Open Sky, Limited Options
Posted : July 22, 2005 at 9:51 pm [IST]
A Delhi based company- InterGlobe Enterprises recently announced orders for 100 Airbus A320S. India was in focus and limelight this year at the Paris Air Show. Mr. Mallaya - the colorful liquor baron of India placed a $3 billion order for planes that will be latest such as Airbus’s new 555 seaters. Air India and Indian Airlines, Jet, and Sahara- all were in buying fray. Should we all not be very happy?
Today, we are scheduling to fly back to New Delhi after almost 6 months in US. We are holding tickets of Cathay Pacific. As it appears we shall have to wait for almost 17 hours at Hong Kong to catch its connecting flight to New Delhi. The airline could have provided us accommodation in some other flight of its allied airlines. We shall be spending the time in a lounge paying about $100 or so for two persons. How difficult and inconvenient it is to do that? We at this age hardly have a wish or energy to take the troubles of going out and seeing Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific should have arranged to make our stay useful and interesting.
I have been to Hong Kong number of times before 1998, but I would have liked to take my wife out to show what Hong Kong is like. However, Anand dissuaded us to take that adventure without a pre-arranged plan, and I agreed. After all, Hong Kong is no more that independent city under Britain. It is now part of the Communist China.
And many like us will be facing the similar troubles, when they take different routes for return journey. Yesterday one of the elderly ladies that we know was enquiring about if there is someone who is traveling through Seoul in August. She is holding tickets of Korean Airways.
Can you estimate of the number of parents that visit USA just to be with their children in the summer months? I guess the number must be in thousands and may be couple of hundred thousands. Most of them are from middle class and senior citizens. Many are even from rural areas of the country, who have come for the first time and find it difficult in communicating in English. Some are very elderly single women, particularly the mothers who have come to attend the pregnancy or delivery of their daughters or daughter-in-laws. Can one imagine the inconveniences of these people who are ready to pay anything for a convenient travel arrangement? And this is a regular affair. With almost two million Indians in US, perhaps a minimum of two-three hundred thousand or may be more, senior citizens must be traveling to US. It is an Rs1200-1500 crore business for airlines. Why can’t some of the Indian Airlines start some chartered straight flights to different major cities such San Francisco, Los Angles, San Hose, Chicago, or other places depending on the number of persons to that city? They can announce their plans in advance and people from all over the country can join the flights. It will be a good business and provide a service that these senior citizens deserve. The airlines can make the flights more attractive with reduced fares and some more value added services. Is it the lack of entrepreneurship of the Indians or the difficulty of regulations of aviation industry that is holding them back from this business opportunity?
Yesterday Mallaya new airlines announced about starting an US company to take advantage of the free air policy of US, if there is any problem in starting flight from India to US. With two major airlines in government hands that provide conveniences for its citizens such as one for Haz, should we, the senior citizens who visit our children in USA expect some assistance from the India’s aviation ministry in this regard? The government has announced its free air policy. I hope that shall solve this problem of senior parents of India in coming years with many more direct flights to US. And these young technocrats and professionals from India who have chosen US as their workplace will make it possible. How many of these parents would have even dreamt that they would be visiting US when their sons were in schools?
- Indra
Category: IRS in US '05 |
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