Agents refuse to book for NEPC

MUMBAI, May 13: Close on the heels of a crippling strike by its pilots late last month, Skyline Nepc and Nepc Airlines have lost their comp...

MUMBAI, May 13: Close on the heels of a crippling strike by its pilots late last month, Skyline Nepc and Nepc Airlines have lost their computerised reservation system (CRS) for non-payment of dues.

The two airlines whose fleet is largely grounded following the pilots’ strike owe nearly Rs 6 crore to the CRS service provider who has stopped providing the service since last Wednesday. With rumours of imminent closure of either one or both the airlines doing the rounds, travel agents in the city are discouraging their customers from flying Nepc and Skyline Nepc airlines.

Travel agents admit that they have lost confidence in the two airlines owned by the Madras-based Khemkas and are encouraging passengers to fly competitors like Indian Airlines and other private operators. “It is not the done thing for an airline to let its computerised reservation system be shut down. Tomorrow it may simply suspend operations leaving passengers in the lurch,” the ticketing manager of a prominent travel agency in Worli told Express Newsline.

Admitting that the CRS system was down, the spokesman of both the airlines, Prashant Kapadia, said it would be restored in the next few days. “It stopped operating due to some technical problems,” he said, adding that travel agents are booking tickets over the telephone. Meanwhile, the shutdown of the CRS has sparked rumours among airline staffers that at least one of the two airlines will wind up by May 15. The employees fear that Nepc Airlines will be the first to shut shop. Kapadia, however, denied the rumours saying that it is only shortage of pilots which is affecting the airlines.

Schedules of both airlines have been thrown haywire and operations continue only on the Mumbai-Madras-Cochin and Goa sectors, according to staffers. Between themselves, both the airlines have sacked nearly 40 commanders and co-pilots over the past few weeks.

However, when industrial unrest was first reported from Skyline Nepc last month, the director of NEPC group of companies, Tirupati Kumar Khemka attributed the dismissals to indiscipline. The employees on the other hand blamed the unrest on the airlines’ inability to pay them.