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Indian national carrier heading for closure

By Brij Bhardwaj. Dated: 5/26/2017 12:13:56 AM

Cries for privatisation of Air India, national carrier are becoming louder every day. Is it a part of campaign to prepare the ground before Government takes the ultimate step to hand over the national carrier to the highest bidder. This will be a sad end of an organisation which at one time had the top ranking among the airlines for quality of its service on board as well as for punctuality. The unfortunate part is that all those responsible for killing the hen which laid golden eggs will never be identified or punished.
Let us not forget that Air India was operating wide bodied Jet planes even before countries like Japan inducted them. It was also a carrier with ability to service these planes before such facilities were set up in Singapore and Hong Kong. Its entry into markets like USA, created a storm with advertisements like Indians are coming with war drums playing and finally a beautiful Air hostess in a beautiful Saree coming forward to indicate the treat in service that the airline was offering. Its mascot "Maharaja" was not only a symbol of luxury but also the service it offered.
There are many theories about why a jewel among public sector holding has now become a symbol of sloth, inefficiency and a drain on national resources. The decline started when the airline lost the guiding hand of professionals who ran it with love and care. Gone are the days when Ratan Tata was at top and it had a group of devoted professionals to run them. The bureaucrats who came in their place were time servers and wanted to use position to do favours to everyone in power be it a politician or a bureaucrat.
It is no secret that every politician or a bureaucrat expected airline management to upgrade him and go a extra mile to serve him instead of passengers who paid for travelling and had chosen Air India as a carrier. The decision to add extras like running hotels, flight kitchens diverted attention from its main task of running an airline which offered best service on ground, in flight and was known for punctuality. Instead it was loaded with pilots who went on strike on the smallest pretext and airhostesses who were not only overweight but also rude. They treated the local passengers with contempt while they went extra mile to serve the movers and shakers of political and bureaucratic world.
An airline which stops treating its passengers with respect and care has no future, but it was kept going as those in power were keen to keep it running so that they could continue to get favours. Afterall which other carrier would like to fly politicians and bureaucrats in business or first class without paying for it. On domestic routes, representatives of public whose hearts bleed for poor insisted on travelling in executive class only.
In recent times Air India was surviving because it received a large subsidy from other carriers for not operating on routes to which it was entitled in terms of agreements between India and other countries. The maximum benefits were available from routes between India and Gulf countries. This advantage was washed away when huge flying rights were given to carriers from Gulf countries for considerations which remained suspect in eyes of public and those who know airline business.
On the domestic front Indian Airlines suffered because it had to carry burden of operating on uneconomic routes. The officials incharge ordered new planes without keeping in mind the economies of operation. One senior executive once told this reporter that if the Government can subsidise local bus services why not an airline. In such circumstances the losses continued to mount with everyone expecting the Government or the taxpayers to come to its rescue. The private airlines went into liquidation while state carrier carried on thanks to Government subsidy.
The final nail which sealed the fate of national carrier was merger of Indian Airlines and Air India. Two carriers with different work culture, different fleets and no advantages of coming together as the condition was no joint operations, no retrenchment of staff with the result that we have a model which is sinking deeper and deeper everyday. It needs to be kept in mind that airline is a capital intensive industry which operates with a very small margin.
World over state owned carriers have in general suffered losses and many of them had to shut shop including many in European countries. Many stars of previous years like Cathey Pacific, Swiss air and British Airways are no more making profit. The models that are working are economy or no frill carriers. In India Kingfisher known for its services had to shut shop after huge losses, Jet Air has been rescued by a foreign partner. If any buyers are found for Air India it will be only for its huge real estate holdings and flying rights it enjoys on international routes.
The best option will be to separate the domestic and international operations and adopt a no frill model. There are no quick fix solutions as it will be a shame if a country of India's size and it economic potential has no national carrier. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has travelled more extensively as compared to any Prime Minister in the past after privatisation of Air India will either have to travel by a private carrier in a plane chartered by the Government or India will have to get Air Force one as is the case of United States of America.
(Brij Bhardwaj is a veteran journalist and commentator)
—[IFS]