Why SIA should continue to plough its profit into loss making Air India - journalist Ven Sreenivasan

Walking away now would mean giving up that hard-won opportunity to get a piece of action in one of the world’s hottest aviation markets with a favourable combination of partners.

As the national carrier, Air India holds valuable international traffic rights and airport slots around the world. At home, it has a huge domestic network and enjoys strong brand recognition.

In the Tata group, SIA has a strong partner which brings to the table local knowledge, scale, brand and reputation. As Tata’s partner, SIA brings aviation expertise, operational discipline and customer service. In short, world class standards in airline operations....

SIA’s management must articulate the case clearly to its shareholders and the public here....

What kind of control will it take in the airline’s operations to ensure that its goals are met? How much operational control is Tata willing to give, and how much is the Indian government willing to tolerate?  CNA

The first three paragraphs are the reasons why SIA should continue to throw good money after bad money in Air India. The same narrative, India has a lot of potential for growth in the long long long term. With extraordinary Tata's strong local knowledge and everything Indian, and SIA's expertise, it is still failing and failing and failing and losing at least US$3 billion in the last two years and expecting to continue to lose in the next 10 years, meaning at least another US$10 billion assuming losing US$1 billion a year. Air India is admitting that despite Tata and SIA, nothing good will come from them to turn the ailing airline around.

Why so, after all Tata and SIA are the two knights in shining armour for the rescue? The answer is in the last two paragraph quoted above. It is about management control. SIA does not have management control to put its good management practices to run Air India. Tata did not have the expertise but still would not release control for SIA to do the job. These two points are the red herrings to dupe people into believing that with SIA and Tata, they could save Air India...when SIA will not be allowed to play any part. The Indians are so full of themselves, who is SIA to teach them how to such eggs? And Tata is anything but Indian and will do the Indian ways. If Tata can turn it around, the bleeding would have stopped or at least reduced. Both points are only good for talking rubbish.

LKY has been right all the time. If SIA cannot have management control, stay away. Don't be stupid. But someone thinks he is smarter than LKY and now stuck in this cowdung.  The Indian future, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a big IF. It is as good as fantasy. Even if SIA has complete control, the Indian culture and politics will make sure it will fail.

Oops, maybe follow DBS formula, pay up for the whole of Air India, called it Air India, SIA. And let the Indians to run it the way they know best and have remote control from Changi. Oops, oops, the Indians have been running it the way they think best and still losing money. There is no way no talent Singaporeans can help to turn it around if the smart Indians cannot do it. The Indians don't respect no talent Singaporeans. To them, they can teach Singapore how to become first world country. The only Singaporean that the Indians respect is LKY. Period.  

The bigger fear is for SIA to run and operate SIA with more Indian recruits for management, pilots and engineering team. This seems to be the thinking today, recruit more Indians to run SIA.

What do you think? Continue to dump its profit into the black hole for how long? What if the whole SIA is sucked into the black hole?

The USA uses negotiation colored by deception all the time

Not this time. Sergei Lavrov puts it in no uncertain terms. The USA uses negotiation colored by deception all the time. They negotiate, but deceptively they turn around and take advantage after agreeing. This visit by the CIA chief relates to efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy has no more ropes to hold and is desperate and so is NATO Europe. Zelenskyy can tell the whole world that Russia is collapsing, but the reality is otherwise. Zelenskyy is short of weapons and money clear and simple. The collapse of Ukraine is near.

Gorbachev was too naive to believe that the West would not move NATO an inch closer to the border with Moscow. A verbal assurance, no doubt, which gave the USA and NATO the perfect excuse to keep moving Eastward.

Even Putin had been blindsided in 2014 while negotiating with NATO after seeing NATO encroaching towards the Russian Border relentlessly, dangling a carrot in front of Zelenskyy and luring Ukraine to join NATO. This was Russia's red line that was to be the reason for the Ukraine War.

Agreements reached during negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in the early days of the war were about to be signed, but sabotaged by NATO, actually by Boris Johnson on behalf of the USA undoubtedly. This is what led Sergei Lavrov to say that any negotiation with the USA is tinged with deception, and the Russians no longer trust the USA in any further talks. In fact, the CIA chief's visit coincided with a visit by the Vatican representative to Moscow to give what was interpreted by many as giving a religious dimension to moral and humanitarian support to the USA. Many are asking why the Vatican did not send representatives to start talks regarding Gaza all this time, when genocide was rampant.

Of course, that trip by the CIA chief ended in failure. Russia no longer wants to talk about negotiation to end the war in Ukraine. They know it is all wasted time and effort.


Anonymous

The economy that is collapsing is not China, but the USA on all counts

If you believe the anti-China bots on social media, everything in China is collapsing. I think they are barking up the wrong tree and making a fool of themselves. The economy that is collapsing is not China, but the USA on all counts. Things built on solid manufacturing ground do not collapse. Things built on hype and money printing from thin air will soon collapse.

Of course, one social media is famous for talking about China's tofu bridges and houses collapsing, EVs on fire all over China, jobless and homeless people living on the pavements. What is ridiculous is that those are from people who never set foot in China, while those who visited, worked and lived in China are saying exactly the opposite. Who do we believe? Those in absentia or those on the ground? Take your pick.

There are plenty of news about USA buildings built on tofu bases that are sinking, so do not assume that laughing first is going to win. He who laughs last laughs best, so they say.

Imagine a debtor buying back its own debt. Can this really be possible. How come Japan did not do it after chalking up debt more that are 250% of its annual GDP. Japan could have mitigated its position by selling its Treasury holdings of more than a trillion. But Japan's testicles, or boobs now, are squeezed tightly by the USA, unable to move as a result of the pain. That is the price to pay for being a close friend of the USA. The closer the friendship, the tighter is the squeeze. China has no such inhibitions, selling its Treasuries like hot cakes now and then.


Anonymous

More than 5,000 sex starved American terrorists from Abraham Lincoln carrier landing in Pattaya

 After more than 200 days baking in the hot Arabian Sea, the nearly deranged American terrorists. deprived of food and basic necessities and human pleasure, are finally rewarded with a trip to paradise island in Pattaya, for rest and recreation. This trip did not come easy for the American terrorists as they had to fight for it, protested, threatened to commit suicide, stuffing their underwear into toilet bowls to choke the sewerage system and threatening mutiny. 

Aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln is accompanied by two support ships while frolicking in Thailand's famous paradise beach, used to service the American GIs killing the Vietcong in the 60s and 70s. Now the American terrorists will have a taste of what paradise is like in Pattaya away from killing Iranians, Arabs and Muslims.

To the operators in Pattaya, this is going to be boom town Charlie. With 9 months of pay not spent, with no where to go, the American terrorists will be cash rich to splash their dollars on the beaches of Pattaya. The Thais are expecting a business boom and a leg up on their economy. The Pinoys will be salivating and green in envy. Why not Manila or some other Pinoy cities to give a lift up to the fumbling Pinoy economy? The Pinoys love to service the American terrorists and are eagerly waiting for the return of the Americans in Pinoy soil.

More American warships will be departing the Middle East for their tropical paradise in Southeast Asia, for American terrorists to release their pent up feelings. Oops, no more Bugis Street and Changi Village unless they want to visit Changi's Chennai Business Park. The Pinoys can wait a while as the American Navy has no role in the Middle East and if the American terrorists in their respective ships know what to do, do as the soldiers in Abraham Lincoln, they will be sent for a holiday in the paradise islands of Southeast Asia to keep them away from sabotaging their ships. Bali may be a top choice too.

American terrorists and their money will be coming to Southeast Asia to uplift the flailing economies in the region. The operators of bars and night clubs must gear up for this spending spree by the American terrorists. Just cross the fingers that they did not slit the throats of some local boys and girls when they are here to show their manhood. They were trained to kill and did not have the chance to do so in the Middle East and very frustrated. Now they will be let loose in Southeast Asian cities that think these are just ordinary sailors having some fun. Be warn, they are American terrorists that were sent to kill Iranians, Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East.

Operation Kill Iranians - Trump is looking desperately for a face-saving exit.

Trump is looking desperately for a face-saving exit. That CIA chief's visit to Moscow is seen by many as asking Putin for help to end the war. There were some speculations going around on social media that Trump is trying to put pressure on Putin with this visit by the CIA chief. That has been put to rest by Scott Ritter. Trump has no card to play against Putin, not to talk about pressuring him.

The other exit option by using economic strangulation of Iran died even before it started. China put paid to Scott Bessent's hallucination by refusing to be on board. Scott Bessent can threaten secondary sanctions on Russia and China to no avail. China's trade with USA is falling, while trade with the Global South is expanding, all done outside the US$. The use of the US$ for sanctioning is as effective as its aircraft carriers now rendered toothless.

Trump can twit all he wants about the Strait of Hormuz being opened for business, with no shipowners taking up the challenge to run the Straits. Iran just have to tell shipowners, the Straits is not open for business and they never doubt that.


Anonymous