Comment by manquer

10 years ago the dynamics could perhaps be as you sketched between regulators and the carrier but today it is more complex.

Air India was government owned company till 2020s when it was sold back to the TATA group from whom it was originally nationalized from in the 1960s.

Stakeholders like regulators, employees individually could have different PoV or interests in the change .

Regulatory leadership could just as easily want to prove why this de nationalization was bad if so inclined as they could be for not wanting embarrass the flag carrier.

So it would be hard to categorically say that regulator has vested interest in protecting the flag carrier