copied and reproduced here for all
Citizen of India (unregistered) wrote:
Most people of this country have a common ground of hatred towards pilots mainly because of their so called high salary structure. One must first understand that no professional on this planet earns more than what they are due for. So let us first stop blaming the airline's losses on pilots' salaries. On the contrary they earn a lot less than a lot of people in the corporates do.
Air India has been systematically sabotaged over many years by various goverments.
The sabotage began when TATA & Singapore Airlines were not allowed to take over Air India back in the late 1990s. This process of privatisation was squashed by Late Mr PRAMOD MAHAJAN & NARESH GOYAL for obvious reasons. Mr Ratan Tata would surely be able to throw more light on this subject if he wishes to. During that time, one of the privatisation clauses was as follows : The Company taking over Air India would enjoy a 5 year monopoly on international sectors before opening up the same to the indian private carriers. This would give sufficient time to the Company taking over to turn the airline into a profit making body before facing competion from the private carriers. As of today, only a fool will invest in Air India with all its bilaterals given away to all the private Indian & foreign carriers.
Later on both Mr Naresh Goyal & Vijay Mallya have used Mr Praful Patel to gang rape Air India in every possible manner to assure its extinction. Even though Air India was in need of new aircafts, the minister went overboard to order an obnoxious number of aircrafts which would serve them in three ways. Firstly, LARGER THE ORDER LARGER THE KICKBACK. Secondly, the order would put Air India into a permanent debt which will assure its extinction. Thirdly, when the airline goes bankrupt, its brand new aircrafts can be picked up by Mr Goyal at throw away prices.
If the above was not enough to ensure Air India's extinction, Mr Praful Patel went ahead and sold more than 200 acres of Air India's land at throw away prices. The land that has been gifted away can be valued at anywhere from 150000-200000 crores (bigger than the 2G scam).
There have been innumerable scams indulged in by various ministers over a period of time. Some of them are as follows:
1) Wet leasing and Dry leasing of aircrafts with huge kickbacks.
2) Recruitment of foreign pilots through certain recruitment agencies. Kickbacks from this could amount to close to 1000 dollars per pilot per month.
3) Stopping operations on profitable routes. Private carriers start operating on those routes as soon as Air India stops.
4) Few employees of Air India from the Commercial Department were suspended for sabotaging Air India flights between India and the US. These employees were showing these flights as FULL even though they werent. The passengers were then redirected to Jet Airaways. Therefore the passengers who could have flown to/from the US direct, had to fly in Jet Airways via Brussels. It is worth noting that THE MANAGEMENT HAS REINSTATED ALL OF THOSE RUTHLESS EMPLYEES (so that they dont blow the whistle).
5) The biggest scam was MERGER. The merger was initiated so that both the erstwhile Air India & Indian Airlines could fly into the Gulf under a common code. This allows an oppertunity to another Indian Carrier to operate into the Gulf. IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT JET AIRWAYS STARTED OPERATING TO THE GULF AS SOON AS AIR INDIA AND INDIAN AIRLINES WERE MERGED.
6) Etc
One can simply go on and on about the scams in Air India ( especially by Mr Praful Patel). THE AIR INDIA SCAM CAN EASILY BE OF TWICE THE MAGNITUDE OF THE 2G SCAM.
Let us give full marks to the pilots who have had the courage to come out their comfort zone and gone on an indefinate strike risking their careers for a noble cause. If they hadn't, the passengers may not have been inconvenienced today, but would have had to pay a heavy and permanent price in the near future following the Maharaja's demise. Once the Maharaja kicks the bucket, the PRIVATE CARRIERS WILL NOT WASTE A SINGLE DAY BEFORE EXPLOITING THE CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY BY MEANS OF HIGHER AIR FARES.
My appeal to all citizens of this country: Lets come together and use all our resources to fight this corruption. Lets us not be exploited by the likes of Mr Praful Patel, Naresh Goyal & Vijay Mallya.
WE NEED THE MAHARAJA MORE THAN THE MAHARAJA NEEDS US.... THE DEATH OF THE MAHARAJA WILL LEAD TO THE DEATH OF FAITH IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF EVERY INDIAN AND WILL PAVE THE WAY TO AN ERA OF CRONY CAPITALISM....
MR RATAN TATA.... PLEASE RESCUE THIS AIRLINE, BUILT SO PASSIONATELY BY MR JRD TATA TO BE ONE OF THE BEST AIRLINES IN THE WORLD AND INDIA'S PRIDE....