I was sent the below mentioned thought by one of the Goans in Melbourne in
respect to the thread on direct flights to the Gulf countries.
I believe in the contents as anyone having a business acumen will agree.
Kindly publish it on the goanet perhaps as a food for thought to those Goans
who are striving hard to get a flight to and from Goa.
Thank you.
Warm Regards
Oscar
Melbourne, Australia
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Hello Oscar,
I have been following with interest a discussion thread going on Goanet,
about direct flights to the Gulf countries. A lot of opinions and comments
have been thrown into the discussion by quite a lot of people, which I think
is just a little wrong.
Let us begin by asking ourselves the question: What is the prime motive of
any business, as compared to the function of a Government? The answer is
quite simple and not hard to comprehend. A business house is set up to make
profits for its shareholders, while the function of a Government is to
provide service to its people.
If at all Air India, Indian Airlines or any other airline initiated a direct
Gulf Goa flight, it was done at the time because it was commercially viable
for them. Today the business equation must have changed, and as a result,
they may have made a decision to withdraw the concerned service. Our good
friends in the Gulf countries seem to think that just because they are there
in large numbers, they have a right to pester the Government and other
agencies to provide them with transportation of their convenience and
choice. There is need for a change in mindset. To me it appears that they
think of airlines as a service similar to Kadamba provided by the
Government.
Air India was started by Tata's and the Government decided to nationalize
the airline company. That was a wrong decision right from the start. As a
Government owned airline, it had no choice but to provide service as
explained in para #2 above. Service, which could have been at a loss of
profit. Today Air India is no longer in the same predicament as it was
then, so the management must have decided in the best interest of its
shareholders to withdraw the service. I see nothing wrong with that
decision. The shareholders always come first.
So what do our Gulfies do? Maybe they could pool their resources and start
an air taxi service of their own! And if that happens, I can guarantee you
that after the euphoria of setting up their company is down, these blokes
will make a decision to seek more profitable routes themselves!!!
Cheers
