Time for Air India to rule the skies again, says Jitender Bhargava

Former Air India executive director Jitender Bhargava, who is also the author of the book 'Descent of Air India', spoke with Business Today TV on what the Tata takeover of the airline would mean for various stakeholders, including passengers. Edited excerpts by Shagun Walia:
 
What can air passengers expect? 
 
The two aspects that we must focus on are: those who were flying on Air India will have a more reliable airline, consistency in on-board services and ground handling. This will be a big gain for existing passengers. And for those who have not been flying Air India, this means they will have another option. Many young people were not looking at Air India as an option because it was government owned, they had a certain perception of the airline. And this perception will change. So there is a lot for passengers because you will have a quality airline competing with international carriers. 
 
Do you think that India will revisit some of the international bilaterals that we gave away to Gulf airlines and other carriers? Do you expect the policy to change?
 
If you look at the last seven-and-a-half years of PM Modi's regime, they have been very constrained as far as the giving away of bilateral rights to foreign carriers is concerned. They have been wanting Indian carriers to make use of the bilateral rights which are not being used, rather than give them to Gulf carriers or Southeast Asian carriers, which has been the government's policy for the last eight years now. 
 
What unfortunately has happened is that Air India has remained the solitary Indian carrier to be flying to Europe, United States, Australia and Japan etc. 
 
None of the other carriers have even thought about this, barring Vistara in a limited way. The vacuum that has been created was being filled up by the Gulf carriers and the Southeast Asian carriers on the pretext that India did not have enough capacity for flying Indian originating passengers or people coming to India, the large Indian diaspora. 
 
But now, with Tata-owned Air India, what will happen is that it will no longer be a cash-starved airline. Tatas will ensure that it grows. And I expect 20-25 per cent growth under the Tatas because you have a large Indian market in Europe and the United States which India wanted. 
 
And let's not forget it that under the Tatas there will be a qualitative, quantitative improvement in the product quality. And once that is there, the current perception that exists will change and a lot of people will patronize it. What is the ultimate gain? It is that Air India, an Indian carrier, will grow rather than Gulf carriers and Southeast Asian carriers which have been dominating Indian skies. 
 
In terms of the product quality, what can we expect? Do you think Air India will reach at least Air Vistara service levels including for in-flight entertainment for instance or better food? 
 
You have to divide the product into two aspects. Certain aspects can be attended to in a matter of weeks, like the food, the wine, the customer focus by the cabin crew etc. All that they require is to re-engineer the work practices of the cabin crew on board and airport staff.
 
In the past, what unfortunately happened was that a lot of the cabin crew did not have enough motivation coming in because of various issues like salary cuts and everything that was imposed on the staff by the cash-starved airline. So once you treat the staff properly and professionally, you will see them delivering. This is what they can do in the short run. 
 
As far as the quality of the aircraft, aircraft ambience is concerned, it will take time unfortunately as we are in COVID times and full capacity is not being deployed. So they will have a certain amount of aircraft on ground which can be taken up for servicing and improvement.
 
What does this landmark deal mean for the country?
 
People have been thinking that the divestment of Air India will only benefit Air India. They are overlooking the fact that once you have a very strong domestic and international carrier, there will be a lot of competition. And once you have an Indian carrier flying to all parts of the world, there is no reason why India originating traffic will not patronize Air India in preference to foreign carriers. The unfortunate part is, as I said earlier, Air India has a certain perception. People had a certain perception of Air India, which was not very flattering.
 
And Air India also did not dispel that kind of perception as I often said the airline was certainly not as good as it ought to have been. But it was not as bad as it was made out to be. So once you have the long haul product, for example to the United States, you will streamline to fly non-stop to the European destinations. Likewise to Australia and Japan. There is no reason why Tatas will not bring about a sustainable change and it will become the number one choice. And the fortunate part is none of the Indian air carriers fly overseas.

Watch Business Today TV's complete interview with Jitender Bhargava here
 
I look forward to Air India emerging as a major player on the international scenario, more on the international scenario than the domestic because IndiGo rules the domestic skies to the extent of 50-55 per cent.  
 
What do you expect the Tatas to do as far their other aviation assets -- Air Vistara and AirAsia -- are concerned? Would they consolidate the operations?
 
I am not privy to what the Tatas are thinking. But I am conscious of this fact that having done due diligence, having taken a decision to bid for Air India, they would have certainly looked at options regarding what they are going to do with the four airlines -- Air India, Air India Express, besides AirAsia and Vistara. Probably the easier part is that in AirAsia they have a commanding ownership and it can be merged with Air India Express faster. But Vistara is a joint (venture) with Singapore Airlines.
 
A strong Air India will also impact Singapore Airlines because currently the latter has a lot of Indian passengers from various cities of India over to a hub in Singapore and then flying out to the United States. 
 
When Air India becomes a carrier that can compete with Singapore Airlines in quality, you already have a quantitative requirement of that number of five destinations served by Air India in the United States. And more frequency will be added, then there will be a threat to everybody, all the carriers of Gulf and South Asia who have adhered to enjoy monopoly only because Air India was weak.  
 
A professional leadership, a professional board, a professional management will contribute enormously to what we can foresee Air India as something that we all (will) be proud of. This is a new chapter in Air India history. We witnessed the descent of Air India till 27 January, 2022. After 28 January we can now expect the ascent of Air India.
 
Can we expect Singapore Airlines, which is already invested in Air Vistara, to perhaps become an investor in AI too? 
 
You see my information is that prior to their bidding for Air India, Tatas had checked up with Singapore Airlines. And they have shown their reluctance for whatever reasons. But I am sure that after six months or a year as Air India takes shape and comes out as a vastly improved product, may be Singapore Airlines may show some interest again. 
 
What about existing AI employees and their future? 
 
It is an ironical situation. On one side, there are some employees blaming the government's ownership for what Air India has currently become. And on the other side, they want that kind of a drawback to be retained because they have been looking at the divestment of Air India from their personal perspective. I state in unequivocal terms that you got to look at it from an Air India perspective. 
 
Air India will improve, which means that they will be assured of a job. Government has stipulated that Tatas have to retain the employees for a period of one year. People can perceive it as a negative thing that looks at what happens to me after a period of one year. But I would certainly say take it up as a challenge. This is the period in which you must deliver the very best. If Tatas want to re-engineer your work practices, please support. Don't try things like you have been doing in the past. The work practices will have to be re-engineered, made more productive, more efficient considering the fact that they all have experience. That's one part. 
 
Second, pilots, aircraft engineers, and cabin crew are the three categories in which recruitment has been taking place from the last ten years. So these professional categories will be needed by Tatas. You can't get them so easily. They are trained pilots. And the positive aspect that we have been looking at is, yes, the current strength of these categories may be 20 per cent more than what Air India currently requires. But it gives Tatas the cushion for expansion without incurring additional money. And the faster they expand the services, particularly to Europe and the United States, the better it is for Air India, and the better it is for Tatas.  
 
And I am not saying it by any imagination that it will make Air India a profitable airline. But the losses will considerably go down once this expansion takes place. Productivity of the employees goes up, both men and machines. I would say the productivity will go up. And then you will find a totally new Air India. And then we all would all be saying that Tatas have turned around Air India.  

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