Over fifty countries are currently pledged to economic reform as they shift from inward-looking, autocratic economies to open, market-driven ones. India is one of these, and it is well-positioned to make a swift and successful transition to capitalism. Its democratic ideals are remarkable too; however, democratic institutions emerged in India long before we had the opportunity to generate an industrial revolution. Even now, more than 60% of our people live in rural areas, and organised work accounts for less than 10% of total labour.
Aviation to Politics
Amidst these fallacies, the rise of airfares is alarming as pointed out by the Senior Congress leader, P Chidambaram. The former Finance Minister P Chidambaram took to Twitter to spout about skyrocketing business class fares on Air India and Vistara on the Delhi-Chennai route. While one-stop flights are in the range mentioned by the former FM, non-stop flights continue to be in the normal range of business-class airfares.
The tweet read, “Delhi-Chennai Business Class air tickets on Vistara and Air India have been set at a ‘reasonable’ price of Rs 6300 and Rs 5700 respectively. In another tweet, after many criticised him for quoting business class fares, Mr Chidambaram said, “I have the prices for Economy class too. On the SAME day and on the SAME route, the prices are 28,000 (AI) and 12,000 (VISTARA).”
In light of the fastest-growing market in the world, a similar instance was noted early this month when Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia engaged in a verbal duel on Twitter over the state of the aviation sector.
Way Forward
In recent weeks, there has been a surge in airfares on certain routes, mainly due to a capacity crunch and suspension of operations by crisis-hit Go First. Against this backdrop, concerns have been voiced in various quarters, and the Civil Aviation Ministry on June 6, 2024, asked airlines to devise a mechanism to ensure reasonable pricing of air tickets.
