Mr. Tim Clark, President, Emirates is right, when he says that Air India should have been where Emirates is, 25 years ago.....! Air India had everything going for it then- a ready made huge market, revenues and profits, a captive market of Kerala, limited competition, a wide global network, ample protection from the government ....! Everything was hunky dory in Air India and for its management. When the likes of EY, QR, EK were virtually unheard of, when Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Kolkatta were the only international airports in the country, when Kerala, where the market to the Middle East and Gulf was booming, was under the exclusive monopoly of Air India, when Air India collected royalty from foreign carriers for operating into India. Those were the days.....
This enormous comfort over the years of earning profits, bred lethargy and complacency. This was also the time when neglect and apathy towards passenger complaints and grievances were taken for granted. Rescheduling of flights for VVIP's was indulged in with impunity-with scant regard to passenger inconvenience. Aircrafts were pulled out for modification and prepositioning at various overseas countries creating an unprecedented mayhem and chaos for the passengers. Flight delays and disruptions were commonplace. Passengers were helpless and had no recourse for remedy except to wait till Air India was ready to take them to their destination.
Today if it has landed in a mess, and the very same passengers it neglected, are neglecting it today. Air India is paying for its past sins. Foreign airlines are having a feild day. Whose fault is it ? Not Air India's, but its owners- the Government and its henchmen-who lacked the vision, foresight to gauge the intensity of the storm that was brewing on the horizon. They equated Air India with anyother public transport machinery- like the Railways or the State Road Transport Undertakings. They forgot, that Air India was not the Indian Railways-which is a monopoly and continues to run despite being in a total mess.
All is not lost. Even now, some damage control can be done and Air India can be resurrected back to its original glory, only if the government allows Air India to function as a commercial enterprise, and not, as a social service like the Indian railways or the state transport buses. Private investment, professional management, freedom of decision making with complete accountability and responsibility should be looked into. Air India should be allowed to adopt and emulate the best business models and business practices that are followed by the leading airlines of the world to emerge as the winner. The Rs 20,000 crores of bail out package should be given to a private professional management, to turn around the airline.
Pumping in such huge amount of public money in a company, that continues to operate with outdated legacy work practices, procedures and work culture, will never turn around Air India, leave aside it ever reaching the stature of Emirates. Tim Clark has said that Air India should have been where Emirates is 25 years ago.......but I doubt if Air India will be where Emirates is today, even after 25 years, if it continues to pursue the practices and work culture that it is pursuing today.
This enormous comfort over the years of earning profits, bred lethargy and complacency. This was also the time when neglect and apathy towards passenger complaints and grievances were taken for granted. Rescheduling of flights for VVIP's was indulged in with impunity-with scant regard to passenger inconvenience. Aircrafts were pulled out for modification and prepositioning at various overseas countries creating an unprecedented mayhem and chaos for the passengers. Flight delays and disruptions were commonplace. Passengers were helpless and had no recourse for remedy except to wait till Air India was ready to take them to their destination.
Today if it has landed in a mess, and the very same passengers it neglected, are neglecting it today. Air India is paying for its past sins. Foreign airlines are having a feild day. Whose fault is it ? Not Air India's, but its owners- the Government and its henchmen-who lacked the vision, foresight to gauge the intensity of the storm that was brewing on the horizon. They equated Air India with anyother public transport machinery- like the Railways or the State Road Transport Undertakings. They forgot, that Air India was not the Indian Railways-which is a monopoly and continues to run despite being in a total mess.
All is not lost. Even now, some damage control can be done and Air India can be resurrected back to its original glory, only if the government allows Air India to function as a commercial enterprise, and not, as a social service like the Indian railways or the state transport buses. Private investment, professional management, freedom of decision making with complete accountability and responsibility should be looked into. Air India should be allowed to adopt and emulate the best business models and business practices that are followed by the leading airlines of the world to emerge as the winner. The Rs 20,000 crores of bail out package should be given to a private professional management, to turn around the airline.
Pumping in such huge amount of public money in a company, that continues to operate with outdated legacy work practices, procedures and work culture, will never turn around Air India, leave aside it ever reaching the stature of Emirates. Tim Clark has said that Air India should have been where Emirates is 25 years ago.......but I doubt if Air India will be where Emirates is today, even after 25 years, if it continues to pursue the practices and work culture that it is pursuing today.
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