New Delhi: If you are travelling on economy class in a domestic flight on national carrier Air India, chances are that you may soon no longer be served a full meal within the ticket price but only snacks instead. If you want a full meal, you may have to pay extra. This is one of the recommendations of a government-appointed committee on cost-cutting for Air India that submitted its report to civil aviation minister Ajit Singh on Thursday.
The government is yet to take a final decision.
But if such a move goes through, it will position Air India somewhere between a low-cost carrier and a full-service carrier, sources said, adding that ticket-fares offered by Air India are often lower than even the low cost carriers which charge passengers on board for food. The Centre is expected to discuss each recommendation before a final decision is taken.
Another recommendation is to ask passengers to pay for preferential seats with more leg-room in the economy class. The committee has also proposed that the levy for upgradation of seats on flights be well-publicised to generate more revenue.
Even standardising the levy on passengers for excess baggage is on cards. While passengers have to pay for excess baggage even now, the extra amount to be paid differs as per the destination.
The committee has sub mitted 46 recommendations in all, which it estimates will help Air India to save about Rs 3,240 crore per year. It has also been recommended that a technical efficiency audit for manpower rationalisation be conducted.
Sources said that this may not result in job-cuts but could rather lead to relocation of staff from one department to the other.
Another recommendation of the panel is to offload some of the routes of Air India to its low-cost carrier Air India Express which can then operate smaller aircraft on these routes on the low-cost carrier model.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130329/news-businesstech/article/air-india-likely-charge-meals
The government is yet to take a final decision.
But if such a move goes through, it will position Air India somewhere between a low-cost carrier and a full-service carrier, sources said, adding that ticket-fares offered by Air India are often lower than even the low cost carriers which charge passengers on board for food. The Centre is expected to discuss each recommendation before a final decision is taken.
Another recommendation is to ask passengers to pay for preferential seats with more leg-room in the economy class. The committee has also proposed that the levy for upgradation of seats on flights be well-publicised to generate more revenue.
Even standardising the levy on passengers for excess baggage is on cards. While passengers have to pay for excess baggage even now, the extra amount to be paid differs as per the destination.
The committee has sub mitted 46 recommendations in all, which it estimates will help Air India to save about Rs 3,240 crore per year. It has also been recommended that a technical efficiency audit for manpower rationalisation be conducted.
Sources said that this may not result in job-cuts but could rather lead to relocation of staff from one department to the other.
Another recommendation of the panel is to offload some of the routes of Air India to its low-cost carrier Air India Express which can then operate smaller aircraft on these routes on the low-cost carrier model.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130329/news-businesstech/article/air-india-likely-charge-meals
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