This was always a non-starter, but putting the two airlines side-by-side is still worth it
By Ariba Shahid
T
his is a piece of speculation. For any of our readers that would frown and nod their heads in disapproval after reading this story before sending us tweets and emails about this being speculative, we thought we’d get that out of the way. Nothing has happened, there has been no major change at the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) that has prompted us to write this, and there is nothing that would indicate something is in the works. However, that does not mean we cannot wonder. The acquisition of India’s national airline by Tata has proven to be a poignant moment in Indian history because after decades Tata has gotten back something that they have started in the Indian subcontinent. And while it is a moment that might make for a movie, what we are thoroughly fascinated with is how different the journey of Pakistan’s national airline has been from the journey of India’s national airline, given the very similar beginnings that the two had.
PRIVATIZATION
Of course, this is a rabbithole that has no end. There are countless ways in which India and Pakistan were on the same footing at the time of partition and even more countless ways in which the two countries have deferred and gone in different directions on so many different subjects and issues. Different industries and businesses are no different. That’s why we at Profit generally try to avoid comparisons to India, because there would be no end to it. But every now and then a proposition is too tantalizing to miss out on. Why has the PIA not had a similar trajectory as the Indian national airline? For this, we will look at two things - the first being a brief history of the airline industry in India, and how it came to where it is today, and the second being why something similar cannot happen to PIA, and even why it will be very difficult to privatize it at all. That is why we are putting side by side a brief history of Air India and a brief history of the Pakistan International Airlines. There are many lessons to be learned from these two airlines, the latter of which saw glory and then caused its own downfall. What were the similarities and differences in their origins, how did
they operate differently, and could they have similar trajectories in the future? The short answer to that last one is no, but the journey to getting to that answer is one illuminating ride.
How Air India began and grew
H
eadquartered in New Delhi, Air India’s saffron tail with a bursting sun is not a particularly common or famous sight. It does not evoke the same kind of acclaim that the tail of Emirates or Qatar or other famous airlines evokes. Yet it has been around for a very long time, and it has gone through a lot to get to the stage it is at today. The company is currently owned by Tata Sons. The interesting thing is that when Air India was founded in 1932, it was also owned by the Tatas and was in fact not named Air India, and was called Tata Air Service. However, the Tatas owned the airline for about 15 years, and have only come to acquire it again recently. The airline was founded by J. R. D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932. Tata himself flew its first
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