The Pre Merger doom
T he year 2003 is noteworthy in the history of Air India due to a plethora of reasons. The competition was rising as more foreign carriers were expanding their operations. Air India’s load factor dipped to 70.5% in 2003-04 from 73.1% in 2001-02. Fortunately, it turned out to be the year of revival. Under the stewardship of J.N Gogoi and Sunil Arora, Air India managed to stay afloat. The management of Air India and the Ministry of Aviation worked in unison for the first time in decades. At that point, Air India’s functioning was regularly crippled by the overwhelming number of labor unions. The lack of competent leaders in the past had built the bargaining power of these unions. During the outbreak of SARS, the Indian Pilots Guild placed forth a directive that demanded the halt of the operation of flights to all SARS-affected countries in Asia. If there was a crew member or a passenger who had traveled to a SARS-affected country in the past 10 days and if they were now in a...