“Is it our duty to fly on loss-making routes…” tweets Vijay Mallaya. Certainly not, but then why Kingfisher Airlines booked passengers in advance on loss-making routes. This problem was brewing for quite sometimes and the airlines have not decided all of a sudden to cancel the flights.
Mr. Mallaya, who is a business tycoon, must know very well that when you sell something, in this case, seats of an aircraft, and take payment in advance, you have entered into contractual obligations to fullfill that commitment and if you fail to do so then you should pay the penalty and refund the amount with interest plus compensate the passengers for the losses incurred by them, for cancellations of flights at the last moment.
He knows that he can take advantage of our lethargic and archaic laws and will escape the penalities. But , if he is unable to run the aviation business then what is the compulsion to go ahead with the same and why he wants to get bailout from India banks, which are already under pressure as they have given him around Rs. 7482 crores, and little chances of recovering back the same.
His business plan has failed and the Finance Minister of India shall be doing himalayan blunder if he puts pressure on Indian banks to increase its exposure to Kingfisher Airlines. Today it is Kingfisher, tomorrow it may be some other enterprise, who will come to the government for help if it fails in its business.
If Kingfisher is unable to survive in the present scenario then the best course for it would be to close the show and give other airlines to handle its passengers. Heaven will not fall if an airlines shut its business as the passengers have still other options to fly.
