Has anyone flown air India? Do they follow the rules of the FAA i.s. do they have the same safety standards as the european/american airlines?
In order to fly to the USA, Air India and other foreign airlines need to meet the same standards as USA carriers. Technically, the country of origin must have the same standards.
Back in the day when I worked at JFK they had a daily B747-200 flight.
We called it the “Hotrod Hindu”.
Air India started flying to the USA (New York City) in May 1960.
The original poster sounded like he had some concerns about the safety of the airline. There’s no need to be worried about that.
The airline is expected to join the Star Alliance next year.
I’d be worried about the stench.
Now now wazzu, besides, you have to put your dog in the hold. 
That’s close, but not quite correct (I know, you’re going to tell me that it is your opinion). The FAA has no legal jurisdiction outside the US. By treaty, the International Civil Aviation Organization has jurisdiction over all international aviation. The FAA relies on National Civil Aviation Authorities in each country to regulate that country’s international air carriers in conformance with ICAO standards. However, the FAA can and does meet with those NCAA’s to see if they are complying with those ICAO standards. It is very rare (I don’t know of a single case) that the FAA has placed an NCAA of any country with an air carrier operating flights into the US in category III (Unacceptable, meaning that they are out of conformance with ICAO standards and cannot commence service into the US). I can think of a few cases (Venezuela, Indonesia, Domincan Republic) where the FAA has placed a given country’s NCAA into category II (Conditional, does not meet minimum ICAO standards, but can continue service into the US, but cannot expand service). The Indonesian situation involved Garuda Airlines, which had a terrible safety record.
So my answer is that you cannot be sure that another country’s airlines flying to and from the US meet the same safety standards as a US carrier closely regulated by the FAA. If they are rated Category I by the FAA, you have a greater assurance. If they are rated Category II, you have a good indication that they are currently below ICAO standards and have questionable safety, even though the FAA allows them to continue flying in the US.
The FAA is working more closely with India on aviation safety and opened a small office there in 2006. I think that India is a Class I country, but that is only my speculation and not based on any publication I can find.
Not my opinion and I was partially incorrect. The airline, if in a Category 2 country, can fly to the USA but is placed under higher scrutiny by the FAA.
There are only 2 categories now:
[
IASA Results Definitions
The FAA has established two ratings for the status of countries at the time of the assessment: does comply with ICAO standards, and does not comply with ICAO standards.
They are defined as follows:
* Category 1, Does Comply with ICAO Standards: A country's civil aviation authority has been assessed by FAA inspectors and has been found to license and oversee air carriers in accordance with ICAO aviation safety standards.
* Category 2, Does Not Comply with ICAO Standards: The Federal Aviation Administration assessed this country's civil aviation authority (CAA) and determined that it does not provide safety oversight of its air carrier operators in accordance with the minimum safety oversight standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
This rating is applied if one or more of the following deficiencies are identified:
- the country lacks laws or regulations necessary to support the certification and oversight of air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards;
- the CAA lacks the technical expertise, resources, and organization to license or oversee air carrier operations;
- the CAA does not have adequately trained and qualified technical personnel;
- the CAA does not provide adequate inspector guidance to ensure enforcement of, and compliance with, minimum international standards;
AND - the CAA has insufficient documentation and records of certification and inadequate continuing oversight and surveillance of air carrier operations.
This category consists of two groups of countries.
* One group are countries that have air carriers with existing operations to the United States at the time of the assessment. While in Category 2 status, carriers from these countries will be permitted to continue operations at current levels under heightened FAA surveillance. Expansion or changes in services to the United States by such carriers are not permitted while in category 2, although new services will be permitted if operated using aircraft wet-leased from a duly authorized and properly supervised U.S. carrier or a foreign air carrier from a category 1 country that is authorized to serve the United States using its own aircraft.
* The second group are countries that do not have air carriers with existing operations to the United States at the time of the assessment. Carriers from these countries will not be permitted to commence service to the United States while in Category 2 status, although they may conduct services if operated using aircraft wet-leased from a duly authorized and properly supervised U.S. carrier or a foreign air carrier from a Category 1 country that is authorized to serve the United States with its own aircraft.
No other difference is made between these two groups of countries while in a category 2 status.
Note For those countries not serving the U.S. at the time of the assessment, an asterisk “*” will be added to their Category 2 determination.](http://www.faa.gov/safety/programs_initiatives/oversight/iasa/definitions/)
Current results can be found at faa.gov/safety/programs%5Fin … iasaws.xls (this opens an Excel spreadsheet).
Here’s the IASA checklist
The stench? Wtf?
If you have to fly an Indian carrier, Jet airways is the one to opt for. I’ve only flown them in Asia, but food, service and comfort were superior to most US carriers. Also apparently Kingfisher managed to get itself 5 stars on Airline Quality.
Why do the Air India daily flight from EWR to CDG (flight 144) not have an arrival time for about 1/3 of the flights? See:
flightaware.com/live/flight/AIC144/history
Also, I don’t know anything about airline rules, but I have been worried that my Air india flight to CDG in September could possibly be cancelled, as flightstats says that about 5% of them are cancelled and i’ve heard a few horror stories about AI. if my flight did happen to be cancelled, would i get a refund, or a new ticket at no extra cost to me?
At least part of this flight occurs outside of FlightAware’s service area. Information on this page may be unreliable.
Even when the arrival time is present, they generally appear to be significantly off. With international outbound flights, we stop receiving information about the flight at some point with no indication of what happened.
Air India is not known for great service, but their service is certainly acceptable and their safety record is actually fairly good, especially considering the airline’s age and size.
The aircraft they fly on the route you are flying, the Boeing 747-400 was introduced in the late 1980’s and the ones that Air India has are even newer than that. The aircraft has an impeccable safety record.
If the flight is canceled you will likely be rebooked on one of the many carriers that fly to Paris from the New York area. However, it is unlikely that the flight will be canceled.
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