Cabin Pressure at Air India

Air India is a frustrating airline to fly, work for, read about or own. Ask me. As a flyer, I flew quite a bit on its planes, I have a friend who works for it and as a tax payer, I own a bit of it. Over the years, as the losses have grown, my shareholding has only increased as more money is sunk into digging a bigger hole. Now, airlines never make money. Richard Branson was once asked just how one could become a millionaire. “First become a billionaire, he said, “and then set up an airline!” Imagine a truly pathetic, poorly maintained airline service operating in an intensely competitive market, with a high fixed cost structure, amidst a global recession and the only thought that should hit you is “ Please, please shut this down, pay the salaries for a year to all, ground the planes and sell them at about $ 100 a kilo.”

Well, the Government is doing exactly the opposite: pumping Rs. 4000 crores into it, buying up all the new planes they can find, launching new, thoroughly unprofitable services to destinations that are well serviced by existing bleeding carriers. The Minister for Aviation is a businessman – his family owns one of India’s largest beedi brands, and he should know the rudiments of profitability. Just what could happen if Air India is not bailed out? The Aircraft unions will go on strike and a couple of airports will be besieged by staff who aren’t employable elsewhere, yet that is a small price to pay for the perpetuation of a myth. Keeping Air India alive is not compassionate capitalism (on which subject I hope to dwell, in a later note) – it is rank stupidity. So why is this asininity on display? The answer: because it is our money – yours and mine, and others, who have no accountability to us, are managing it.
Just imagine what we could do with a fraction of this money: how many trees we could plant, maintain and protect, how many villages we could install water purifiers in, how many lakes we could desilt, how many forest guards we could employ to protect our oxygen and water sources, how many energy saving bulbs we could distribute at a subsidised price. The lesson: in human development, common sense, not money, has been in short supply. Will the Government have the courage to do the right thing ?