Dr D's column: Funny tips that will help Air India Maharaja succeed

Air India is estimated to have a debt burden of about Rs 55,000 crore. Despite several bailouts from the government, the national carrier has been running in losses year after year. In 2018, Air India had to put up for auction many of its real estate properties to raise around Rs 250 crore to offset a portion of its debts. Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said in an interview, “Air India is very clearly a legacy issue. Air India’s debt is unsustainable. Forget Air India, nobody can handle that debt. For any airline to service that debt is not possible.”

Shortly after its merger with US Airways in 2013, American Airlines had $16.8 billion of debt on its balance sheet. Prior to that, in November 2011, the company had filed for bankruptcy after suffering losses for several years. Following the merger, American Airlines replaced hundreds of planes, which meant that it had the youngest fleet among major airlines — but also the most debt. With buyback of shares, the airline’s debt burden increased to $25.3 billion by the end of 2017.

Last year, a Ryanair aircraft was seized by French officials and 149 London-bound passengers were forced to disembark in a dispute over subsidies to the airline. The travellers were told informally by French officials the aircraft was being impounded because of unpaid debt. The dispute centred on the airline’s failure to repay the authorities for the use of Angoulême airport in southwest France a decade ago. The multi million-dollar jet was released only after Ryanair paid a bill of 525,000 euros ($610,000).

A symbol of Italy’s post-war economic boom, Alitalia airline was put under special administration in 2017 for the second time in less than a decade after workers rejected its rescue plans. The airline had debts of around $3.3 billion. Alitalia, which had 12,500 employees at the time, had been stumbling in the wake of a previous bankruptcy in 2008. The Italian government has been searching for a buyer since. According to reports, Alitalia is quickly burning through a 900 million-euro ($1 billion) state loan.