Of the 300 Air India routes, only three make money: Ajit Singh

At a time when the aviation industry is going through turbulent times and multiple issues, the government is trying to put Air India back on track. In a freewheeling hour-long interview, Ajit Singh, the aviation minister, talks to Surajeet Dasgupta & Disha Kanwar on a range of issues confronting the aviation sector . Edited excerpts:
Many airlines have said there should be incentives for efficient ones, so that they can do better.
Are you saying that in a free enterprise system, the government should decide who is doing better and make it better and kill the weak one? We cannot. An airline doing well today might well be the loser next year and another one may come up. Some companies will fail and some will prosper. Our job is to provide equal plane ground.
Fares have gone up by 30 per cent in the first quarter of this year. Are you going to intervene?
The government has no intention of regulating fares. The problem in this is that there are several unanswered questions. We don’t even know the variable and fixed components, why different operators are charging differently.We have also set up a committee and they have given their report.We should collect data on prices and make it public. That should put pressure on airlines.
09/08/12 Surajeet Dasgupta & Disha Kanwar/Business Standard

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Categories: Air India Aug 2012