On the wings of dreams

It touched down late, but Air India’s first Boeing 727 Dreamliner, of twenty-seven ordered in 2007, did finally arrive last month after much turbulence in the air between Boeing and Air India. It is hoped that the greater fuel efficiency, carrying capacity and staying power will arrest the national carrier’s nose-diving bottomline and extend its wings overseas. This new vehicle of hope was duly feted with coconuts in Delhi before it took to Indian skies on its first day on the job, splashed by water cannons on its maiden touchdown in Chennai — but then developed an unfortunate snag on its second wing from Delhi to Bangalore, delaying take-off. Meanwhile, in a break with AI tradition of bestowing a vernacular name on its craft, this carrier remains unchristened. Though its first flights have been domestic, future siblings will be deployed overseas — first to Dubai, and then on European runs. A second craft has also arrived from Charleston, via Frankfurt, making Nivedita Bhasin the first woman to command a Dreamliner on a commercial flight.