Harried air passengers will soon have an ombudsman to hear their grievances and negotiate fair settlements between a consumer and an airline. The government today asked airlines to appoint an industry ombudsman by August 1.“The ombudsman — a credible independent agency — will hear all complaints from users and passengers,” civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla said after a quarterly review meeting with airline chiefs today. To help airlines pare losses, the government also set up a 10-member group consisting of airlines and airport operators to review various airport charges imposed on carriers. The group will have an official from the Airports Authority of India, a representative from each of the greenfield airports besides five representatives from full-service carriers and other airlines. "This group will iron out differences between the airport operators and airlines and examine if landing, parking, handling and navigation charges imposed on carriers can be cut to help them reduce costs," a source present at the meeting said. Airlines have been demanding a cut in airport charges in the wake of rising losses, which are expected to double to Rs 8,000 crore this fiscal, according to Chawla. The secretary also said that the performance based navigation (PBN) system would be implemented at Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad airports from August 1. PBN envisages reduction in the separation between aircraft from 5-8 nautical miles now to 3-5 miles, thus increasing the number of aircraft that can take off or land at an airport. There were also indications that the new ground handling policy, to be implemented from January next year, is running into rough weather. Sources said the new policy, which envisages appointment of dedicated parties to handle cargo operations at airports, may be revisited. "Airlines have been finding it much cheaper to handle cargo on their own. It is likely the implementation of the new policy will be reviewed," the source said.The ground handling issue has become a flashpoint between airport operators and airlines. "Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) recently said it would not allow any carrier with less than 25 per cent market share to handle cargo on its own. •Ombudsman by August 1. Will negotiate settlements between consumer and airlines•10-member group of airport operators and airlines to examine reduction in airport charges•Performance-based navigation system to be implemented from August 1•Ground handling policy not to be implemented until January next year
