Having flown all the carriers on business trips I find IC Indian airlines the most trained and most friendly staff I have ever seen .Their pilots are also good.fares many times when booked early equal or even beat air deccan and many other airlines on many sectors, their aircraft are old but once they get newer ones in 2006 onwards , their comfort will improve.
overall what counts finally for safety is the experience of the pilots and ground crew on the Airbus A320 aircraft .As getting safely from A to B is critical and that is the bottom line.I am not saying other carriers are not safe , but I am talking about IA long experience with a particular type of modern aircraft.IA gave me the smoothest landings ever on a airbus flight.
Ground staff and booking counters are good, one word of advise with any airline or anywhere if you are cheerful you will almost always get back a smile.it is wrong to be rude to people and expect to be smiled back, people here write about air hostess not smiling , their job is primarily ensure safety in case of crashes and evacuate people IMHO, serving food and drinks is also important..See the Nat Geo air crash investigations programme on Nat Geo channel to know how important their role is in safety during an emergency.
totally recommend IA