Getting back to blogging after 5 days, there are quite a few things to write about. First, of course is Kingfisher Airlines. Many years back, an equity analyst friend from a large US investment bank had told me," You run the automobiles and airlines business for passion, not to make money." Does the Kingfisher Airlines experience vindicate that viewpoint? I don't have proof but it is tempting to believe that Kingfisher owner Vijaya Mallya's role model is Richard Branson. But unlike Branson, Mallya seems to have the Indian touch--the fedual mindset. If not, why would a top executive say in a recorded video message that he has personally hired the air hostesses and he has "instructed" them to look after you as if they are guests in his home? But travelling on this airline I always felt the biggest put-off was its pretence: making a big deal out of "Kingfisher experience" when there wasn't much to be proud of ( I have suffered some of the biggest delays on this airline). For quite some time now, I have been having "paranthas, chana and cauliflower sabzi". Now if you call that "gourmet cuisine" as Mallya does, can you say more?
But the biggest issue here is why should the government try and bail out this private airline? Nobody asked Mallya to start the airline. He did it like any entreprenuer knowing that he would be bearing uncertainty and he could fail. So why should daddy help the big boy now? One more question. If Kingfisher makes profits would it be shared with taxpayers? Let us also not forget the kind of losses SBI would have already suffered after it bought the airline's equity in the recent past. What will happen next? Brace yourself for the bizarre for that has become the order for the day. Did someone say we are a market economy?
But the biggest issue here is why should the government try and bail out this private airline? Nobody asked Mallya to start the airline. He did it like any entreprenuer knowing that he would be bearing uncertainty and he could fail. So why should daddy help the big boy now? One more question. If Kingfisher makes profits would it be shared with taxpayers? Let us also not forget the kind of losses SBI would have already suffered after it bought the airline's equity in the recent past. What will happen next? Brace yourself for the bizarre for that has become the order for the day. Did someone say we are a market economy?
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