Well my friend
I thought the main provocation behind the DGCA CAR was what happened to Air India Express (along with Sahara).
But then the flying folks at Air India never wanted AIX in the first place didnt they, never mind the fact that the airline lost millions while atleast one aircraft was grounded due to lack of pilots and at a time where everyother airline on the roiute was making momey hand over fist becauseit happened during the peak traffic time for Middle East.
I am not saying for one moment the current minister doesnt have vested interests - but then which politician doesnt have?
Also I thought air India's interests were being protected atleast until the last year or two by the very same politicans who steadfastedly refused to liberalise bilaterals , making AI nice and comfy- keeping away competition and literally keeping the country at the mercy of AI and its unions (that some guys overenjoyed the hospitality is a different issue!).
Same goes for Air India being arm twisted for a hub and spoke arrangement. BOM is a convenient airport for Air India's pilots who are loath to be based elsewhere (with the exception of maybe DEL). It also meant that with bilaterals being left restricted , no major european airlines were allowed for a long time to start up from places like HYD BLR, COK or CCJ, while for the convenience of Air India's pilots
a lot of passengers were forced to take 6-10 hour transits at BOM.
The hub and spoke contract finally went to Indian Airlines (mainly due to the fact that Jet a/c was not custom bonded at that time) and the A320s operated by IC under the Air India code not only had very high occupancy rates but also helped Air India rake in money because the transit time was cut to 2 hours or less!
Not denying that the current minister is a bisaed person, but then dont try to paint the picture that 1, Air India was never the beneficiary of protectionalist government policies and 2, Your pilots are more angelic than god himself!