Foreign carriers, including the internationally renowned Emirates headquartered in Dubai and Doha based Qatar Airways, have evinced interest in joining the RCS scheme by floating regional airlines as joint ventures. On the other hand, Indian domestic carriers like Indigo, Jet Airways, among others, have threatened the Government of legal action if the civil aviation ministry goes ahead with its plan to impose a cess on them to subsidise the regional carriers under the RCS scheme.

The existing private sector airlines have been thriving on government support all these years. They have, however, refused to fly on uneconomic routes to India’s undeveloped or underdeveloped regions. Now when the Government has come out with the RCS scheme to help develop all regions, specially the rural hinterland, these private airline companies are opposing the same. Should the government tolerate an action that hurts the country’s uniform development? Why should rural India be denied benefit of air connectivity while the urban areas continue to prosper because of lop-sided development policies of the governments in the past?

It would have been appropriate if the government had forced the existing carriers to operate flights to all regions of the country uniformly with reasonable subsidies for the undeveloped region. Indeed, the minority Narasimha Rao government of the Congress Party, which initiated reforms in the aviation sector in early 90s, tried doing it. But it failed due to powerful lobbies which went against the move. The Rao government’s open air policy immensely benefitted some new airlines like the now defunct East West Airlines and the Modi-Luft Airlines which flew only on the lucrative routes. The ten year rule of Dr Manmohan Singh’s UPA government did not make any serious effort to make the private carriers fly to backward areas. Dr Manmohan Singh could not rein in the recalcitrant private sector airlines to even fly to the North East region he himself represented as member of the Rajya Sabha. The burden fell majorly on the PSU carrier Indian Airlines which operated in the North Eastern areas despite losses.

All private sector airlines are only interested in making money from the burgeoning aviation market in the country, but none are willing to fly in the uneconomic zones. Where is the so called corporate responsibility concept that the UPA government flaunted so much? The present government needs full support which it seems to be getting on the RCS issue despite opposition from the private airlines.

It is, indeed, time the Narendra Modi government looks at seriously the interests shown by foreign airlines, specially the Gulf carriers, if it wants the RCS scheme to succeed. All major Gulf carriers should be allowed to operate regional airlines with the caveat that the flight schedules will be approved by the airline regulator, DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviaion under the Ministry of Civil Aviation). Since all Gulf carriers earn good money from the Indian market, they will be willing to take the bait. This move will definitely be opposed by all private carriers, but they should be ignored. The joint venture concept may, of course, be tried with equal or perhaps greater management stake of the Gulf carriers.

Foreign airlines are eager to operate under hub and spoke policy which means they will operate regional airlines with Indian partners feeding passengers to their international fights to various destinations. This business model suits them well. But they must be given management freedom in proportion to their investment.

The Government must reckon with the fact that aviation is a heavily capital intensive industry and few Indian private carriers are in a position to make long term investment. It will be in the fitness of things to allow foreign carriers to invest in India’s rural hinterland with proper safeguard. Let the rural India partake of the country’s development story. If the greedy and insensitive private sector refuses to understand the reality, so be it. (IPA Service)