What could be the story behind the front-page photograph on April 10, showing an Air India Airbus-310-300 in a tilted ‘attitude’ (that is, posture) on the runway of Delhi airport? From the picture, it was clear that the photograph of the distressed aircraft was taken from within the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and obviously from an area where photography is supposed to be strictly prohibited under the law of the land. Then why, when and how was the AI-349 photograph taken? Why has no action been taken against the photographer, if the image has been captured illegally?

All the hullabaloo over the so-called ‘faulty’ landing of the Airbus-310-300 could also be part of a sustained hate-Air-India campaign. For almost 15 years, one has been hearing repeated, but often unsubstantiated, criticism of the national carrier. Right or wrong, good or bad, the smear campaign has been going on ever since private players appeared on the aviation horizon of India.

True, Air India’s performance has not been up to the mark, but how does one perform with an old fleet and a rickety logistics system? At last, an order has been placed for 68 Boeing aircraft of different types and models, but the delivery takes time. The induction also requires time and the cockpit and cabin crew too need time for acclimatization.

Compared to this, a few private operators with dubious background, with an equally dubious source of finance, expanded at breakneck speed. While there is no dearth of pleaders for private players in Indian skies, these players have virtually no moral, social or public responsibility towards the people of India. Their sole aim is to capture the money-spinning routes of the metros of India and those of Europe, US, west Asia and south-east Asia.

Whipping boys

Now, just take another look at the plight of Air India and Indian Airlines, our two favourite whipping boys. Any crisis in Beirut or Baghdad, Tehran or Bahrain, Air India has to divert its fleet and cancel its (scheduled) flights to rescue the distraught and distressed people of Indian origin. Within India, Indian Airlines must connect each and every airport in the North-east, while the private operators are under no such obligation.

Think of the sustained negative campaign against Air India and Indian Airlines, and then think of another invaluable service rendered by them. Thousands of Haj pilgrims from airports in all corners of India are carried to Mecca every year by Air India and Indian Airlines, which have to withdraw flights from their scheduled routes to do so. And guess who gains? The private operators who immediately make a grab for the customers on these routes, without a fraction of the benevolence shown by the national carriers.

Like the Indian air force, the two sarkari airlines should never be handed over to private players. No private operator will ever bail the nation out in a crisis the way that the national carriers do — be it during the Kashmir-operations of 1947 or Kargil in 1999. Even today, the army has to depend on Indian Airlines to carry its body bags in the cargo hold or cabins from Nowshera to New Delhi. When these things are considered, most people would agree that whipping Air India and Indian Airlines is wrong. Instead, they should be upgraded so that they can compete with the private players taking unfair advantage of the consumers. The needless adverse publicity to an Air India aircraft will not change anything.

P.S.: Six days after the Air India photograph came out, a British Airways pilot delayed a Delhi-London flight by more than 16 hours and a Sahara flight kept its passengers waiting for full 48 hours.