The merger of Indian Airlines and Air India back in 2007 was not a very foreseeing move on the part of the then Aviation minister Mr Prafulla Patel. IA once the market leader in domestic routes in 2001 is now close to shutdown.
The decision
of purchase of 110 odd aircrafts (Airbus
777 & 787) at the time of merger was a reciepie for disaster sinking the
airlines in a debt of Rs 40,000 crores.The high pilot to aircraft ratio is the
bone of contention between the ICPA and
IPG as the career graph of the pilots and co pilots is very much dependent on
their flight on the newer aircrafts. But this is just the tip of the Iceberg.There is much more to it.
The most
important feature of the metamorphosis of the merger should be the aligning of
the firms in all its aspects majorly being its Human Resources.The lack of
Hr integration of the two fliers is the iceberg beneath.Also the
variability in the salaries of the pilots of Air India Pilots and Pilots of
Indian Airlines is a cause of the uproar.There being no standardised policies
for hiring for rank and file.
No
underlying policy for promotion of the staff.Arrears stuck over long time
periods,Uneven policies for training on the broad aircrafts and uneven
deputation to the narrower ones all add up to employee dissatisfaction which
gets reflected in the service at the flights thereby affecting the customer
satisfaction.
The other
major issue was the sellout of the Ground Handler business. In India,Air India
was the major ground handler in all major airports and the revenue earned from
this was more than 1000 crores per annum.
The Govt decision to bring in foreign players as joint venture of AI took away this revenue and was the worst decision.The AI management used this as a tool to sell out the GH business to this joint
venture along with its infrastructure.
So the whole
fiasco is much more than the Strikes of the pilots and the debt to which the
Airlines is falling prey ........To be continued...
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