Bid to revive AI fortunes: Venugopal

The Union Civil Aviation Ministry is hoping to revive the fortunes of Air India by recruiting young pilots and appointing a committee to suggest cost-cutting measures, K.C. Venugopal, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, has said.

Speaking at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conference here on Tuesday, Mr. Venugopal said the Ministry was committed to improving the travel experience of Non-Resident Indians.

The confidence of customers in Air India seems to have increased and this is being reflected in bookings.

The Ministry has resumed recruitment of pilots from the Indira Gandhi Rashtiya Udan Academy, and 40 young pilots have joined Air India.

The Minister admitted that there were certain concerns related to the performance of Air India Express, the low-cost carrier of the Air India group, which is specially designed for the Gulf sector. The process of empowering Air India Express as an independent business entity is progressing.

Shortage of pilots is one of the issues limiting its operations. The Ministry is all set to recruit 20 foreign instructor-examiner pilots to train the youngsters, he said.

Several initiatives are being rolled out to make Air India Express a complaint-free service.

Its services to the Gulf sector have been increased and on-time performance has been monitored at higher levels to ensure customer satisfaction, Mr. Venugopal said.

The long-pending demand for amending the rule allowing stretcher facility on Gulf-bound Air India flights has been conceded.

The earlier rule stipulated that a medical certificate from a doctor of Air India in Mumbai was required for allowing stretcher on Gulf sector flights. Now, a non-resident Indian patient can avail himself of the stretcher facility on Air India flights by producing medical certificates obtained locally from Gulf countries, he said.

The Ministry has undertaken the upgrade of 62 airports in the country.

The work on the Chennai, Kolkata, and Bhubaneswar airports is nearing completion, he said.

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