The Indian American

profits since the previous year. SpiceJet, another big-brand budget car- rier, announced net losses of $5 million in its June quarter. Despite the cash crunch, big airlines are under government pressure to expand services even on financially risky routes. In 2017, Modi, eager to promote affordable aviation as part of a huge package of social improvements, launched the Regional Connectivity Scheme, which aims to connect small Indian towns to the aviation map through subsidized new routes. The program is one element of the prime minister's broader infrastructure push - it also includes a $17 billion bul- let train and 53,000 miles of new roads - showcasing India's gleaming moderni- ty in a scramble for global superpower status. But in the aviation sector, at least, those lofty ambitions have been accom- panied - and tempered - by disarray. Air Deccan and Air Odisha, which collectively bagged 84 of the 128 con- tracts offered in the first phase of the new connectivity program, canceled more than half their flights in September, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Embarrassingly, one of the airports Modi personally inaugurated in September, in the industrial town of Jharsuguda, had flights for only two weeks before abruptly halting opera- tions. An official at the Airports Authority of India, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said the flights were stopped because of internal problems at the airline, Air Odisha, and would be resumed soon. Meanwhile, as small towns struggle to set up new routes, major airports are beset with delays and cancellations. Mumbai airport, India's busiest, reported delays on one in four of its domestic flights in September, accord- ing to the DGCA. And like New Delhi's airport, it is running out of landing slots, making it impossible to add new routes. For the millions of Indians being ini- tiated into their country's new aviation era each year, the experience can be chaotic and unglamorous. But for Gyana Devi, a 51-year-old school- teacher flying for the first time on a wobbly Bombardier to her hometown of Kishangarh, it is also magical. "I will show everyone at home," she said as she filmed a video of her first time above the clouds. approach to pressing issues of our time and to soci- ety as a whole.” Despite the signal achievements of some Indian-American women and gains secured within the community and in the mainstream, some problems persist. “There are unfortunate sectors of the (Indian-origin) people who bring their caste, dowry and other practices here,” says attorney Harmeet Dhillon, National Committeewoman from California on the Republican National Committee. As a lawyer who has done pro-bono work, Dhillon says she has handled cases of asylum for Indian women who were oppressed by dowry, 34 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2018