Airline

Government takes convenient stand where required about Air India – denies ownership of liabilities

The Government has always had ownership of the national carriers, Air India, and Indian Airlines, and after their merger, the combined entity. In all this time, while private airlines (some of them) have been going from strength to strength, the national airline has been run down to such a condition that if the airline was a private company, it would have been closed down a long time back. So, from time to time, the Government has been pumping in money into what has essentially been a loss making concern, and that too, with a huge quantum of losses. In fact, in some of the Nira Radia tapes, it has been alleged that the effort to ensure that the airline does not recover is part of a deal made with private airlines and the former minister Praful Patel. If that was the case, then one can say that the Minister has succeeded tremendously. Right now, the National Carrier is in such a condition that unless it is given funds by the Government, it cannot run even on an operating level, forget about its plans for spending huge sums of money to buy new planes.
However, at a time when the Government has total control of the airline and has been the primary reason for the terrible condition that the airline is in, it is conveniently shirking its responsibility when it comes to some of the liability that the airline has. This is especially bad when it is considered that these are liabilities in the area of back wages and wage arrears. So, when there is a court case filed by retired cabin crew asking for their wage arrears, the Government has declined to take any responsibility for these liabilities (link to article):
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Air India incident – the airline takes some action

This was probably the last thing that Air India needed. Air India has already been in the news because of the constant losses that have totally eroded its net worth (compared to private airlines that have suffered losses, but are still plodding through). It has been widely reported that these losses are aggravated because of many faulty government policies such as giving away profitable routes, paying huge money for aircraft leases even though these aircraft have not been utilized, and further, Air India has an inflated staff strength that is bleeding the airline, and a combination of politics and unions have prevented some trimming of this expense. And now the Government is looking to pump huge money into the airline for purchase of new aircraft.
The airline hardly needed to make more negative news, and that too news of the weird kind. Imagine being in the air, at top cruising altitude, at midnight, and suddenly you see the polite crew and the pilots fighting with each other, screaming at each other, and even physically fighting with each other. The first reaction would be of sudden bewilderment, followed by apprehension and anxiety. And you would be so thankful when the flight finally landed. And the next day, the papers were all full of this fight, including charges of molestation, harassment, being rude, and so on. And the lady then goes off and files complaints using the various instruments available with her – accusing the pilots of molestation, and going to the National Commission for Women to highlight her plight.
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Strike, and then called off – Private airlines

In India, private airlines have a tough field. They have to pay high rates for their fuel (ATF costs in India are higher than most places in the world), the conversion to new airports run by private operators are loading user convenience charges that passengers do not like to pay, and it is a cut-throat business with high fixed charges and a variable market that has been severely affected by the economic slow-down.
So, most private airlines are in the red, owing money to fuel companies, to airports, to their debtors, and they do not see a solution in sight. The Government in the past has not provided them any solution in the form of lower taxes on ATF, or any kind of monetary hand-out.
Eventually, the Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising of 5 of the private airlines called for something unprecedented, a one day strike on August 18th where they would stop all operations, and refund all tickets. This was primarily meant as a pressure tactic, and they must have got bold after seeing Anil Ambani take on the Government and not suffer any apparent problems. However, the Government response was swift and harsh. The Government threatened to take strict action, including reviewing their licenses.

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