Why are Indias private airlines in such bad shape?
East West and ModiLuft do not fly anymore. Damania has sold out. Private airlines in India are in terrible shape. An investigation into why the dream of open skies has died a premature death. Two men sit across a dimly lit room, a generator humming quietly in the background. There is just enough light to see each other by and the few papers that lie on the table. S K Modi and his aide Alok Sharma can hardly be described to be in buoyant spirits as they stare at each other across the vast expanse of mahogany. For here, in a nondescript room in a nondescript tower of Nehru Place — Delhi’s very own concrete jungle — last desperate attempts are being made to revive India’s most high profile private airline: ModiLuft. The airline has been in coma since October last year. Not a single plane has lifted off the ground and Modi and Sharma wonder if any plane will ever fly again under their banner. A lot is at stake: S K Modi’s reputation, his money and the Indian flyer’s belief in private dom
