New Delhi, May
11:
With Air India
pilots' agitation affecting normal schedules, the Minister for Civil Aviation,
Mr Ajit Singh, met the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the United
Progressive Alliance Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, here on Friday.
At the meeting,
the Prime Minister is believed to have asked Mr Ajit Singh to ensure that there
is no surge in air fares.
The Prime
Minister expressed his concern even as the Directorate General of Civil
Aviation wrote to various airlines asking them to ensure that there is no
“upward revision” in tariff due to ongoing industrial unrest in Air India and
also surge in demand.
This follows
search by the DGCA of Web sites of airlines and media reports as well as
feedback from air travellers that fares on certain high demand sectors had
registered a sudden spurt. The fares were said to be 15-20 per cent higher on
various metro routes compared to a month ago.
Sources
indicate that the Civil Aviation Minister's meeting with Ms Sonia Gandhi and
the Prime Minister was to keep them abreast of the hard steps that the airline
is taking to bring about integration between Air India and Indian.
“The decision
to train pilots of both Air India and Indian on the Boeing 787 aircraft is the
first hard step that has been taken to implement the merger process. The
Minister probably wanted to keep the political leadership abreast of the latest
developments in the Air India agitation,” sources indicated.
Earlier in the
day, speaking to newspersons in Parliament, the Minister said that the
Government was willing to talk to any one as long as they returned to work. “It
is not an issue of being stubborn. If they want to talk, they should come to
work and all issues can be discussed,” the Minister said, adding that the High
Court had already declared the strike illegal.
Mr Singh ruled
out imposing provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance Act on Air India
workers.
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