Key to this tragedy is the active participation of the state in managing the affairs of the airline through successive Boards of Directors, appointed not based on relevant professional capabilities and experience in corporate governance but on loyalty to political parties and personal friendships with party leaders.
President Wijetunga appointed a retired General as Chairman/MD with two Air Vice Marshals and a UNP lawyer as Executive Directors to assist him. In short, all of them were clueless in commercial aviation. They had no knowledge to contribute in key areas such as Marketing, Finance, HR, Engineering, Service Delivery etc.