Maharaja

In my short and hurried trip to India I flew the Maharaja the truly Indian - Air India. The saying among the passengers was true that they really make you feel at home. Right from the check in line I felt I was a royal princess from India. The line took me only 1 hr at the end of which I was greeted by the most happy to help gentleman who cared so much about my comfort that I could not help feeling privileged.

The boarding was scheduled to be at 6:30 pm which was another delightful process. To begin with they were only 30 min late which as per Indian standards was not very much. The flight staff had a warm Namaskar and any further discussion was not entertained. The passenger in front of me wanted a seat exchange which was ignored until the passengers figured it out themselves.

There were no personal TV for each passenger and the movie was played via a projector system on the front of the cabin. God bless those people who were sitting at the back and were short. It would have been a very entertaining and joyous ride they would never forget.

I must say the staff was not very bad since they never appeared outside except to serve beverages and food. The saree clad aunties would indeed remind you of home sweet home. To give some credit the flight did land in India only 45 min late even though it took off nearly 90+ min late.

I flew Air India in return and the flight was much better and there were personal entertainment TV for each passenger. However, this time most passengers could not push back their seats more than 1". It was like traveling non stop 15 hrs sitting upright. Even the Volvo buses in India do a better job.

I hear AI is running into losses and I can guess why. I don't understand why the govt is bailing them out. The latest I hear is that Ratan Tata has been called in to do a turn around for AI . I hope he can make it a true Maharaja!