India, July 14 -- Although intimations of Air India's precipitate decline have been doing the rounds for quite some time, we have been diehard clientele of the airline, certainly not for love or Atma nirbhar considerations but for the simple reason that we are on its attractive 'Frequent Flyer' programme and hope someday to log up a few free rides amidst the travails of travelling in the national carrier. So, as usual, we confirmed our booking by AI103 to leave New Delhi at 00:45 on July 2 and routed via Vienna to reach Washington Dulles at 11:15 hours on the same day, a scheduled 19-hour journey that began smoothly.

The turbulence hit on landing in Vienna at 6:30 am local time for a routine refuelling. That's when we began our descent i...