Ministry tightens screws on late Air India

New Delhi: After five of Air India’s (AI’s) long-haul flights were severely delayed over the weekend, the civil aviation ministry has decided to crack the whip.
At a meeting with senior Air India officials on Tuesday, civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla sought to make major changes in the functioning of the state carrier.
As a first step in this direction, the ministry will begin daily monitoring of Air India flights to London-New York, Chicago, Birmingham-Toronto, and New York from Delhi and Mumbai to know the reasons for the delays.
Also, Air India has been asked to consolidate its routes over the next three days. Route consolidation is important since the carrier has been facing an acute shortage of pilots as well as aircraft.
To make matters worse, it has had to operate additional flights for Haj pilgrims in the last few days. Route consolidation could mean cancellation of some flights on heavy days and redeployment of aircraft and pilots.
Also, the ministry has asked Air India to consolidate coordination at Delhi and Mumbai airports by working alongside Indian staff.
A senior-level coordination officer may also be appointed in Delhi for this.
21/11/07 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Air India - International Nov 2007, Airports Nov 2007, NACIL Nov 2007