Air India ‘Mumbai to New York’…wats there!!!

The inaugural flight to New York is about to take off in an hour or two & I was wondering wat is so spl. for Air India’s flight frm Mumbai to New York…I mean every airline starts operatin on new routes… every newspaper I read, every channel I see there’s only this coverage… then why so much of hype for this sector, actually I would say good media hype … till now, not a single American city figures on the listing of the 10 busiest airline routes from India… Air India, which gets 70% of international revenues through Gulf flights, the US foray is a return to the Western world as well as a defensive move because competitors like Air Deccan may b allowed to enter the Gulf route in the future… All international carriers put together flew about 4 m passengers last year between the two countries. The only trump card Air India has got is its non-stop capability and unbeatable timings on the route… the timing chosen for this route is fabulous that means a passenger will board the aircraft around midnight, hv his dinner, fall off to sleep, wakes up 4 breakfast & lands in New York, again in the evening takes off around 2230 & lands Mumbai around 2130 hrs. +1 day ( time gap)… Major decisions taken by Air India--> is to maintain ontime performance,; two Boeing 777 LR (long range) planes to be used exclusively on the route, and one will stand by as a backup. This aircraft, will be used only on the India-Singapore route… whixch is scheduled to depart only after the plane going to US takes off from Mumbai — so in case of a technical hitch, it can replace the aircraft going to the US, well this one really is a big bet coz, if the flight to US has a technical hitch wat abt the flight going to Singapore; one cant cancel the Singapore flight 4 sure… also, the back up plane, an asset worth close to $200m, will be under utilised on a short haul route like India-Singapore… bedises this, Air India plan to join the Star Alliance, a grouping of 17 international carriers like Lufthansa, United Airlines, Air Canada etc… this is going to offer Air India passengers the choice of flying onward to smaller cities in the US… First and business class passengers can opt for a limousine-drop up to New Jersey…I can jus hope that Air India is trying to regain its lost glory, wen it was considered as the most preferred airline in the world…the first airline in aviation which had a fleet of all Jet planes…well it will be shock 4 sm to know that once upon a time Air India trained the Singapore airlines cabin crew…well I can only say that it’s a good leap forward frm the Maharaja, hope 4 d best… Seed Newsvine Dig the Web!