The quest for safer skies: Brand legacy fails and regulator sleeps

India's aviation story, from Maharaja-class luxury to the entrepreneurial push of low-cost carriers, earned the reputation of democratizing air travel. But the dream is unravelling mid-air.

- RAKESH K CHITKARA

What remains is a bruised, jittery consumer wondering if taking a domestic flight is safe anymore. Do we rely on chanting the Hanuman Chalisa before a flight takes off, or on the regulator entrusted to keep our skies safe?

This crisis of confidence has emerged not from a singular catastrophic event but from a disturbing pattern of negligence, regulatory passivity, and brand erosion. As we fly into the future, India's quest for safer skies needs far more than hope. It needs accountability, courage, and reform.

At the centre of the storm is Air India, a name once synonymous with national pride and hospitality. Its acquisition by the Tata Group—India's most respected corporate house—was widely welcomed. It was expected to bring professionalism, global standards, and dignity back to the skies. Instead, frequent technical snags, unexplained delays, poor passenger handling, and shocking customer service levels have plagued the airline. The ordeal of passengers due to delayed or cancelled flights, with zero communication from airline staff, has become symbolic of what's wrong with Indian aviation today. What's worse, these incidents are neither isolated nor fully acknowledged.

That is why the statement by Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran on June 16—that the tragic loss of lives in Ahmedabad will help Air India's resolve to become a safer airline—is both troubling and revealing. It is a damning admission that even under the Tata banner, Air India has failed to uphold basic safety standards until now. Such a statement might be seen as honest introspection, but it is also a sobering indictment of how low the bar had fallen—and how far the airline still needs to go.