Indian Airline NEWS: India’s notional carrier?

From undisputed king of the skies to an also-ran. No wonder the Maharaja looks frumpy these days. The spectre of yet another strike adds to his worries. Is the age of the national carrier over?

The latest findings offer a partial answer. According to figures from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Air India's market share has slipped to fourth place at 17.1%, with Jet Airways in the lead and Kingfisher and Indigo following. In December, its On-time Performance or punctuality was 65.3%, well behind Jet, Kingfisher and Indigo.

The maharaja seems out of step with the times. Kapil Arora, partner at Ernst & Young, a leading professional services organization, says that a national carrier's chief brand value lies in efficiency, passenger sensitivity and smart business acumen. He says these three qualities matter more than it being wholly or partially government-owned. "But AI's inefficiency in operations, skewed HR practices and demotivated employees leave a lot to be desired. Let's face it, the airline sector is a service industry and the bottomline is the passenger," he says. So where does that leave Air India? As no more than the carrier of choice for politicians and a supplier of jobs, says a civil aviation ministry official. "There is no pragmatic priceline and many freeloaders," he says.

It's a far cry from 1946, the year of Air India's birth. Anticipating independence, a hopeful India needed a national airline to reflect its hopes and dreams. Jitender Bhargava, a former executive director of AI, says the old-style work culture cannot survive in today's "cut-throat world unless you want to commit harakiri". But that's the way Air India has continued to work. "There is little fire in the belly, its sales teams don't visit customers or use new technology to get business. Even its ad announcing a uniform code, which should have targeted the passenger, doesn't reveal how it'll benefit him. AI unions, which held managements to ransom, would have been shown the door in a private carrier."

Roy Paul, former civil aviation secretary, says a national carrier makes sense if there is some pride in it. Paul was AI chairman when the Indian Pilots Guild was derecognized in 2003. He says, "AI's sad state is because its flights and seats were sold without any reciprocal basis and lucrative routes given to competitors." Sudhakar Reddy, president of the Air Passengers Association of India, adds that the airline has "been treated badly by politicians. Give it a level playing field, it can once again occupy pride of place in the skies."

Perhaps. But the truth is that Air India has little to recommend it now. Even the brownie points it scored by flying to uneconomical sectors that private carriers wouldn't touch have little relevance now. Once upon a time, Air India could proudly point to its record of ferrying Indians from flashpoints around the world — Kuwait in the 1990s for example. But now, the government expects private carriers to do this as well.

So what, asks civil aviation secretary Dr Nasim Zaidi. He says Air India is the nation's pride, which is why the government intends to give it Rs 5,000 cr as equity support. "This, along with a turnaround plan and financial restructuring will ensure its smooth running."

Bureaucrat Amitabh Kant who sold Kerala as a destination with the God's Own Country campaign, agrees that India needs a national carrier. A dynamic, vibrant national carrier can sell a country globally and give a boost to trade and tourism, he asserts. "See what Singapore Airlines has become for Singapore. India is a long-haul destination and 90% of inbound traffic is by air, so a national carrier can do wonders."

But ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar says Air India, once synonymous with discovery, beauty and hospitality, has lost its USP. Would he re-brand Air India? No, he says, explaining "my own credibility would be damaged. An ad has to be in sync with the product."

So what's the way forward? Make it a lean, mean airline and give it back to the Tatas, suggests a hopeful employee. Get E Sreedharan of Delhi Metro to run it, says another. Experts say the airline needs a strategic partner that can infuse money into it and give the management breathing space. After all, it is fighting a tough battle. Are the unions listening?

By
Neha Jain

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