No silver lining in the clouds for our national carrier

In Sri Lanka, political interference and corruption were the root causes for the downfall of some of the public funded institutions. Everybody knows that.

A classic example is the debt- ridden national carrierSri Lankan Airlines. Its survival became even more challenging with the global pandemic hitting the global aviation industry forcing many airlines to be grounded for months having laid off thousands of employees.

A Presidential Commission of Inquiry ( CoI) headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Anil Gooneratne detailed how the airline's management ran the company down to zero with frequent corrupt deals and poor management decisions but legal actions against those who were found guilty are yet to commence. Criminal misappropriation action has been filed in the UK High Court against Sri Lankan Airlines CEO, but nothing has happened here due to 'protection' they receive from VVIPs.

This week, India’s corporate conglomerate Tata group secured a major stake of India’s debt- ridden national carrier- Air India to take under its wings, nearly 90 years after inception by the late J.R.D. Tata. The onetime ' Best Airline service' in the region known as Tata Airlines was nationalised in 1953 in socialist India at the time. Today, the founder Tata's sons have taken over the same institution for INR 18000 crores (US$2.47 bn).

Back home, there is no one is willing to invest in the country’s national airliner even though the previous government tried to pitch the idea to several countries, foreign airlines and wealthy entrepreneurs.

It is surreal to observe, that even our government leaders are not interested in using our national carrier anymore for their foreign visits but preferred to obtain services from global brands. After all, it’s the taxpayers’ money at work.