A worried Air India management is now
looking for ways and means to have its grounded fleet on air as soon as
possible to offset the losses (over `400 crore in 40 days) as it feels the
government just might disapprove of the `30,000 crore bailout it has promised
to the financially beleaguered state-run carrier.
The Cabinet has recently released an equity
of `1,900 crore to Air India as part of the `30,000 crore bailout package.
However, with over 400 pilots into a 40-day strike now, the international
operations of Air India have taken a major hit .
“Milestones as laid out by the government
have to be achieved, or else it will be difficult even for the government to
justify the bailout package,” a senior AI official said requesting anonymity.
While losses of the airline run into `10
crore everyday as per management estimates, `400 crore is already lost. The
non-alacrity of the management in reaching a consensus on the pilots strike is
obvious. That the management is unenthusiastic about bringing the airline back
on track is all the more obvious. May be the management like everyone else have
accepted the fact that Air India is a dead elephant. However, it is not just
the pilots’ strike that is an issue here. There are several layers to the problem
that explains why even the pilots threatenedwith termination are still
unwilling to come back to work.
Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has claimed
that 75% of the operations are normal. It beats the logic as to how, with only
six Boeing-777 flying out of the 20 in their fleet, this can be achieved.
Even AI Express that has come up with a
backup plan by which it has cancelled its domestic operations is under severe
pressure now.
The AI management clearly knows that its
advertisement on the website for new pilots is such that very few except the
existing bunch on strike become eligible to apply. Freshly recruited pilots
will have to undergo type-rating training that will take two years and `50
lakhs to train each of the newly recruited pilots. “If all the instructors who
are busy operating flights, and if 100 pilots are to be trained with the
infrastructure we have today it will take 5-6 years. To train a commander from
an experienced co-pilot takes 2 years normally. With no experienced co-pilots
it will not be possible to have commander even in 10 years,” an Air India
official highlighted.
AI and IA are two separate organisations
with very different work cultures and work ethics. AI has a legacy of being the
national carrier and the “Maharaja” of the international routes, with Mumbai as
its operating hub. In fact, Air India, helped train, Singapore Airlines, which
is the current market leader on international routes. However, with the changed
scenario today, the national carrier is one of the worst examples of how to run
an airline.
“Therefore, it is time that both —(unions
and management) appreciate that they are in a joint venture and they have
mutual benefits by working together,” said R Pushpavanam, an ex-director
ofPersonnel at Indian Airlines.
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