Accusing Air India's joint venture ground handling firm AISATS of "violating" several JV norms, Congress lawmaker from Kerala Kodikunnil Suresh has alleged that it is planning to shut down its Thiruvananthapuram unit, which will result in large scale layoffs.
The company, however, denied that it had any such plans and said that it conducts its business in strict accordance with the terms of the JV agreement
In a letter to Civil Aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Suresh also accused SATS of keeping all important positions in the JV with itself and leaving nothing for Air India.
"The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AISATS is planning to close down AISATS Thiruvananthapuram for reason known to him, which will result in 1,000 (people becoming) jobless," Suresh, Congress MP from Mavelikkara Parliamentary constituency in Kerala, said in the letter to Raju.
AI-SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd is a 50:50 JV between Air India and Singapore Airport Terminal Services, which provides ground-handling and cargo-handling facilities at a number of airports in the country.
"AISATS Company was formed in 2010. As per the joint venture agreement clause 14.3, CEO shall rotate every three years between Air India and SATS . Unfortunately until now Air India never had a chance to have a CEO and AISATS is keeping it as their exclusive possession which is in serious violation of JV agreement," the Congress MP alleged.
"In view of above, agreement must be honoured where by AISATS' Air India staff should (also) become the CEO. This will open up all the irregularities in the company which needs to be cleaned up," Suresh alleged in the letter to Raju.
As per the terms of JV agreement there should be four senior persons in Bangalorce, two in Hyerabad from SATS to be posted in different stations where AISATS has its operations and similarly six senior persons from Air India should also be posted in different locations, he said.
"But currently, there is seven deputed staff from SATS," he said.
"AISATS is committed to our center at Thiruvananthapuram and we continue to add value through our ground handling operations at the Trivandrum airport. Any report that states otherwise is unsubstantiated and untrue," AISATS said in a statement to PTI.
"Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited conducts its business in strict accordance with the terms of the joint venture agreement," the statement added.
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