What does future hold for India's flag carrier? Air India crisis explained

The future of India's flag carrier airline, Air India, is at risk. The state-owned enterprise is currently fighting for its survival, bogged down by crippling debts, loss-making operations, decreasing passenger revenue and mismanagement. Naturally, the question arises out of these tumultuous times - What is the future of the national carrier airline of India? Will it, after all, get privatised? Here's a look at the current crisis that Air India is facing:

According to official sources, Air India currently has a staggering debt of about Rs 58,000 crore, which has been shovelling the airline towards making losses for a substantial period of time. Even on an estimate, Air India is presumed to be suffering losses amounting to Rs 20-25 crore per day. That puts Air India's total monthly loss to about Rs 750 crore and variably, the amount of loss incurred in some months reaches thousands of crores. 

In view of Air India's losses, the Government of India, which owns the enterprise, decided to sell the state-owned airline. Announcing the decision, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had categorically stated in the Parliament that the government is gearing up for the privatisation of Air India. A high-level committee, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has also been constituted for the same. But according to sources, no major group has shown any interest yet in buying Air India. The reason is clear - a debt of Rs 58,000 crore on Air India is a crippling burden that buyers tend to steer clear from. 

Although efforts have been going on for the same for the last several years, Centre couldn't really find any buyers for the airline yet. To provide a history of how long attempts have been ongoing to sell Air India, history shows that the Centre has been looking for buyers for the flag carrier as far back as during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, right through the Manmohan Singh-led UPA 1 and 2 regimes, and now during the Narendra Modi-led NDA terms. Efforts were made to sell Air India to reduce the losses of the government, but it could not be possible. 

Now you might be wondering, what exactly is the reason for Air India's losses? To answer this could prove complicated, as there can be no direct response. A number of decisions were taken during the UPA government which worsened the health of Air India. In fact, the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines is considered to be one of the most primary reasons for the significant losses. Air India and Indian Airlines merged in 2006. In the meantime, many new aircrafts were purchased, some expensive aircrafts were even taken on lease, thereby gradually deteriorating Air India's condition. 

In addition to this, several political leaders, officials and ministers considered the flag carrier airline to be their privilege, taking it for granted on several counts. In fact, for the past several years, ministers and officials have been travelling on their personal capacity with borrowed tickets from Air India. To put things in perspective, Air India has incurred a shocking amount of debt totalling Rs 268 crore just from government departments and ministries! As per a senior Air India official who put the scenario in simple terms, it is to be understood that government officials and ministers have travelled on loan, taking tickets from Air India for free, for several years and most of them have not even repaid the loan yet! This amount has reached crores of rupees, giving shape to this present crisis. However, in view of this attitude of government departments, Air India has now refused to pay tickets on credit. 

In view of Air India's current losses and salary-related issues of employees, Air India recently took a loan of Rs 500 crore, which was guaranteed by the central government. 

Here's a perspective of the scope and vigour that the national carrier airline of India holds in our country. Air India Limited is the largest international carrier out of India. The enterprise currently holds a total of 169 aircraft, out of which about 13 are damaged. However, in the past year, the airline has not bought a single new aircraft. 

Air India has a total of 20,000 employees, of which 10,000 are contractual and 10,000 are permanent employees. The airline employs a total of 1,700 pilots and 4,000 air hostesses. About 60,000 passengers travel abroad from Air India every day. 

Recently, Air India also launched nine new international flights and also launched flights on several new routes in India. Air India's direct flight is now available for these locations-

1. Kolkata - Dubai
2. Indore - Dubai
3. Mumbai - Nairobi
4. Amritsar - Torrento
5. Mumbai - Patna Sahib
6. Amritsar - Patna Sahib
7. Mumbai - Dehradun - Varanasi

In addition to all of these, it must also be noted that Air India, which has been undergoing its arguably worst phase in forever, has however never hesitated to come forward for providing help during times of emergencies and crises, both domestically and abroad. Indians should do well to remember that the flag carrier provided free service during the floods in Chennai and Kerala, and also during tough times in Kashmir. Indians trapped in Oman or other Gulf countries were also assisted by Air India in the rescue. The airline's help at the time of the Nepal earthquake, also cannot, in good conscience, be forgotten. 

By and large, the question now arises, will Air India survive? If the airline does go into the hands of private players, will the influx of funds be sufficient to help the airline fly forward through its rugged time? Also, in view of this entire scenario, will the government take any stringent steps to save Air India? Only time will tell.