The much-touted Open Sky policy was to usher in the glorious age of Indian aviation.
There would be cheap and efficient airports with an array of choice of low cost carriers. But we appear to be repeatedly mired in problems and the aviation sector remains stuck.
A few rich billionaires have cornered the Open- Sky policy. We need an urgent course- correction and not temporary band- aid. Like telecom, the aviation sector has also given a severe dose of bitter medicine to the Indian consumer.
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The issue of predatory pricing has once again lifted the curtain from the mess which cannot be hidden with slick public relations stunts. You cannot have Low Cost air travel with high cost noncompetitive airports, and a cartel of airline companies. The Government is very poorly equipped to tackle monopolies. All that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has done is to write to the Civil Aviation ministry that the airlines may be operating as a cartel.
Problems
The problems have arisen because, first, new private airports were largely built with User-Development Fu
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