Jet Airways ex-CEO designate Sanjiv Kapoor writes: Five things airlines must do to survive in India

One of the conundrums in the Indian aviation world is why, despite being the third-largest and one of the fastest growing markets in the world, so many of its airlines keep failing.

A lot has been said and written about the usual culprits — high fuel prices, high taxes, low fares and sometimes destructive competition, high maintenance costs driven by a harsh operating environment, and struggling / weak competitors distorting the market, all of which are true. We also have certain regulatory requirements that increase costs for airlines, such as mostly highly loss-making mandatory flights by each airline to remote regions under Route Dispersal Guidelines or RDG (allowing route dispersal pooling between airlines, or replacing RDG completely with Regional Connectivity Scheme would be a good idea and a win-win for all), and airlines not being permitted to pool and share airport security staff or buy these services from each other in airports with low frequency of service.

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