Air travel within India: Is it safe?

Cowboy Greg

The US Federal Aviation Administration recently downgraded India's aviation industry from Category 1 to Category 2 because of safety concerns. I emailed Tauck and asked if we need to be worried -- we have 4 internal flights scheduled as part of our tour -- but I have not heard back. Maybe if more travelers ask, we'll get an answer.

British

I am assuming that Tauck does not want to lose any of it's paying customers or tour guides, so I guess they are Ok with it. I did this tour last year. There are many other concerns about traveling to India, terrorism, roads, food , but for us it was all worth the risk. Only you can decide if you want to go on the tour based on the facts you research. Tauck have only ever in the entire history have lost a client on a tour that was out of their control and that was in India. You may be surprised how many other countries do not make Category I and let's face it, the U.S. has some very antiquated air traffic control systems.

jdurkin

If you are talking about this press release: FAA Announces Revised Safety Rating for India, it is not recent. It was issued on 31st January, 2014. http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsid=15674
Perhaps, given the above date, there will be another more recent press release come the end of January, 2015.

As British says, you must do your own research and decide on your own tolerance level. Out of interest, however, the incident British refers to had nothing to do with air travel.

wambli

Having just returned from India, we experienced no problems with the intratour air arrangements. We understand Air India has a penchant for cancelling flights and giving away seats but it wasn't used on our tour. We particularly chose the Tauck tour because it flew more places than others we investigated. Bus days in India can be trying. If you can average 20mph on a highway trip in India you're not doing badly. Their highways are also not lined with rest stops and other convenience facilities. Train schedules are also frequently running late. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and while the chaos of the roads will certainly get an American's attention, our drivers handled all very well. I would encourage you to enjoy your choice of travelling to India and look forward to the experience

Felicia

Cowboy Greg wrote:

The US Federal Aviation Administration recently downgraded India's aviation industry from Category 1 to Category 2 because of safety concerns. I emailed Tauck and asked if we need to be worried -- we have 4 internal flights scheduled as part of our tour -- but I have not heard back. Maybe if more travelers ask, we'll get an answer.

It'd be hard to say yes or no about safety, but I just returned and we took 3 inter-country flights, two with Jet Airways and one with SpiceJet. SpiceJet was a propeller plane (like a commuter) and I didn't care for that one. I didn't feel like it was dangerous, just not a fan. (That plane had a restroom, but no sink!). The ones on Jet Airways were fine. All of them were late leaving, but not too terribly bad.

Felicia