A Memorable Business Trip

One evening in October 1995, I was relaxing in my Mumbai hotel room after the second day of meetings with Thakyudeen Wahid, the Managing Director of East West Airlines, and his technical staff. Thaki was a soft-spoken, self-effacing man, not the kind of personality usually found running an airline, and I enjoyed talking with him.

East West was the first airline to begin operating when the Indian government adopted an open-skies policy in 1992, allowing private carriers to compete with government-owned Indian Airlines. It was widely rumored that East West and other airlines were financed by criminal elements.

My relaxed state ended abruptly that evening when I received a phone call telling me that Thaki had been assassinated as he was leaving the airline office. Six gunmen broke the windows of his car and fired shots at him and his driver. Thaki was hit thirty times. The driver was seriously wounded, but managed to drive to a hospital, where Thaki was pronounced dead. The driver died shortly afterwards.

My colleague, Don, and I had been driven back to our hotel in Thaki's car the previous day. It was the only time I felt really afraid in India.