SriLankan Airlines: Time to get Govt. out of cockpit

SriLankan Airlines isn't a national asset anymore — it's a national cost. And after Rs. 600 billion in losses, the excuses have finally run out

- By Stefan Furkhan

SRILANKAN Airlines did not begin as the financial sinkhole it has become. Its most stable decade came under the Emirates partnership from 1998 to 2008, when commercial discipline, modern fleet planning and basic governance safeguards were in place. It was not perfect, but it worked profitably — because there was a buffer between the airline and political interference. That arrangement didn’t collapse because the model failed.

It collapsed because politics and ego entered the cockpit. Once the State insisted on taking control, the airline’s commercial trajectory began to unravel.

The consequences were predictable. Over two decades, SriLankan became shaped by politically influenced aircraft decisions, prestige routes, procurement distortions, staffing inflation and shifting strategies that changed with every minister. The Mihin Lanka experiment (2007-2016) — which burnt over Rs. 17 billion before being folded back into UL — compounded the damage further.

At various points, SriLankan carried more than double the global industry benchmark of staff per aircraft. No carrier can survive long-term under that structural burden.

The accumulated cost: Over Rs. 600 billion in losses — roughly $ 1.5-2 billion. Not an aviation failure. A governance failure of historic scale.

Why SriLankan failed: It was never allowed to be an airline

SriLankan did not fail because fuel was expensive, or because Gulf carriers were too strong, or because the market was unforgiving. It failed because it was never allowed to operate as a commercially run airline. Route decisions, staffing, procurement, fleet choices — all shaped for political reasons. Loss-making routes defended for prestige. Long-haul commitments made without commercial logic. A steady stream of Treasury guarantees shielding the airline from the consequences of its own decisions.