Game over, Air India
By Shashank Nigam, airline branding and marketing expert, blogger, author, serial entrepreneur
I’m not suggesting Emirates should become the national carrier of India.
I’m asserting that it is already the de-facto national airline of the sub-continent.
And Indians need to tell their politicians to get over the rescue-Air-India-at-any-cost fever, save some tax rupees and let the market decide which airline survives and which doesn’t.
Air India contributes 10 percent of global airline losses with just 0.35 percent of global traffic (stat. from Bangalore Aviation).
To rescue the airline, hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ rupees are required over a long period of time. And even then, a profitable airline cannot be guaranteed, especially one that is mostly run for, and by the government and bureaucrats.
Even if you can gloss over the fact that lots of money is required to rescue Air India, the ideas for the turnaround that have been proposed till now have been far from convincing.
Repositioning Air India as a low-cost carrier, with sky-high employee-to-plane ratio, aging fleet, poor plane utilisation and lethargic execution, is at best an ill-conceived dream.
To date, Air India has filled its planes either with politicians, or by selling dirt-cheap tickets that hardly cover the costs of flying. And these are both unsustainable practices.
And with the uphill battle to rescue the airline, I suggest Indians let go and move on.
Emirates not only operates many times the frequency to all of Air India’s international destinations, it offers way better service and is already the leading international airline out of India from a number of major cities, ahead of Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and KLM.
Imagine what will happen once Emirates starts flying its high-capacity A380s to Indian routes, connecting seamlessly to all over Europe and North America in the next few years.
No other airline, even if they’re part of alliances, would come close to beating Emirates in terms of capacity to India. Hence, I rest my case that Emirates is serving the purpose of a national carrier to India.
Indians should realise that by forcing Air India to stay alive, they’re not helping anyone.
Good money is chasing bad money. The politicians are still making merry and the service standards still remain hopeless compared to the competition.
Source: www.simpliflying.com
Ian Jarrett
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
In Italy, the Meloni government congratulates itself for its tourism achievements
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive