Alliance with VIPs, lesser mortals out

With its two Boeing 737s in the VIP squadron — nearly 30 years old — scheduled for servicing over the next few months, the IAF decided to borrow an aircraft from either Air-India or Indian Airlines to fill the gap. It finally fell on IA subsidiary Alliance to provide one from its fleet.

It’s learnt that the IAF borrowed the aircraft for four months, starting June 15. Immediately, official sources said, the route planning was affected. Alliance has a fleet of 11 Boeing 737s but the sudden exit of one aircraft resulted in additional burden on Indian Airlines which had to operate Airbus 320s on three new routes.

According to official sources, it was not just the change in plan but also the negative impact the withdrawal of an aircraft has on customer relations. In many situations, the company had to re-schedule its flights which meant informing all passengers in advance and dealing with those who couldn’t be reached and showed up at the airport.

For instance, Alliance Air’s Delhi-Patna 6 am flight on June 28 had to be rescheduled for 11.30 am. ‘‘We tried contacting the passengers the previous day but many were left out and they landed at the airport at 5 am. They had to wait for the next six hours,’’ a senior airline official said.

Menet Paes, Alliance Air managing director, said he was just executing a decision taken by higher authorities. ‘‘We are a subsidiary of Indian Airlines. If one of our flights is taken for whatever purpose, the IA will make additional arrangement. I cannot comment on whether the aircraft should have been given or not as that is a Government decision.’’

Although plans were out today for Defence Minister George Fernandes’ trip to Brazil, starting Friday, to discuss among other things the purchase of five executive jets for VIP duty, IAF officials said they had to still abide by the maintenance schedule of the Boeing 737s and make do with an Alliance Air plane for the moment.