So I sit in a taxi next to this car marked “Quick Response Vehicle”.
Except none of us is really moving. 10.20, 30 minutes. I start to panic – I am
late to the airport in India.
Turns out there are crowds for a political motorcade. I have been stuck behind Clinton on my way to
Boston Logan once. I groan. The taxi driver can feel the heat rise from me. One
less reason to like politicians.
My flight is at 5.45. The taxi drops me off at
5.30. I run to the ticket counter. They calmly hand me a boarding pass. The bus
to the plane could hold 50. It leaves with only one passenger – me. Welcome to
Jet Airways, one of the growing number of private airlines in India. Only about a decade old. And
recently carried 36,000 passengers in one day. More than any of the government
run airlines in the country has ever managed - ever. Reasonable pricing, smiling
service, very punctual. One part of India’s infrastructure that works.
Even the politicians have not been able to ruin it. Quick Response Vehicle.
