Fluid Ontologies in the Search for MH370

This paper gives an account of the disappearance of Malaysian Airways Flight MH370 into the southern Indian Ocean in March 2014 and analyses the rare glimpses into remote ocean space this incident opened up. It follows the tenuous clues as to where the aeroplane might have come to rest after it disappeared from radar screens – seven satellite pings, hundreds of pieces of floating debris and six underwater sonic recordings – as ways of entering into and thinking about ocean space. The paper pays attention to and analyses this space on three registers – first, as a fluid, more-than-human materiality with particular properties and agencies; second, as a synthetic situation, a composite of informational bits and pieces scopically articulated and augmented; and third, as geopolitics, delineated by the protocols of international search and rescue. On all three registers – as matter, as data and as law – the ocean is shown to be ontologically fluid, a world defined by movement, flow and flux, posing intractable difficulties for human interactions with it

An investigation into the core underlying problems of India's airlines

India’s aviation industry promises huge growth potential due to a large and growing middle class population, favourable demographics, rapid economic growth, higher disposable incomes, and overall low air transport penetration levels of less than 3%. However, the Indian Aviation Industry has been going through a turbulent phase over the past several years, facing multiple and prolonged difficulties through which carriers are continuously underperforming financially. After conducting a set of expert interviews backed by a statistical analysis of secondary data, this paper concludes that restrictions on foreign ownership, outdated regulatory policies and overtaxed fuel, overlain by industry wide overcapacity issues are the major contributing factors