The Union Cabinet is expected to take up tomorrow a recommendation by the civil aviation ministry to delay the implementation of the new ground handling policy by six months.
Buckling under fears of large-scale retrenchment of airline employees and opposition from private airlines, aviation ministry officials today said they were recommending postponement of the policy, which was to be effective from January 1 next year, by six months.
Aviation experts say the postponement clearly means that a decision will be taken by the next government at the Centre.
“We have to give a little more time before the policy is implemented. There are several reasons: First, the Air India joint venture for ground handling has not got government approval yet; two, the Airports Authority of India JV for ground handling has also not been finalised yet. Moreover, this is a transition phase for airlines and we don’t want to compound their problems. Issues like job losses also have to be looked into,” said a civil aviation ministry official.
The contentious policy disallows private domestic carriers from undertaking own handling for passengers, ramp and aircraft and instead permits airport operators to assign three specialised agencies for these functions.
One of these companies will have to be state-owned National Aviation Company Ltd (Nacil) along with a partner. Air India has signed an agreement with Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) for a 50-50 joint venture that will offer the service.
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However, the move has been opposed by private carriers led by Jet Airways who say that all private carriers together will have to retrench over 8,000 workers in ground handling if the policy goes through. They argue that the move will double their ground-handling costs and so add to their financial woes.
Surprisingly, the airlines have got support from at least 14 unions representing the employees of Nacil who went on a dharna in Mumbai on Tuesday against the policy.
The unions have opposed the Air India-SATS JV alleging it is back-door privatisation of the airline. They say around 20,000 employees who work in ground handling will be forced to go for a change in service conditions or may lose their jobs. The unions have threatened a strike if the policy is pushed forward.
The proposed deferment will also help the companies that have won the contract to undertake ground handling at various airports. For instance, Globe Ground Aviation, which has the contract for the Delhi airport, does not have enough manpower to start operations.
“This will give us enough time to revamp our operations” said Gaurav Bhatia, who heads the company.