The height of good taste

Air India taught the world that food could taste good even at 35,000 feet. It got others to up their game. Why did we forget it all?

- VIR SANGHVI

It's not a story that Air India tells about itself, though perhaps that could be because everyone who remembers it has probably left the airline.

But in the 1960s and for much of the 1970s, Air India operated a London to New York service every day.

At that time, the trans-Atlantic route was the most competitive in the world, and European and American Airlines would slug it out for supremacy. Despite this, Air India, a small airline from a country that had no significant aviation tradition, made a mark.

Mostly, it was because of the food. This was a time when all airlines served European food. Even Japan Airlines, the best known of the Asian carriers, served Western food. A JAL menu from 1966 would be packed with such dishes as Chicken Galantine. No Japanese dishes were on offer.

Research showed that passengers enjoyed Air India's Indian food much more than the European food that the American and British airlines were serving.