Why civil aviation in India needs further consolidation

A recent Morgan Stanley research report tells us that marriage as an institution might be going through one of its worst phases — but, for the smaller companies in Indian civil aviation, there is no other hope on the horizon.

- Anjuli Bhargava

recent Morgan Stanley research report tells us that marriage as an institution might be going through one of its worst phases — but, for the smaller companies in Indian civil aviation, there is no other hope on the horizon.

To understand why, readers need to step back in time. The Indian skies changed forever with the first low-fare airline flight of Air Deccan in 2003, sparking off a revolution that made flying more affordable and accessible. Larger numbers were able to make flying their most preferred and common form of transport.

From 2003 to 2020, India saw a spate of low-fare and full-service airlines get launched and shut down, depending mostly on how well the founders structured and ran their businesses. With the sector as price-sensitive as it was, in most years, the industry registered significant losses. In general, airlines in India were considered an unprofitable business with very low margins. In 2019, Jet Airways, created for a different era and once India’s most-loved full-service private airline, closed as it failed to navigate the winds of change.