Sunanda K Datta-Ray: Singapore Airline's lucky

Backing out of the deal to buy a part of Air India's equity has served it well.

The nightmare of last weekend’s journey from Singapore to Guwahati recalled Singapore Airlines backing out of its bid for a share of Air-India’s equity. The defence agreement signed since then confirms that the Singaporean objection is not to investing in India — indeed, some in Delhi’s corridors of power grumble that Singaporean companies are buying up too much stock here — but to throwing good money after bad.

Time was when the young Lee Kuan Yew was up in arms against Singapore’s British rulers for not allowing Air-India a stake in the old Malaysian-Singapore Airline in which BOAC and Qantas had hefty shares. He accused the colonial regime of promoting a white monopoly, and of moral dishonesty. Air-India had to be the best airline serving Singapore since government leaders all used it; but when it came to ownership, they preferred Britain and Australia to India.

Those days, alas! are long past. They belong to the airline’s connection with JRD Tata, who used to be a regular visitor to Singapore and was much admired and respected there for his sense of efficient public service free of rhetorical humbug. Tata told me once that being dropped from Air-India’s board by Morarji Desai was the unkindest cut of all.