Fortunes in civil aviation swing more than in most other sectors, given that it is vulnerable to any number of factors, including external ones. There could be a billionaire in the cockpit one day, and before you know it, they would have lost it all.

Yet, perhaps, no other sector allows players such latitude in shaping their trajectory. Start with the right intent and the right people, and a few wrong twists and turns will be forgiven and forgotten. Both Jet Airways (until its closure) and IndiGo, India’s two private-sector success stories in civil aviation, have been through many twists and turns but both had the right intent and the right people at the helm almost all through. In the Indian context, founders and owners hold the key to success. While they might blame circumstances, environment, government actions or inaction for airline failures, these actually stem more from poor administrative or financial management, wrong intent, poor handling of people or some fundamental flaw in the business model than anything extraneous.

That’s why the Indian flying public should rejoice that Akasa Air now shows promise of becoming a strong number three in a market that is veering towards a duopoly, with all the inherent risks and dangers of such a market structure.

The airline recently........

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