Well, I must say I never tried AI/IC, maybe I should... The things I have heard are quite horrible, but still, India is a huge market. The fact that it's a developing country is not the issue - I feel the same way about AZ (not a developing country) and I surely don't feel the same way about KQ or MH or RJ (technically developing countries), or even GA which I find quite good. Service and performance with KQ are as least as good as major European airlines, and MH or RJ even better in some regards.

Still, AI/IC, well, I'll then give it a try when it joins *A... I take a bit of time to adjust. I had horrible experiences with SU in the past, and since last time I flew it in 1995, I never tried again, I find it hard to believe that it has really changed (besides the hassle of getting a visa, I am too busy, though a quick stopover in MOW would be good sometimes). I should revise my world map of competence and incompetence...

About MS, I did fly it recently and am sorry but it was quite poor - late flights, rude staff, poor service with horrible food. One of the two terminals at CAI is not that bad though (but I think MS uses the other one), it's not just about the airport and the rude authorities there. But it may just have been a bad day...

And ET, is that really joining *A too ? That will make *A really go down... I think they should focus on quality, not quantity, it is so big already anwyay. I know lots of people who fly ET, and at least one third of the time the flight is either very very late (causing missed connections) or cancelled.

I still don't get why some major big good airlines are not in any alliance - SN, Olympic, MH (only a ST associate), GA, and of course EK, GF and Qatar Airways - there must be some more I am forgetting. The alliances lose out, these airlines lose out too - I am so used to the alliances and my status that I won't even consider EK, even though I flew it in the past and I know it is absolutely excellent. And when I go to Greece, I will go via FRA or AMS to stick to the alliances, insted of using Olympic -- what am I going to do with a few Greek miles every two years, take a holiday to Greece in 20 years ?

So, surely IC/AI took a smart decision, let's hope it's good for *A too.