It is felt in aviation circles that by disinvesting in IA and AI separately,the government will fail to take advantage of the synergised strength of thetwo airlines put together.

"Disinvesting in loss-making airlines is a mistake. The first step which thegovernment should take is to merge Air India and Indian Airlines" said anemphatic Sita World Travels chairman Inder Sharma at an aviation seminarorganised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham)earlier this week.

The session which Sharma addressed was, incidentally, being chaired by civilaviation secretary Ravindra Gupta.

Experts feel that a merger of IA and AI will give India the competitive edgewhich the country has lacked in civil aviation for the past two decades.For one, a merged IA-AI airline will have a combined fleet strength of 77aircraft, comparable at least to some of the smaller airlines in the world.

Austrian Airlines currently has a total fleet of 90 aircraft while ThaiAirways has 74 aircraft. Air New Zealand follows closely with 73 planes inits stable.

The IA-AI combine will still be far behind the bog boys of aviation such asLufthansa (326 aircraft) and United Airlines (576 aircraft).

Another factor, and the strongest so far, in favour of merger is theconnectivity that IA and AI will be able to offer to passengers post-merger."International airlines are coming together to form global alliances so thatpassengers can enjoy seamless, hassel-free travel. This shows how importantit has become to offer the best connections. In such a scenario, it does notmake sense to keep IA and AI as separate companies" United Airlinespresident Rono Dutta said in a recent interview to The FinancialExpress.

With coordinated IA-AI route timetables, a passenger arriving from London toDelhi can immediately leave for Ahmedabad to attend a business conference."Time is at a premium, people do not want to cool their heels at an aiportwaiting for a domestic connection" said Gautam Chadha who heads a traveloutfit, Discover the World Marketing, in India.

Another advantage which surprisingly counts with travellers is a jointfrequent flyer programme which a combined AI-IA entity will be able to offer.However, the dream of a single airline representing the civil aviationinterests of India is unlikely to come true unless political will combineswith drive from the top brass in both airlines.

Labour unions continue to remain apprehensive about job cuts in a combinedairline company. Also, top managements in IA and AI are fearful of losingstatus quo in a post-merger scenario.

"A senior manager from AI is scared that his position will be threatened ifAI merges with IA. Both airline managements have a short-term view," sayairline insiders.

The CEOs of IA and AI also remain unsure whether they can influencepolitical opinion on a merger. It may be recalled that former IA managingdirector P C Sen was sacked along with the entire board of directors byAnanth Kumar for pursuing an IA-AI merger.