Privatisation of airports: Govt postpones bid submission deadline

He added though AAI was trying to expedite the privatisation process, service conditions of employees will not be ‘compromised with’.

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The AAI employees union have been opposing the privatisation programme on the grounds that the move would lead to a decline in revenues for the state-owned authority and result in massive retrenchment of manpower.

The union had earlier decided to strike on March 11 to protest the move, which it deferred following the intervention from the chief labour commissioner (CLC). The CLC has fixed March 30 as the next date of meeting between the union and the management.

The government is now contemplating incorporating a clause in the bidding documents to ensure that 100 per cent of AAI staffers working at these four airports are absorbed by the future private operators if the staffers so desire.

Civil aviation ministry sources said the government was earlier insisting that only 60 per cent of AAI staffers at these four airports be absorbed at the same airports by the future private operators there.