If anyone thinks that covered windows, smoking in cockpits and unlocked doors are unique to Air India - or that they constitute safety hazards when taken in isolation - you need to really ponder whether you are a truly unbiased observer.

Air India has a relatively poor safety culture when compared to some blue-chip EASA operators, but is no different and indeed arguably superior to the Kingfishers and Jet Airways of the world. It is also significantly less paranoid than most US operators, who operate in their own little world nowadays that everybody else just looks at and laughs at. When an ex-United captain starts talking about a poor workplace environment to the media, it is truly pot calling the kettle black.