'Running an airline is never an easy business': Ho Ching defends Temasek's Air India investment
The airline industry is a difficult business to succeed in, and Ho Ching, chairman of Temasek Trust, has come out in support of Singapore Airlines' (SIA) investment in Air India.Ho, the former CEO of Temasek Holdings, made a lengthy Facebook post on Wednesday (Sept 2) weighing in on recent discussions surrounding Air India's record loss of US$2.33 billion (S$2.97 billion) and request for $1.9 billion in fresh equity from shareholders Tata Sons and SIA.In her post, Ho shared about Air India's history, from its origins as Tata Air Services in 1932, where it "quickly established a well-earned reputation as a premium service airline".SIA had not been established yet at the time, and Tata Air Services had been considered an airline with "excellent service standards", she said. Ho continued to explain Tata Air's transition into Air India when it became a public limited company, and how the Indian government subsequently became a majority stakeholder in the airline "to give it more financial heft to develop its international network".