New Delhi: India’s national carrier Air India grounded 10 percent of its fleet on Thursday after fuel suppliers refused to provide more oil on credit to the cash strapped airline that already owes them over Rs 2,700 crore.
In a huge embarrassment to the flag carrier, best known for ego tussles in the high ranks and panned universally for gross mismanagement, 60 flights both from domestic and international routes, were withdrawn on Thursday, reports said.
The callous shutdown, adding to passenger woes right in the middle of the peak travel season seemed to be compounded by the fact that many of the flights cancelled were supposed to connect extremely busy airports like London, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Air India however put up a defiant face as it claimed that the cutbacks were “routine”. "Flights are curtailed every lean season, This is being done for commercial reasons,” Air India officials told NDTV.
Among the flights cancelled are 14 round-trips each to London and Dubai from Delhi and four to Tokyo, media reports said.
The grounding of flights comes within a week of an ultimatum from fuel suppliers and airport operators that threatened to halt the airline’s operations on May 27.
02/06/11 India Blooms
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