DEVIL'S ADVOCATE | PRAFUL PATEL
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Devil's Advocate: Praful Patel
Published on Sun, Mar 25, 2007 at 20:47, Updated on Mon, Jun 18, 2007 at 07:46 in India section
Tags: Devil's Advocate, Praful Patel
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Can the merger of Air-India and Indian (Airlines) create a world-class airline? That is the key issue Karan Thapar explored with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in an interview on Devil’s Advocate.
Karan Thapar: Mr Patel, in a statement in Parliament on March 2, you said: “It is our objective to create a world-class airline which would set fresh benchmarks for efficiency and reliability.” Is that, therefore, the aim and objective behind this merger?
Praful Patel: Certainly. Of course, we would like to make a world-class airline. In those days when Indian (Airlines) and Air-India were formed, they were monopolies. There really wasn’t any problem, because one was domestic and the other international.
But now with the advent of competition, we have got airlines which are domestic like Jet Airways and Sahara and are eligible to fly abroad. Soon, other airlines will be going abroad. So we need an integrated world-class airline of scale and size.
Karan Thapar: So, are you hoping that the new entity would able to compete with Singapore Airlines and Emirates, perhaps even British Airways and Lufthansa?
Praful Patel: Certainly. If you look at the profiles of Emirates and Singapore Airlines, a bulk of their passengers comes from India.
Karan Thapar: In which case, let us look at the challenge you have taken on. There is no doubt that the merger will give you the size and scale to achieve your objective. But the real question is how will the airline operate? Can you guarantee that it will be free to take commercial, independent decisions without political interference?
Praful Patel: Well, absolutely.
Karan Thapar: When you say absolutely, is that a guarantee?
Praful Patel: It is a guarantee. Even today, Indian (Airlines) and Air-India are free to take their decisions.
Karan Thapar: Let us leave even today, I am talking of the future. You are guaranteeing that the new merged entity will take independent, commercial decisions free of political interference?
Praful Patel: Absolutely, guarantee.
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Almost a year after he promised a CMD for the new merged entity, Air India, we have a new CMD
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AirIndia and (Indian) airlines are on a way to merge after 60 years. Now let us see what happens. I
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Air-India is the worse airline in the world according to my experience and that will not change.
It is the service
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Hey Manoj,
You are so wrong, karan is a top class journalist and these politicians dont deserve any better treatment than
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just heard that they are planning to name the new airline as "Air Indian". could someone please tell them how
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