The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Call for strategic vision for flagging aviation industry

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Tuesday, Nov 03, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Call for strategic vision for flagging aviation industry

Staff Reporter

— Photo: G.R.N. SOMASHEKAR

An interface: (From right) Capt. G.R. Gopinath, Chairman and Managing Director, Deccan 360; Mohan Manghnani, Chairman, New Horizon Educational Institution; and R. Ramchandran, Executive Director, Syndicate Bank, at the inauguration of The Hindu Business Line Club at the New Horizon Educational Institution in Bangalore on Monday.

Bangalore: To make the future of the airline industry secure, India needs a strategic vision, said G.R. Gopinath, Chairman and Managing Director, Deccan 360.

He was speaking at the inauguration of The Hindu Business Line Club – Campus Interface to the corporate world, at the New Horizon Leadership Institute here on Monday. The club has been launched for the 2009-10 academic year by The Hindu Business Line in association with Syndicate Bank.

Capt. Gopinath said that only 3 per cent of the population could afford air travel. In India, around 50 million tickets are sold and there are only about 15 million frequent fliers. “This is a shame, as in other Third World countries at least 25 per cent of the population can afford air travel. The mindset that air travel is for the rich must go.”

He was of the opinion that the aviation industry would not have been under such a loss if they had focussed on expanding their consumer base, instead of taxing the existing customers. Airlines today need to be innovative and must bring down costs, he said. He also said that the Government has been “quite opaque” in its vision. “The Government must ask itself what the impact of aviation is on the economy and its Gross Domestic Product. The Prime Minister must take charge and give a vision for the industry,” he said.

Experience

Citing examples from his own life, he said that cynicism and scepticism were slow suicide. “From my experiences, I have learnt that there is no substitute to hard work. Also, commitment, passion and hard work are more important than capital. For all of us in India, the golden age is ahead of us, not behind us,” he added. R. Ramachandran, Executive Director of Syndicate Bank, in his special address, said that there was a lot of difference between seeking employment and becoming employable. While stressing on the need to address the skill gap in the industry, he said that students must equip themselves with self-confidence and awareness.

“That will happen only through exposure and interaction. The Business Line Club is a novel interactive interface with the nation-builders of tomorrow,” he said.

“The fact that only 11 out of every 100 young boys and girls get access to higher education is a sad reflection of the state of education in the country,” said K. Venugopal, Joint Editor of The Hindu and Business Line. He said that the Business Line Club’s (BL Club) activities were supported in a great measure by Syndicate Bank.

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