After several rounds of financial bailouts, the national carrier is showing signs of getting airborne! At least the newspapers claim so. The government has offered not one or two but several rounds of funding to Air India. Banks too have restructured its loans several times. The airline company has finally started repaying some loans and cutting losses. As per Mint, the state-run carrier could cut net losses to Rs 42.7 bn this year from Rs 78.5 bn in FY12. This has been on the back of cost rationalisation. To cut staff costs, the airline restricted its hiring to pilots and engineers last year. It also did not fill vacancies created by the retirement of employees. These steps have effectively reduced the staff count to 28,500 from 35,000 in 2011. But do these effectively mean a tunaround for Air India? Apparently not! The carrier is still making losses on several routes. Also, a suitable turnaround plan would need good governance for a prolonged period. That too with minimal political interference. Meanwhile, at least the bankers to the airline are relieved.