Battered airlines...

A man-made crisis on Thursday risked the lives of 171 people on the Jaipur-bound Jet Airways flight. The carelessness of the crew members created a scary situation midair when the cabin pressure of Flight 697 dropped, leaving people on board gasping. Over two dozen passengers suffered bleeding, forcing the airline to return to Mumbai. What followed was routine — the oft-repeated reactions of the Civil Aviation Ministry and the aviation sector regulator. The crew members have been de-rostered and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been told to investigate the incident.

 In our aviation history, all air accidents — mechanical, natural and man-made — are investigated until the people forget about them. Investigation reports are seldom made public and culprits are rarely named. The moment any accident is reported by the media, the entire government and private aviation infrastructure team up to cover up by resorting to the cliche — ‘the matter is under investigation’. Hence, the people are often in doubt about the system’s ability to take punitive action against erring individuals, institutions and airlines. Possibly, this is the reason people involved in aviation operations have a lackadaisical approach towards safety. It is, therefore, necessary that probe reports of all accidents, particularly in the civil aviation domain, be made public along with details of penal action taken against the culprits. Passengers, whose lives are at stake, have the right to know.

Thursday’s accident, which was completely avoidable, is not the first such incident, and it will certainly not be the last. However, a zero-error crew is possible if its members are exceptionally trained and highly motivated. But such a stress-free work environment seems elusive as airlines are cutting costs to remain competitive. Notwithstanding their chronic losses, they are offering unimaginably low fares to passengers. The unregulated competition to grab a larger market share is not an acceptable market economy practice, particularly when it compromises the safety of passengers. The Civil Aviation Ministry must look into the economics of airlines operations before it is too late.