Letters: Air India's future

With reference to the editorial, “What alone will fly” (February 22), it is strange that Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju is unsure about what would be the most desirable future for Air India. 

Raju seems to be in a Catch-22 situation over the issue of Air India’s privatisation. Ironically, he seems to want to have the cake and eat it too, when he states that the Centre wanted Air India to “survive” but also argues that “taxpayers’ money could not sustain the airline forever”.

The editorial is justified in observing that Air India’s survival must be decided on the basis of passengers’ choice and market principle, failing which it will have the dubious distinction of being a white elephant that thrives at a huge cost to the Consolidated Fund of India.

The other report in this paper, “Air India to raise $250 million by putting two Dreamliners on sale” (February 22), reveals that Air India would also lease back these two Boeing 787-800s under an operating lease for a period of up to 12 years with a three-year extension option. These aircraft were delivered to Air India between November last year and January this year. Does all this not speak volumes about its inside story?