Carriers oppose ground handling policy

New Delhi: Full service carriers (FSCs) — Jet Airways, Indian, Air Sahara and Kingfisher — have joined hands to oppose the new policy on ground-handling operations which does not allow self-handling by domestic carriers.
The new policy has allowed three entities to carry out ground handling functions at six metro airports — the airport operator or its subsidiary, a subsidiary of Air India and Indian and a ground handler selected through competitive bidding process. However, full service carriers, which have already been doing ground-handling at airports, have been barred from self-handling.
These airlines have urged the government, in a meeting with civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla on Monday, to allow domestic airlines to carry on self-handling operations at airports. Indian and Kingfisher Airlines have also joined Jet Airways and Air Sahara in opposing government’s decision not to allow self-handling by carriers.
Jet Airways has close to 5,000 employees involved in various ground handling activities while Air Sahara has around 2,000 people on their rolls.
20/03/07 Sunny Verma & Sudipto Dey/Economic Times

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Categories: Airports Mar 2007, General Aviation Mar 2007