I’ve always assumed we transact with corporates. There is a price to the transaction even when the transaction goes absolutely awry and had fatal consequences.
I never understood why we expect corporations or those who run them to act like actual, empathetic humans. There is rich history of them being cold, profit-driven at all cost creatures from the very first one (Dutch East Indies company) through Ford, DuPont, Union Carbide, a slew of mining and metal companies, power companies, oil exploration companies, banks that governments bailed out etc etc.
You get the idea. You give corporations a set of rules to play by. They push the said rules to the absolute limit, break or bypass a few, pay fines, make some money and that’s that. Everyone can be thrown under the bus to make a profit including the consumer.
Corporations are just designed to be transactional, profit-driven and heartless beings that get the job done as legally mandated. And there is nothing wrong with that.
Air India should pay up, provide the medical care and counselling needed to everyone affected and just keeping moving ahead to avoid this again. Fix the planes, bolster engineering and make sure of you do right by everyone affected.
To expect genuine remorse, contrition or regret from the managers of corporations is a stretch.
I’d argue if you actually got an honest apology that felt heartfelt, check if there’s a knife hidden behind their back or if a beverage that accompanies the apology is poisoned.
To quote Argo: they are the best bad idea we have to organise society to provide jobs, goods and services needed to keep consumer-capitalist society chugging along.
