In June of this year, we saw an Air India Boeing 787-8 crash, killing all but one person onboard. This was the most fatal aviation accident in around a decade, and to this day, there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding what happened.
Continue reading: Air India Boeing 787 RAT Mysteriously Deploys On Landing, Alarming Pilots
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Do not fly Air India - this is what my Indian colleagues tell me. Realistically I am not sure that we (westerners) need to fly to India at all. Lucrative business opportunities are not present - that's the entire reason I have Indian colleagues, they've moved to the US and do business here. Air quality and food hygiene are both poor. There is a sexist rape culture.
Sadly, bashing Air India is a hobby for too many Indians living outside India, especially those who haven't flown it in many years; I unfortunately have some in my extended family. The same people will behave like meek sheep on a European or American carrier, even if there are issues. I have flown LHR - BOM round trip 8 times in the past year and with the exception of one delayed flight, have faced no problems. The EY frames even have wifi now, currently free. AI does have problems, especially on routes served by the inherited fleet which badly needs refurbishment, which needs to be sorted out.
Okay, harry12345, my apologies, let me try again. The air quality in India is fantastic and no sensitive or asthmatic persons will have any trouble there. Food hygiene adheres to the strictest of international standards and if you experience any gastrointestinal symptoms they must have been a preexisting condition. The country is incredibly safe and hospitable toward solo women travelers who are at no risk of sexual violence.
When any plane with a RAT is on the ground or in a hangar, general practice is to avoid standing near where the RAT would swing out, because under some circumstances, it could potentially deploy for little to no reason at all.
Never been to India.
But the only time I ever felt unsafe in Singapore was in Little India. There were 3 of us, and we were entirely surrounded by hundreds of men densely packing the streets / courtyards. There was some kind of holiday or festival or something. Not a single woman in sight. Once we realized that we were entirely helpless and at the mercy of the crowd, we noped out of there ASAP.
@Penile (PENILE???), your sarcasm does not hide your pathetic stereotyping and overt racism. Sad. You must have read something by Winston Churchill recently.
Also, for the edification of readers, the term "penile" refers to anything related to the penis, which is the male reproductive organ responsible for sexual intercourse and urination. It consists of three main parts: the root, shaft, and glans, and is made up of erectile tissue that allows for erection (Wikipedia).
You have issues, bro.
Brown people feel much the same if they venture into a British pub or an American saloon...
Is The Boeing Airplane Company able to build a quality aircraft in the first quarter of the 21st Century ? Asking for a friend....
Hey Penile,
I think you were right in calling out the food hygiene standards and air pollution.
However, you messed up by saying that there is a culture of rape.
Yes, India can be a difficult country for solo female travelers but that doesn’t make rape to be the default culture. There are many women who live in India and don’t face these issues even though their lives might not be perfect. Its like saying that the US has a culture of misogyny and racism because of a few people and what we see being highlighted by an admin run by Project 2025 contributors.
Person of color and first generation immigrant; have faced discrimination on and off but have also found many welcoming Americans. Every country has its issues.
@Indopithecus that's actually a reasonable point about how brown people might feel in British pubs or American saloons, especially with the added element of alcohol, soccer hooliganism in the UK, etc. But I would argue that's far more complex than a matter of "race". A Canadian person, or a Jewish person, or a university professor with a bow tie, etc, might feel similarly uneasy out of place.
This is an airline that struggles to keep their IFE screens work on their newest planes, so I'm not sure if the Boeing quality control is something to be questioned for this matter (while it is questionable otherwise).
There is a culture that has a silent soft stance on rape. There have been many incidents of local migrant workers migrating from one part of the state to others, and raping and murdering minors! All while the government (especially the state Government of Punjab and the Central Government) continue to have soft or silent stance. And any opposition from anyone is crushed, its gotten so bad that the state governments have no started assassinating local rural leaders for speaking against or taking action against such cases. So when people say there is a culture of rape, there is because it's silently condoned with little to no action. And this is just a recent example, every day across all parts of the country it happens. From the physician killed and raped at her work, to the little boys and girls killed and raped, to the woman killed and raped on the Bus in Delhi. All whilst having an elected MP (Kirron Kher) who said something to the extend of women invite being sexually harassed or raped because of provocative clothes. Rape happens in the west too, but generally speaking there isn't a soft stance (socially or politically) against rapists and murders. You are right to say every country has issues, and no world is perfect, however a lot of countries fare better (and a lot fare worse too.)
@Penile many NRI's and Indians of western passports hold this sentiment. Fares in business one week out and extending in to December (which is a busy season) on AI are in the 35-3800 region. There is fare bit of skepticism and lack of Trust now against the brand. It also has to do with the fact that the Indian Government agencies and the media isn't always well regarded in the west. Not all, but a handful of people believe they can't trust the words coming out of the Indian media and the Indian government. So while Tara can go on PR campaign, and do this do that to exemplify strict safety standards, trust is low partially because of corruption and buying good press and not delivering.
Seems very rich coming from a country where the admin is trying to censor media in every way possible. Again, as I mentioned there are bad apples everywhere. Doesnt make it a culture.
Western nations were formed on the basis of racism, oppression and colonization. Yet today nobody calls it their culture even though we see it as the dominant rhetoric with the folks in power. And it is not a cultural thing since as I said there are many good meaning folks in each country,
No country is perfect and
@Harry12345. The air pollution is a chronic issue. At times so bad that select western airlines do not fly because of the risk it poses to its crew.
Food hygiene, is a generalization. I visit the country, im of Indian origin, my wife is a citizen of the country, and we see places with some of the best food quality hygiene, and some of the worst (no different than any country in the west tbh)
its just our gut microbiome isn't accustomed to the different flora, and it can attack us too when it views "foreign" food.
There is a more chronic issue of food adulteration, where one thinks they're drinking pure milk but it can be some foreign chemicals. That is more a plausible scenario. The analogy lies in the experience people make, I haven't had an experience where I ate food that lacked in hygiene.
What an absurdly stupid comment.
Air India is indeed a low quality airline, as most Indian people would agree. To stretch that into saying that there is no reason for “us (westerners)” to visit is beyond idiotic.
First - who are you to decide for anyone else ? And why would it make more sense for someone from Singapore or Japan to visit than someone from Sweden or Germany? India is a vast country with exceptionally rich culture and stunning landscape. Food hygiene - definitely a concern, but one you can easily combat by knowing where to eat (I have never had food poisoning in India, and had multiple during US visits). Air quality in Delhi is very bad, but that’s not much of an issue outside the big cities and I remember the air quality at Bangalore being very good.
Regarding the business opportunities - you clearly need to do your homework.
To the person suggesting that India is problematic because they felt unsafe in Singapore : first, anyone feeling unsafe in Singapore makes me giggle (have you been to London or Madrid recently?). Second drawing conclusions about India from Little India in Singapore is probably as moronic as doing the same about China based on a visit to Chinatown in Sydney.
So why only Air India and no other airlines exhibiting this? Could it be that they received a bad batch of planes or something added for Air India.
The embedded video shows an ANA aircraft landing with the RAT deployed, even though the aircraft is obviously under power and pilot control.
You sound like the offspring of a man who met his spouse at Thanksgiving dinner.
Not related, but this is wild in NZ
https://people.com/man-arrested-excessively-kissing-partner-during-flight-receives-sentence-11824668
Why don't you email these things to Ben directly instead of spamming the comments with irrelevance?
Food hygiene - definitely a concern, but
But...
Air quality in Delhi is very bad, but
But but...
Regarding the business opportunities - you clearly need to do your homework
I did my homework. Name me a SINGLE law firm in the top 20 by profitability that has an office in India. Law firms service high end business activity; where there are business opportunities, there are law firms, so law firm presence is an excellent proxy for business opportunity.
Every Indian is a rapist? Ummmk. Wish your mother would have swallowed you all those years ago. Your username seems to match that claim. Have a better life.
David, your reading comprehension skills (where did I say every Indian is a rapist?) are matched only by your etiquette (deplorable)
If several instances of RATs deploying is grounds for grounding the 787 in the eyes of Indian pilots, then they must also call for the grounding of A320s since those have also had their share of RATs being deployed while the planes were in service
I hate to say it but this demand from the union is an example of the lengths humans go to deny horrible truths
On a per capita basis, more women get raped every year in the US than in India. Just saying...
If we were seeing inexplicable turbine deployments on 787s from multiple carriers, it would make sense that it’s an aircraft issue. Seeing it a couple of times on the same carrier says there might be an issue with that carrier’s pilot training and/or crew resource management.
Are you aware that India, like many other countries, has restrictions on how global professional services firms can operate in the market? Same with audit firms. The big 4 operate under their name but in reality, it is just a label on a local partnership.
"there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding what happened."
Not really. Whether the truth is ever told is another story.
Lets not generalise India over here, its not a small country it is really huge! That's like generalising America as having a racist/white supremecist culture and school shootings culture happening everywhere, though it may only be in certain places!
The Southern part of India (like Kerala e.g) btw has excellent air quality, better than many American cities, and fantastic food hygiene as well as much safer than many American cities for women.
Air India maintenance crews always swap malfunctioned parts to another plane to pass the inspection. That malfunctioned part will stay in its fleet and never get replaced until someone caught them doing this.
There was a LATAM 787 that had a RAT deploy. That said, there have been instances of A320s from several carriers having RATs deploy too.