GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT RELENT

The proposed one day suspension of domestic flights (strike) by private air lines on 18-08-09 to press for their demand of lower taxes and reduced air port charges deserves no sympathy neither from neither the public nor from the government. With the greed to make more money the private air line operators acquired/made commitments to acquire more airplanes than required by the country. This un-wanted large scale expansion of air line business without realistic study of the growing demand of passenger traffic and solely depending on the rosy projections provided by the air craft manufacturers has led to the present position. In spite of collecting thousands of crores of ‘free money’ (IPO) and borrowing heavily from the banks and financial institutions, the private air line operatators not able to manage their business in a viable manner, it appears some thing basically wrong with their business model and their perception about the air line business. They have failed miserably in their business venture because of their greed. The owners of these air lines are financially very sound and they should find some ways to come out of the problem without seeking government assistance. Under no circumstances the government should dole out assistance to private air line operatators lest the very purpose of opening of the air line business to private sector is defeated. Instead the government should utilize the same funds (notional) to provide assistance to millions of SME entrepreneurs who are in dire straits because of slow down in the economy.