@bafanguy
Well to put it in a simple sentence
" Those that understand aviation are not in control of it "
Very few people in India get the " big picture " with respect to the importance of aviation. Unfortunately they are either working for the airlines on in some big consultancy firms.
Indian Aviation is heavily regulated and the Government of India maintains an iron grip on it. Its in control of politicians and bureaucrats who come and go every few years. Aviation is run on the whim and fancy of those in charge despite the fact that they have no experience in dealing with anything related to aviation whatsoever.
Also given the India's inherently socialistic nature Aviation is continued to be seen as a luxury even though its an absolute necessity. This results in step motherly treatment to its problems. Even if a political party tries to help aviation this is seen as helping the rich and avoiding the common man's problems. Since they do not wish to alienate the vote banks they dilly dally on many aviation issues.
This is further compounded by the fact that a large part of the population continues to believe that aviation is a rich mans toy. Which is also why the industry is heavily taxed. Indian aviation is a very high cost environment.
The state where are I am from has been trying to get seaplane services started for quite some time. Unfortunately the local opposition party managed to convince the fishermen that seaplanes are a threat to fish in the rivers and the seas and hence will affect their livelihood
The only time any action is made is when planes are not flying due to lack of pilots. A good example of this would be back in 2006 during the second Indian Aviation boom the govt lowered the flying hours for CPL issue from 250 hours to 200 and later increased the retirement age to 65.
I sometimes consider it a miracle that an airplane is even allowed to takeoff and land let alone allow a private or govt company run an airline
. Remember private companies were only allowed to run airlines and non scheduled services since the year 1990 when the govt of the time initiated major reforms.
The airlines here have done an excellent job despite all the difficulties the govt has created.
Unless the aircraft are parked on the ground or there is a serious change in mindset as to the importance of aviation to a country... things will continue to remain the same
