Give our airlines better, fairer deal

India’s private airlines as well as state-owned Air India (which incorporates what earlier used to be Indian Airlines) are justifiably aggrieved at the way foreign carriers — many barely a year or more old — are allowed landing rights at 10 to 12 destinations in this country. For instance, all the Gulf airlines as well as others can fly to the hinterland — to places like Calicut, Kochi, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Nagpur and Amritsar, in addition to the four metros. They may as well be our national carriers! What does India get in return? Peanuts. How many destinations, for instance, can some of them offer in return for the 10 or 12 they get from us? With the absence of balance sheets and dirt cheap oil, a luxury airlines in this country do not enjoy, they can offer rock-bottom fares — which is certainly a boon to Indian travellers who can enjoy the privilege of flying overseas at a fraction of the price they would pay otherwise. But if the opening of Indian skies and destinations was desirable to allow true competition, where the consumer is king, then why are Indian carriers still being bound hand and foot with restrictive regulations which have been described by aviation veterans as unwarranted and unprecedented? Private carriers such as Spice and Indigo are profit-making airlines, but cannot fly abroad as they don’t fulfil requirements such as having been in operation for at least five years or having a fleet of 20 aircraft. This was one of the reasons Kingfisher took over Air Deccan: it could thus operate overseas when Air Deccan completed five years. It is understood that this five-year requirement was put in place as private airlines at the time were folding up after a year or two of operation — so that the country did not tarnish its reputation internationally. But whatever the reason, it has lost relevance as foreign airlines which operate in this country are not subject to such Indian rules. As a result, in the past four years, the seat capacity given to foreign airlines in the hinterland has seen a quantum jump — from 404,508 seats per week at the end of December 2003 to 1,212,909 seats per week at the end of December 2007 — an increase of 299 per cent. This is a landmark in 75 years of civil aviation in India. Between 1993 and 2003 the increase in seat capacity allowed to foreign airlines was 64 per cent per week. If this were not enough, between January and June 2008 the increase of seats per week was 2,27,929, or an increase of 16 per cent. The decision, therefore, to permit this 299 per cent jump in seats for foreign airlines to India’s hinterland defies logic. The Indian carriers are not in a position to take advantage of reciprocal agreements, besides the fact that none of these foreign airlines can offer 12 destinations in their home countries. So what was the hurry to open our skies and so many destinations while crippling our own airlines? By the time they are ready to fly, the entry level will be very expensive. Air India, for instance, is said to be losing between Rs 6 crores and Rs 8 crores every day as a result. The government has told the national carrier to either perform or perish. Step-motherly treatment of this kind might only help ensure that our own airlines perish.