Poor airlines companies! First, they flew their lot directly into losses. Now, the DGCA wants to cancel some licences also?!

Already in tailspin, Kingfisher Airlines was damned in a report by the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) over several lapses in safety standards. The aviation authority says that the lapses merit a cancellation of licences. It has not spared the state-owned Air India Express, calling for restricting its operations.

Well, Kingfisher and other metal birds need not despair. Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh will not let them be gone with the wind. He shall fight, even the DGCA, for the right of Kingfisher to drift in and out of coma while the fliers and the grounded foot the bills. Singh thinks a cancellation of the licence would have "repercussions for the entire industry". He said in an interaction with the media that the ministry will "recommend measures to ensure safety."

The minister did not stop here. He went out on a limb to bat for financial assistance (bailout?) for the sick airlines.

On the one hand, the State Bank of India has declared its loan to the airlines a non-performing asset. Minister Singh, on the other, is keen that the government make sure that there is "availability of working capital to all airlines".