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Journalism of Courage
Vijay Mallya wants the Govt to buy seats,he should ask the Govt to find him a buyer
Crisis is not conducive to good sense. Even if that could be accepted axiomatically,without proof,theres Vijay Mallya,promoter of Kingfisher Airlines,demanding that state governments underwrite,or buy,a certain number of seats on Air India as well as private carriers. This is as bad as practice and example could get. According to reports,Mallyas demand came at the first meeting of a government committee formulating civil aviation policy. His justification: states are the ultimate beneficiaries of the connectivity.
A course correction for aviation must rest on the no-go of bailout. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh,in fact,should follow up on his bold and reformist proposal for permitting foreign airlines to acquire stakes in domestic carriers. Air India,still retaining the first right of refusal,met total costs on only two of its 175 domestic and international routes in Q1 and Q2,while substantial foreign flying quotas remain unutilised. A more level-playing field for private domestic carriers to fly abroad must be immediately created. Meanwhile,disinvestment and downsizing will help Air India rather than the states perverse propping up of the ailing carrier. The induction of strategic investment will help cash-starved carriers such as Kingfisher raise capital. Thats the correct prescription,not the infectious hankering after state largesse of one kind or the other.
