India Joins the Club

India's National Auditor declared that Emirates and other Middle East carriers should be forced to reduce their flights to save Air India (read full story here).

This is wishful thinking, not the reduction of the flights but the saving of Air India. The number of flights are controlled through bilaterals; the Indian Government is not the easiest in awarding flight authorities, a lot of these authorities were awarded to allow Kingfisher, IndiGo, Jet Airways and others to operate international flights to the Gulf region in addition to Air India, Air India Express and Indian Airlines. A forced reduction will be probably met by a reciprocal action from the various governments of the region and they will have the choice of which airline authority to revoke, my guess would be Air India's. Any reduction of flights will affect the millions of  Non Resident Indians working in the region.

The Government of India should face up to Air India's problems and tackle them heads on. Competition from GCC airlines and other airlines is only a small part of the problem. Government interference, over staffing and failed policies need to be resolved. These are issues that to this date the Government does not have the political will to face.