[scheme271]

If it's a national carrier or a major airline, I think they can probably contact people high enough in the government that visa issues will be quickly resolved. If Air India is losing 200k a day because of a plane being inoperable, I suspect that they can get the Indian government to expedite any visas and allow people to legally stay long enough to fix the plane. Anyone on Boeing's team is probably really low risk in terms of overstaying their visa illegally or committing some heinous crime.

[hirsin]

Heck, airlines can do that just for dumb passengers.

I was (attempting to) check in for my NZ to Australia flight on Emirates, and had totally forgotten Americans required a visa to enter Australia. They called ahead and got me a visa on arrival - all I had was a piece of scrap paper with a number written on it that I redeemed at the other end.

[ss1996]

It worked out for you because USA - Australia visa requirements are pretty lax. Generally speaking, developed countries have relaxed (or no) visa requirements for each other. Had you been traveling to say China, India, or basically any global south country, it wouldn't have worked out.

[hirsin]

Yep, definitely American privilege making up for American bad assumptions. I have reliably gotten my visa requirements right the rest of the time across said global South.