As befits a high-flying India: It is natural for Indians to expect that Air India will become world class again—as soon as possible!

My very first flight was aboard a (practically) brand new Air India aircraft, evocatively named the Emperor Ashoka, way back in 1972. Needless to add it left a deep impression on my six-year-old mind, not only because of the dimension of a Boeing 747 (‘Jumbo’) but the regal ambience, the glamorous, poised cabin crew, and even the food. Air India had already been nationalised for nearly 20 years by then but was still to become sarkari in form and function. Since then, “a good experience” and “Air India” rarely featured in the same sentence for most people. Unless they happened to be VIPs of some sort, usually of the official kind, for whom the crew metaphorically rolled out the red carpet. For most other passengers, it was a recurring nightmare of hugely delayed or cancelled flights, surly and unhelpful staff both at check-in and on board, broken seats, malfunctioning screens, bad or indifferent food and no remorse.

In a way, Air India came to symbolise all that is bad about sarkari organisations: slothful, unaccountable and unmindful of the changing world. And so, somewhere along the way, airlines from tiny places like Singapore, Hongkong (Cathay), Qatar and UAE (Emirates, Etihad) set the standard, leaving many older, “legacy” European and US carriers, besides Air India, far behind in terms of cabin comforts, airport amenities, onboard service and on-time performance.

After Air India was re-privatised (or de-nationalised!) about three years ago, there were great hopes that the Tatas would instantly take the airline back to its glory days. Naturally there have been lots of social media rants as that has not happened immediately. It is rather like when some people imagine they can get broken bones or torn ligaments to heal in a far shorter time than the doctors’ estimates, simply by spending more money. Everything needs time to change.

So, flying Air India abroad last month after a hiatus of well over a decade, with some trepidation but a glimmer of hope, I was pleasantly surprised. It helped that the trip was aboard one of the six brand new Airbus350-900s that Air India now operates, as its more numerous older aircraft still bear the scars of its sarkari phase. Both outward bound and back, it was such a good experience from check-in to de-planing that I suddenly felt like a wide-eyed, six-year-old again.

As India rises, Indians are also getting used to (and demanding) world-class standards from desi brands, and benchmarking is always against the best-in-class now rather than against lesser lights as used to befit a country that was resigned to being classed as ‘Third World’. Yes, India has not birthed a Google or Apple yet, and there are still many infrastructural shortcomings, but once the pressure to perform increases, the market and governments have to respond.

When Gukesh D became World Chess Champion on Thursday, there was jubilation but not surprise. Thanks to Vishwanathan Anand since 2000 and the Chess Olympiad golds this September, India is no longer consoling itself that chess was invented here even as others dominated the board. That is the case in diverse other spheres too. We have Chandrayaan3 under our belt, UPI is now the norm not a novelty, we even have many Michelin-starred chefs!It remains a national carrier albeit no longer a government entity, so Air India also regaining its world-class status is important. But the deep malaise of its sarkari phase will take time to be excised and solutions are not all in its control, such as the delivery of new and retrofitted planes. So nightmares and rants will continue until the Tatas overhaul Air India’s most tenacious sarkari trait: a lackadaisical work ethic. Fortunately, that they are working on it is obvious!