DELHI: While lines abroad have maintained an enviable safety record. Not only have they had fewer mishaps, even their pilots enjoy higher credibility. The Indian air lines are beset with all kinds of problems.
It is interesting to note that those like Singapore Airlines, which was started in 1970, (after it was bifurcated from the “Malaysian Singapore Airlines), Qantas, KLM and even Bangla Biman, have not had a single air crash since inception, Professionalism, obviously, is the difference.
As an aeronautical engineer says on condition of anonymity: “Il have to frequently travel abroad. And the difference is there for one to see. Their aircraft are so well maintained. Besides, each aircraft does not have to undertake $o many trips”
According to him, in airlines like British Airways, the chances of a crash occurring are almost nil, “except under unnatural circumstances like bad weather.””
Rajiv Jain, a businessman in Calcutta, points out that snags like tires bursting, a$ in the case of an Indian Airlines plane recently—are almost unheard of in countries like the U.S. “Small wonder then that passengers are increasingly preferring trains. Who wants to die in an air crash?””
Interestingly enough, most passengers, were of the opinion that the other domestic airline — Air India—was any day a better bet. One of them even went to the extent of descrioing travel by 1A and Vayudoct planes as “courting death.””
Australian airline Quanta’s incidentally has the best service record among the world air liners. It has had no major accident in the past 36 years. Its fleet of aircraft _ has remained relatively young and, therefore, snag free.
The enviable service record of the airline is also because of the rigorous discipline that it enforces among its pilots and other staff.
Closely following Quantas are a host of international carriers which have commendable service record. These include British Airways, Air France, KLM Dutch Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Israeli Airways, Alitalia and SAS (Scandinavia). Even the Gulf airlines, which are relatively new, have a far better track record than their Indian counterparts. Seldom have there been accidents.
Then there are those like Singapore Airlines, which retire the aircraft barely five years after induction. No wonder the airline enjoys a high degree of reputation in the world civil aviation circles.
As Sanjay Tandon, who works in a travel agency in the Capital, Says: “At this rate, IA will become 4 taboo for most passengers’.
He points out that the unfortunate rise in the number of crashes will also put off foreign tourists, “at a time when we are spending so much in wooing them.” Tandon says already most foreign tourists are wary of TA. “The other day a couple from Denmark just refused to fly to Bombay by plane. They just took out a map of India and showed me how near Bombay was to Aurangabad. Finally, 1 had to arrange for train tickets for them.”
Article extracted from this publication >> May 21, 1993
