Finally, the
crisis-ridden Air India, which is still grappling with the two-week old pilots'
strike, has put off a visit of Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh to the United
States to take delivery of the brand new long-range Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliner'
aircraft.
The Minister,
along with an entourage of officials and invited journalists, was to travel to
Seattle and Charlston, U.S. from May 28 to 31. Journalists, who were invited to
join the Minister on the trip to the U.S., were informed by the Civil Aviation
Ministry officials on Tuesday that the visit was being postponed by two weeks.
Air India has ordered 27 Dreamliners and the first of the lot was scheduled to
be delivered at a ceremony in the U.S. this month-end. Air India's order of
Dreamliners has already been delayed by more than two years.
The
postponement of the visit of Mr. Singh, along with officials and journalists,
came four days afterThe Hindupublished a news story, questioning the
rationale, scale and timing of the visit when cash-starved Air India had
already incurred a loss of Rs. 200 crore due to the agitation by a section of
its pilots, owing allegiance to the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG). International
flights of the national carrier have been in total disarray and Air India is
operating a curtailed flight schedule on some West-bound sectors.
Official
figures showed that Air India's market share has declined sharply to 17.6 per
cent, making it only India's fourth largest airline measured by passengers
carried, ahead only of private domestic carrier Go Air with 7.3 per cent and
troubled Kingfisher with 5.4 per cent.
Expressing
concern over the state of the economy, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
has also announced that the government was embarking upon some austerity
measures.
The IPG pilots
have been demanding that they alone should be retrained to fly the long-haul
Boeing 787 jet, as allowing pilots from the erstwhile sister-carrier Indian
Airlines would adversely affect their career prospects.
Battling deep
financial crisis and losses of nearly Rs. 7,000 crore annually, Air India is
hoping to survive on the government's bailout package of Rs. 30,000 crore which
comes with strings attached. The government wants the national carrier to
perform satisfactorily on a number of parameters.
Meanwhile, the
pilots' strike and its impact on passengers also evoked concern from MPs in the
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The Civil Aviation Minister said that the pilots had
not heeded the government's appeals to withdraw their stir even after the
promise that there would not be any victimisation.
“I committed in
the House that no victimisation would be done...but pilots are not listening.
That is where the situation stands today,” Mr. Singh told the House.
Maintaining that
Air India's image had been “dented” by the strike, he said the stir had come
during the peak season and at a time when its revenue had gone up to 35 per
cent and on-time performance was improving.
Mr. Singh
pointed out that the Delhi High Court had stuck down the strike as “illegal.”
He regretted the fact that the pilots who reported sick were neither ill nor
had visited doctors.
He said that
the Civil Aviation Ministry was ready to discuss all issues as the government
had announced the huge bailout package. “This bailout is not without strings.
They have to meet strict standards. If they meet these standards, we will
release public money,” he said.
His statement
came as members in the Rajya Sabha demanded an early end to the strike.
· The Hindupublished a report questioning its
rationale, scale and timing
· First of the lot of Dreamliner to be
delivered at a ceremony in the U.S.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article3447514.ece
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