Owner/operator recounts changes in business aviation over the years

Captain S.S. Majithia

He belongs to a family which has been flying planes from the 1930s. A family which has participated in World War II. A family which has spread its industrial tentacles across Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, creating jobs and creating wealth. The Saraya group. And its interest in business aviation is well known.

The Chairman and Managing Director of the Saraya Group, Capt. S.S.Majithia, who has over 6,000 hours of flying under his belt, made a splendid case for business aviation as a business tool and not a rich man’s toy. Recalling how his grandfather had stakes in pre-independent India, extending from Lahore to Delhi to Gorakhpur, Capt. Majithia said in those days the trip used to take three days and the last mile invariably used to be by road. It was in 1935 that the group bought a small airplane which did the journey in half a day with one fuel stop. “Our sugar unit in Gorakhpur survived because of the airplane as we could connect and ferry engineers and consultants quickly from plant to plant.”

“The small airplane was never a wasteful expenditure. It is totally beyond me that it is a rich man’s toy.” Industries, he said, are increasingly being set up in backward regions as land is easily available and the only way to access these plants in quick time is through airplanes as the road network in most places are under-developed.”

Despite the anguish, Capt. Majithia said the industry should not despair but should strengthen the association to resolve issues. He mentioned how the sugar industry survived because of the sugar associations.