roti. As I was finishing up lunch with another good cup of tea, we were overflying Dusseldorf, and beginning our decent into Heathrow. Soon we made landfall just south of Southend and proceeded toward London. I viewed LCY, which looked like it was quite busy, and the millenium dome. We circled for a little while and landed on runway 9L.
While taxiing to the the gate I viewed a very busy Heathrow, as usual. Tons of BA and VS planes, and well as numerous European operators, and some exotic ones such as a Kuwait 777, an Emirates 777-300, a Saudi Arabian 777, and a Malaysian 747-400. As we pulled up to our gate in Terminal 3, I observed that there were so many AA and UAL planes and it made me realize how far I was from India already and how much I miss my grandparents (even though they would be flying the exact same flight a week later in First Class(They were booked in Executive!)). We parked next to a Varig 777 and an SAS MD-87. Since transit passengers have to deplane, we did, and got our transit cards and proceeded to recheck in. After this we, sat a while in the dreadful lounges that they have in London and waited for the flight to begin boarding. We had a 2 hour transit in London, and eventually boarded the plane. As I walked back to my seat, I prayed that the old hag got off in LHR, but low and behold my luck was still bad as she was seated again in my seat! I wasted no time in telling her to move, and reclaimed my throne! Soon enough, after all the cargo was loaded, we proceeded again on another 100% full AI flight. As we taxied to the runway I spotted a South African 747-400, an Air Mauritius A340-300, and a Kenya Airways 767-300. We taxied behind a slew of BMI planes and took off from runway 27R. We headed in a northwesterly direction and climbed to our initial cruising altitude of 33,000 ft.
As we leveled off, service began with beverages, and I ordered am ice cold ginger ale that came with a packet of indian snacks. Lunch commenced once again, also with 3 items: Chicken Tikka Makhanwalla, Aloo Gobi Masala, and Pan Seared Salmon. On a side note, Air India does not serve any pork or beef products, due to religious reasons. I had the chicken and it did not dissappoint me! It was served with all the traditional fixings and accompanied with roti. I was stuffed, and passed on the coffee and tea, simply dozing off! Hald way through the flight I felt something on the floor near my legs! You guessed it; old hag back to her old ways! This time I would not let her have my space so I put my backpack on the floor between my seat and hers so she couldn't sleep. It worked and I slept happily! I woke up to find that I Am Sam was playing and we were just making landfall over Newfoundland. Ahhhhhh North America. Home at last! Well not quite, since I had a 7 hour wait for my flight to Pittsburgh. As we overflew Portland, Maine and its jetport, we were served afternoon tea, which was veg and non-veg sandwiches, scones, and cake, along with a beverage of choice. It was good, but the name of the meal was kind of amusing (must have been the British influence!). Immigration cards were passed out, but I only needed a customs form. To my surprise, the old lady took an immigration form, looked at it, then put it in the seat pocket. Wonder what happened to her at immigration? I leafed through the Namaskar inflight magazine and put it in my pack to read later. We overflew Boston and Logan Field, then proceeded over Providence and T.F. Green Field, before starting our decent over Long Island. Islip Airport passed on our left side and passed over the beautiful Long Island beaches. God, were there some hot girls down there! We circled in for an approach and landed on runway 22L on a very bright and sunny NY afternoon. While taxiing back to the international terminal and parked next an ex-Saudi Air Atlanta Icelandic 747-200. Does anyone know where it was going? The gate next to it was a PIA 747-200, and next to that was an elegant El Al 777. We were finally back home in the U.S. We deplaned and walked the mile to the immigration. As I was sprinting to meet up with the rest of my family, I saw 2 Swiss A330s and 2 Aer Lingus A330s all parked in a row. I love the A330s and I hope AI will pick up a few, as I have no doubt in my mind that they will look great in the livery. We proceeded through immigration and then to the baggage claim, where we waited a god awful time for our bags to come. While we were there, freak lady was also there and I gave her some dirty looks which she exchanged back. I'm sure had a bad flight, so I left it at that. We finally got our bags and proceeded to the customs line. We were nicely welcomed home and proceeded out of the secure area. To the left of the Arriving passengers line is the connecting passengers desks and we headed straight to the AA desk and got our baggage off of our hands. This was going to be a long 7 hours, so we headed to the AA terminal and checked in for our flight to Pittsburgh, which was scheduled to leave at 11 pm. Nothing to do but sit and wait, but I was glad to be back.
As always, questions and comments are always appreciated.

Take care,
Pete
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