India laughs loudest at the aviation industry’s oldest joke: the fastest way to make a small fortune is to start with a large one.
Since liberalisation cracked open the skies to private carriers in 1991, India has buried at least two dozen airlines — high-flying dreams that all ended in debt, courtrooms, and grounded fleets. East-West, Damania, Modiluft, Sahara, NEPC, Kingfisher, Jet Airways, GoFirst: the names form a grim honor roll of ambition undone, marking India as the world’s toughest aviation market despite its passenger boom.
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The 1990s Pioneers
Before 1991, India’s skies were effectively closed. The Air Corporations Act of 1953 had given a strict monopoly to two government airlines—Air India (international) and Indian Airlines (domestic). No private carriers could operate scheduled passenger services.
Then came 1991, the year of India’s economic liberalisation, driven by the balance-of-payments crisis.
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