Dear Mr Mallya,

Congratulations on acquiring Air Deccan''s 26-per cent stake, for Rs550 crore, which is small change for an industrialist like you. I wish you luck with your expanding reach in the aviation sector.

But, excuse me. I cannot cheer you on.

My reasons are simple. You are sending my personal travel budget askew – or, going by latest accounts, soon will. With one move, you delivered a fell blow to my concepts of good times which vary from yours. My idea of good times is to travel on a clean plane, on time, cheap and to my favourite destinations. Capt. G. R. Gopinath managed to meet most of my needs, save the occasional delayed departures.

Now you have come on the scene, held a press conference in Mumbai and told me that fares would soon rise on the flights operated by Air Deccan. You also told me that you are "in business to make profits." You followed it up with an argument that you do not believe in low-cost operations and running at losses and for that it the fares have to go up, so be it."

Though, Mr. Mallya, being what you are – a member of the standing committee of Parliament on civil aviation – you can change all that. But you have shown no inclination to head that way. I shall touch on those options presently.

So be it! But do you know what that means to me?

Allow me to argue to bring home to you a different perspective, which is not rooted only in the principle of costs plus inefficiencies plus profligacy is equal to profits.

I pay higher for the plastic smiles of the air hostesses, and for the food I don''t need. To me the shortest distance between two points, city to another city, is an efficient flight and not the pampering that goes into the time I spend on the flight.

Thanks to Gopinath, people like me have realised that airline travel is also for us, the hoi polloi. I remember those days when I started flying first in 1983 and saw the scowls, frowns and smirks of the frequent and well heeled travellers when they saw first timers fumbling at the check-in counters. Our aspirations to fly high – literally, in this case – was mocked at. Their looks made it clear: "Ahoy! Here comes a boor. A yokel. And what is he doing amidst us?" And those were the days of ''take-it-or-leave-it", days of Indian Airlines'' monopoly, shortage of capacity and tasteless, plastic-like food. And in emergencies, one had to beg for the mercy of the duty manager or find connections among the high, the mighty and the influential.

Contrast this with what I saw on an Air Deccan flight back from Delhi to Mumbai a few months ago. A guy walked up to the toilet, took a brief, wide-eyed look and returned to his seat flabbergasted. His companions, all obviously first time fliers, made a beeline to the same toilet, looked in and returned. Not one of them marshalled the courage to use it. A helpful co-passenger and a hostess decided to step in and explain how to use it. And they flew!

None of them even hoped to be served microwave-warmed food or served tepid tea. They were just happy to get from point A to point B quickly and at fares almost equal to the second AC sleepers on Indian Railways. And yes, who thought Indian Railways would ever have competition till the Air Deccan arrived with its cheap tickets, almost given away free to some?

All of them surely read the big headlines of Mallya acquiring a stake in the low-cost airlines and were startled because they knew their days of good times were now numbered. Your press conference did not disappoint the poor saps whose dream consisted of someone bleeding to keep them flying!

Gopinath has made it possible for people like us to make sure that he could fly guys like us across the length and breadth of the country and even now he insists that his business model is right and his target market is absolutely correct. If he and his competitors, GoAir, IndiGo, SpiceJet and probably a few more that may come in sooner or later, find that they till run on losses, it is because they use airports meant for airlines like yours and not low-cost ones that are available in most advanced countries where, despite their economies being good, people still want to fly cheap.

Did it occur to you, Mr. Mallya, that being an MP and a member of the standing committee on civil aviation, and with all the experience of how to do business to "make profits," including now in the airlines segment, you could actually help tweak policies to help the low-cost airlines find such airports – build them, if you must, or charge them for their use depending on the price of the tickets sold in the existing airports which full-service airlines use? Why don''t you think out of the box and make it possible? After all, the civil aviation grew not because of the sheer growth of the economy; it also grew because the budget airlines came into being.

All classes of people are entitled to aspire. You should, as a policymaker who knows the lay of the land well in so far as business is concerned, make it possible for these dreams to be realised. Don''t you think that since you sit on a fence with a foot on either side – one in policy and another in business – make sure that the variable costs like landing and parking charges are viable for the low-cost airlines?

Did it occur to you that you are an MP and a member of the standing committee so you have a commitment to the country and civil aviation and of course, the middle and aspiring classes to do something that goes beyond – what was it you said at the press conference in Mumbai on 1 June, 2007? – Oh! Yes, ''make profits.''

Or does it mean that being on that committee means only one thing – being close to the decision making process which you hope to tweak – so that your airlines, as a brand extension, get permission to serve beer? Come on, there are larger issues involved here and as a good MP, you should look at the common weal, and the common man.

So let me drive home the point. Do you recall the advertisements, painted in your favourite red, on every available wall in Goa, advertising your beer? They screamed "Maka naka cold drink", which in Konkani means, "I don''t want the cold drink". Now let me scream – Maka naka full-service airlines. Maka wants affordable, and that means cheap, airlines.

They make, a retired journalist and (therefore) a budget traveller; feel like a king of my own good times.

Yours,
A budget traveller