The whole world is writing about this, so why not us? The Maharaja has returned home. The fastidious may complain about how he went from riches to rags in his years of sarkari exile, but he was never a plutocrat in the first place. Additionally, he was taken care of well in his early years, took care of others in the middle, and never really stopped earning his keep, despite ill treatment from babus and ministers. The interesting thing about the Maharaja is how he commands loyalty, from his CEO-s to his staff, to say nothing of his passengers, like us, who may complain about the shabbiness of the seat covers, but like their elbow room and their meals (quite often from the Tata and Taj flight kitchens). Those who have survived European airlines and trips to Europe, on two half bottles of water, and two croissants and a couple of pats of butter and marmalade, have longed for the English breakfast, and idly vadas that Air India reliably dishes out despite all the austerity. Never mind those who crib about dhoklas (see link)!
AI is expected to keep its staff for a year. After that, a substantial fraction may accept VRS. Those who look forward to spiffy young ladies (and designer young men) should remember that this is the loyal staff which took cuts, suggested austerity measures (mostly idiotic), and even tried to buy the airline. They have the all women crew and backup all the way down to technical staff, which can do polar flights, and also handle cribbing babies. They have landing slots in all the major airports in the world, they are a member of the Star Alliance (see, we haven't forgotten the laddoos they distributed on Frankfurt airport the day they became members), to say nothing of a fleet of modern aircraft they own, including the Dreamliners. In short, the Tata's may shed a few sentimental tears, but they haven't forgotten hard headed business principles in posting the winning bid for the airline. Good luck to them, and maybe they should offer a life time worth of free flying to Prafulla Patel. If not for his valiant efforts, AI might still have remained a going concern for the Government of India, and the Maharaja might have never come home!
This blog post is by Neelima Gupte and Sumathi Rao.
Post Script: Incidentally, Mr Tata, can you please throw out those bamboo spoons? Thank you.
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