A close call on Indian Airlines

If you're flying within India, aging, government-owned Indian Airlines is no longer the only choice.

Privately owned Jet Airways is considered the top airline in terms of service, and now there's price competition from new discount airlines such as Go Air and Air Deccan.

That's good news for Seattle. Boeing recently doubled its forecast for sales to India in the next 20 years.

And it's good news for travelers. Anyone who flies often in India will tell you to avoid Indian Airlines. Its service is government-issue, its safety record spotty, and it charges foreigners high prices.

I ignored what I'd heard because it had the flight times I wanted and it was easy to book tickets online from Seattle. But I learned my lesson when I had the scariest close call ever on an Indian Airlines flight bound from Jaipur to Mumbai (Bombay), followed by the worst service ever.

After the cabin doors were closed, the pilot announced a delay due to a problem that required the engines to be shut down and the engineers called.

About 20 minutes later, the problem apparently resolved, we began to taxi, then suddenly the pilot slammed on the brakes. Everyone lurched forward. Bags, purses and books flew. The plane skidded to a stop near the end of the runway.

Silence. Then this announcement from the cockpit.

"I'm sorry. We have to abort this flight because a bird flew into the engine."

An emergency crew was called to check to see if the tires were blown, then the plane taxied back. Some got off the plane and crowded around the engine to see if they could see the "bird."

Others swarmed the ticket desk inside the terminal, but there was no one to provide information.

One harried agent started processing refunds by hand, but, with people yelling and arguing and waving their tickets in the air to get his attention, this looked like it could take hours. We followed several Indian businessmen to the Go Air desk and booked another flight that left an hour later.

Back at the Indian Airlines desk, when the crowd thinned out, and I asked about the refund. The agent looked at my ticket. "Oh, an e-ticket. I'm sorry. You'll have to go to the Web site."

A few days earlier, there were news reports that an Indian Airlines flight was delayed in London two days because a bird flew into it. Another was reported to have crash-landed.

I was happy to be flying with Go on a brand new Airbus A320.