I used to think the same and might still agree for shorter long haul flights. But I have changed my mind for the real long hauls. I've been to New York many times. And the 19+ hour flight from SIN was by far the best way to get there from the other side of the world. It's different to the many non-stop AUS-USA flights I've done too. They are mostly quite a bit shorter. SQ offered full meal service after take off and before landing. And the 15 or so hours in between was service on demand. So 15 or so hours where nothing much happened unless you asked for something. It was great. 15 hours of peace and quiet (for a plane).
Here I was more than an hour after take-off from SIN and still worried that it would the flight from hell! Only 18:15 hours to go!
I did the SIN/EWR flight once, not too long before it was withdrawn from service. It's not the easiest flight to do, even if you are in Business (or First) Class. The main take away points I would have are:
- Ensure you manage your time and plan around the time zones (i.e. when you leave and when you arrive). I'm not saying follow traditional jet lag advice, but since you are up in the air (removed from "ground reality") for a long time, it's important to manage those expectations.
- Keep hydrated. No, this doesn't mean keep drinking Champagne. The plane is very dry; in premium cabins, even more so. The longer you are up in the air, the longer you are in the very dry environment, and the more important it is to keep hydrated in order to ensure you don't get sick.
I've also done my fair share of Europe/Asia flights (which are usually in the vicinity of 11-13 hours) in both Economy and premium classes, and also done DFW/SYD, which is a good 15 hours or so. The latter I did in J; again, it was important to drink plenty of water and overuse moisturisers. The timing of the flight made it somewhat easier to appreciate getting a decent amount of sleep on the flight. Also, the QF snacks were in general better than SQ's snacks.
The EK flight, something which many Indians who are travelling between India and Silicon Valley are likely on, between DXB and west coast USA are pretty long and pushing some limits on the longest flights in the world (depending on various measures). DL has a flight between JNB and ATL which is non-stop in one direction.
For a flight which is predisposed for some sleep, i.e. overnight, I find it easier if the flight is longer and not shorter. This is why PER red-eyes back to the East coast are punishing, even if you manage to nod off nearly straight away until landing (and for me, that is nearly impossible - I'd be lucky to get 3 hours on PER/BNE, even after refusing the meal services). Ditto for some intra-Asia red-eyes, such as BKK/ICN or HKG/ICN. Even something like BKK/NRT, timed at about 5-6 hours, is not easy.
I think the main selling point for AI starting this route would be the non-stop ability. Maybe they also have lots of corporate travel tied up on that (I wonder what those companies do for travel right now?), and the native population would likely fly their own carriers (they may have a questionable international reputation, but until they are killing people through accidents and negligence, they'll still fill planes with at least the natives). If AI stop along the way, they would almost be no better than any other option that could connect Bangalore and Silicon Valley; for example, the ME3, which are vacuuming up the traffic between North America and India like no tomorrow (if we are to believe the main opposing lobby in the United States).
How do people bear an 18 hour flight, especially in Economy? I guess there are ways to do it. 18 hours in a tube in Y and I probably wouldn't be ready to jump into a meeting straight away at the other end, unless my life depended on that meeting (and so I was probably working on the plane). My legs would probably need a good rub and woe betide anyone who hasn't heeded any anti-DVT advice. I'm not sure many people outside of this forum have considered many ramifications of travelling for more than 12 hours, apart from some conceding that it's a necessity at times. All I can say is that if an 18 hour flight runs out of drinking water at any time, that's a recipe for disaster (perhaps literally).
Given AI is part of Star Alliance, maybe UA (or even AC) might like to jump on this as a possibility to further tap into the USA to India market which at least the former is apparently struggling to make good market share on (if their rhetoric against the ME3 is to be believed).