Nobody I know flies AI for SQ experience. They are there for a low fare, schedule, etc. OP too was flying AI only because there was an emergency and no other airline, especially the ones whose pilots speak good English and FA's are to drool over, could or would fly him MAA-CCU. [I]Something AI [I]did do - and on time.[I]

This is not to apologize for AI, but to point out that AI only reflects present India and Indian reality: dirt, filth, bureaucracy, inefficiency, not creating good things ourselves but coveting what others have created (AI brass prefer to fly European carriers). Even when we do occasionally create something good, we can't or don't maintain it and it declines, eg, Indian hockey or Jet Airways. Our trains, road transport, harbors, rivers, boats, post offices, schools, markets, "resorts", cities, sports teams and venues, public facilities, even kitchens and bathrooms inside our homes, none is any different. Back to aviation: The world's fancy carriers are not fighting among themselves for landing rights at MAA or CCU. Even Indian ones seem to be cutting down. The AI pilot and FA's on OP's flight, with their accents and other charms, may well have been from these cities. We just don't like what we have done with ourselves.