NEW DELHI, Apr 30: A parliamentary panel today slammed the Civil Aviation Ministry for taking a “contradictory” stand on allocation of routes and flight time- slots to ensure that private airlines were not favoured at the expense of Air India.
The Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU), which had recommended a “transparent review” of route and slot allocations, said the ministry had first said such an analysis had been carried out but later held that it had no role in selection of routes by airlines.
In its report tabled in Parliament today, the COPU said it expected the ministry “to clarify their aforesaid contradictory views and apprise the Committee of the outcome of the analysis and review undertaken regarding route and slot allocations”.
The report came days after the enhancement of bilateral air traffic rights with the Gulf and other nations.
Following “allegations of favour being shown to private operators vis-a-vis Air India regarding allotment of routes and time-slots”, the panel said it had asked the ministry to “conduct a transparent review of the entire route and slot allocations, both in domestic and international sectors, and effect necessary changes to ensure that Air India is not put at any disadvantage”.
The ministry had initially informed that “an analysis as desired by the Committee with all its ramifications has been done and the review of slot allocations will also shortly be underway.
“However, the ministry changed its stand (later) and held that it has no role in selection of domestic routes by airlines,” the report said.
On Air India’s losses, the COPU, which had in 2010 observed that the airline’s merger was “an ill-conceived and erroneous decision”, also castigated the ministry’s views on the reasons behind the high losses.
“The Committee do not agree that the losses of National Aviation Company of India Ltd (now Air India) were not attributable to merger. It is common knowledge that merger did involve considerable cost.
“Besides, the adverse fallout of merger in effective functioning of the company in the interregnum period of merger process did contribute to the losses,” it said.
Observing that it had earlier recommended that the merger process should be completed within a definite timeline, it regretted that “neither any timeline has been fixed, nor the integration processes completed”.
Of the total of “226 critical activities identified and targetted for completion at the time of merger, only 170 have been completed”.
The COPU also criticised the government for engaging a consultant “with huge cost” and wanted to know why the roadmap on merger visualised by them could not be achieved. It sought a probe into the matter and responsibility fixed. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel