Time to rethink takeover regulations

When it comes to a listed aviation company, it has the worst of both worlds

As this column goes to print, millions of column-centimetres of newsprint would have been inked with analysis of the lenders trying to save Jet Airways. Some would argue that a business that is insolvent should simply be allowed to fail, regardless of the immediate impact on the system. Others would argue that the state must bail out infrastructure companies. Yet others would argue that regulators have been arbitrary and have discriminated for and against airlines for reasons best known to them.

Cutting through the noise and the clutter, one facet of regulatory policy stands out when it comes to the aviation