Ajit Singh outlines Air India roadmap: top 10 highlights

Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh on Wednesday addressed a press conference on the issues facing national carrier Air India.

The airline has been hit by a prolonged strike by its pilots, now in its 30th day, on international routes. The pilots are protesting the management's decision to let erstwhile Indian Airlines’ pilots to train on advanced Boeing 787 aircraft, and are seeking new pay and career progression norms.

On Wednesday, the striking pilots' union also took out a protest march in New Delhi.

Here are the highlights from the press conference:

• Ajit Singh said the pilots and engineers were welcome to return, but without preconditions. He said the pilots will have to re-apply if they want to return. The airline also plans to hire pilots for domestic and international routes.
• The minister said that domestic passenger carriage for the airline was 26,000 daily, while international traffic was 11,000 per day, which is 2,000-3,000 less than normal.
• The airline has plans not only to maintain international flights but also to increase it. It is starting new routes in August—to Hong Kong, Seoul and Osaka.
• The airline will get three Boeing Dreamliners this month, and the first long-haul flight will be Mumbai-London, which will begin in August.
• Reforms for the airline have begun, starting with the crew management system. The first phase has already been implemented and the second one will begin in July, the minister said.
• The airline is starting a new system for testing pilots. The current system is unwritten and doesn't tell the examinee how he/she did. The new system will have an appeals system and can ask for an outside examiner.
• The minister also quashed fears of sale of the airline, saying there were no such plans.
• On salaries, the minister said India is facing a problem as it did not have sufficient funds. The carrier currently has Rs 2,000 crore, which can only pay salaries up to March.
• The minister said the airline had a taskforce and was looking at investment and improvement in the infrastructure space. He said the airline needed about Rs 40,000 crore for this purpose.
• He said the aviation sector was burdened with too many taxes and the cost of operations was highly taxed too. Aviation turbine fuel takes up 40-50 per cent of operational cost, he said, adding that the average cost of jet fuel at Indian airports was higher than other hubs.