Airport staff may retain jobs |
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Channels  Airport staff may retain jobs
By: Robin Abreu May 20, 2003 Over 8,000 employees of Jet Airways and Air Sahara can breathe a sigh of relief. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is shortly coming out with a new policy regarding ground handling facilituies.
This new policy is anticipated to ensure a tougher security regime at the airports, which will ensure that there are no breach of security, by personnel handling ground facilities.
In fact, airline officials say that the new policy may ensure healthy competition between the government-owned civil aviation bodies and domestic private airlines.
The domestic airline industry had been thrown into a tizzy after the government had earlier announced its intention to ban all private and foreign airlines, from ground handling operations at airports across the country from July 1, 2003.
According to airline officals, The Home Ministry could be considering reversing its earlier decision, and may allow domestic airlines to do their own ground handling. The government is considering letting the two domestic airlines retain their ground handling services.
Not only did the two private airlines protest against the decision but even trade bodies like the Confederation of Indian Industry calling the decision as a retrograde step, adding that it was against the international norms practised at major airports in the world.
The proposal appears discriminatory, arbitrary and in violation of the competitive practices and would lead to an unjustified loss of trained manpower and incur additional cost to private companies.
In January 2000, the Cabinet Committee on Security had recommended the ban after several cases of security breaches were committed by foreign airlines, especially those from central Asian countries.
No such lapses were committed by domestic private carriers. As a result last month, the Cabinet recently announced that only IA, A-I and AAI would be allow ground handling at airports.
The home ministry had rejected the civil aviation ministrys plea to allow Jet and Sahara ground handling, citing security concerns.
Airline officials had earlier rejected the government stand. Around 60 per of the ground handling for international airlines is operated by Air India, 20 per cent by IA,and 10 per cent by Cambata Aviation.
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