The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) held its first management development program (MDP) in Aviation Management this week. I was invited by the coordinator, Prof G. Raghuram a transportation authority, who holds the Indian Railways chair at IIMA (and who wrote a path-breaking management case on Konkan Railway Corp), to share my perpspective on Goa's aviation scene with the participants during one session.
The participants numbered almost 40 and were drawn from airports, airlines and companies operating in the sector. Some international airlines were also represented. My presentation was on "Indian aviation's civilian-military interface". It ended by drawing attention to the problem of implementing a two airport solution (an upgraded Dabolim civil enclave as well as a greenfield airport in Mopa) in Goa. I was glad to have an opportunity of meeting a number of interesting participants especially over a group dinner that evening. There was Frederick Joseph Vaz of NACIL who was very familiar with Goanet. He hoped Goans would get involved constructively in aviation matters. Uday Bhan Singh is the Manager of Kingfisher Airlines sales in Goa. He has been involved with Goa since 1995. Harish Kutty of Air Arabia said they have clearance to operate at Dabolim from 2009. He would like to expedite the start if possible. There was a large contingent of AAI airport directors from various places including some who had left to join privatised airports. The former appreciated the "truth" of my "hard hitting" remarks and said they were broadly applicable to the nearly 30 civil enclaves in India. One of the observers present at the instance of the co-ordinator was a participant from another IIMA MDP, Vineet Sharma, who worked in the Coast Guard in Goa and his wife his Goan. Among the IIMA faculty in the program there was Prof Sebastian Morris, an economist, who is on the recently appointed Policy Advisory Group of the Goa government. He will be in Goa in this connection on Oct 3. Meanwhile, in an informal chat afterwards, Prof Raghuram assured me that he would take up the points I made, in the Civil Aviation Ministry's committee on airline finances, of which he is a member. All in all it was a very gratifying experience for me personally. I am sure that Goa's aviation experience will now provide a lot of food for thought in national circles for years to come. It's up to the people of Goa to give it the shape required, as and when possible, for the state's benefit, in the national and global context.
