New Delhi: The Tata group will reportedly soon enter civil aviation after a break of 60 years, though as a junior partner to AirAsia. Ratan Tata, the former chairman of Tata Sons, had wanted to set up a domestic airline, in association with Singapore Airlines, way back in 1995 but his efforts were stymied. The rules were changed in such a way that foreign airlines were barred from investing in Indian carriers. Since Tata Sons couldn’t have run an airline on its own, this killed all plans it had for the sector. Last September, the government finally allowed foreign airlines to own up to 49 per cent in Indian carriers. That has given Tata Sons the opportunity to get into a business it has eyed for a long time, though after a delay of 18 long years.
What has anybody gained by the delay? The story of civil aviation so far has been one of pain. The list of airlines that have gone belly-up is long: East West, Damania and, of course, Kingfisher. Air Deccan got sold to Kingfisher after recurring losses had made its operations unsustainable.
24/02/13 Business Standard
