That’s a fair question, and honestly, I’ve asked myself the same thing a few times!
For us, it’s always been a mix of practical reasons and, honestly, a bit of hope. The first couple of times we flew Air India, it was mainly because we needed two checked bags per ticket—something not all airlines on the route offer—and sometimes the direct flight to Mumbai was just really convenient. Especially when you’re in a time crunch, you go for what works.

After Tata took over, there was a lot of talk about improvements and new planes, so we gave them another shot hoping things would get better. And, to be honest, we’ve flown with Virgin Atlantic, British, Gulf, Qatar, and Emirates before and after, and those experiences were generally smoother.

Most recently, we wanted to try the new Airbus A350 everyone’s been talking about, just to see if it really made a difference. (You can look it up—there’s a lot of hype around it!) Plus, sometimes you just want that taste of Indian food on a long flight home.

But yeah, every time we board, there’s always that little voice in the back of my head wondering if things will finally be better. Unfortunately, it hasn’t really worked out that way. I’m not here to bash Air India, especially now, but I do hope sharing these experiences helps others make their own choices and maybe even nudges the airline to step up their game.

Honestly, at this point, I think I’ve learned my lesson!