145;New ground-handling policy to hit quality146;

The Civil Aviation Ministry8217;s soon-to-be introduced ground handling policy has got a thumbs down from the country8217;s...

The Civil Aviation Ministry8217;s soon-to-be introduced ground handling policy has got a thumbs down from the country8217;s logistics service providers. Companies like Transport Corporation of India TCI and leading courier service provider Blue Dart have said that the new policy would erode their service quality by taking away their right to handle their own cargo, a core competency.

In the new policy, coming into effect from January, only three agencies will be permitted to take up ground handling services at the six major airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Chosen through competitive bidding, these companies would undertake two basic ground handling activities 8212; passenger handling at the landside and ramp handling which includes loading and unloading of cargo from aircraft.

However, logistics companies say the new policy will reduce the efficiency of their operations. 8220;Currently, airlines either outsource the ground handling work or undertake it on their own. Hence, we can communicate easily with these airlines at any point of time,8221; says TCI division XPS8217;s president and CEO K Prabhakar. 8220;Once the new policy comes into play, the ground handler appointed would report directly to Airports Authority of India AAI or the airport operator and we can no longer have control on the situation.8221;

Prabhakar added that the experience at the new Hyderabad International Airport Ltd HIAL, which has already appointed dedicated ground handlers, has not been good. XPS now has to pay the handler a service fee for undertaking the work, increasing operations costs. 8220;Earlier, we could pay the airlines once every 15 days for the consignment. Now we have to pay them on a cash and carry basis which increases our cash requirements.8221; XPS expects escalating ground handling costs to contribute to a 10-15 per cent rise in total cost of transporting cargo by air over the next few years.

Blue Dart Express finance director and COO Yogesh Dhingra said, 8220;In our business, timely delivery of the service is extremely essential. The new policy will increase the turnaround time of our aircraft. At present, our own trained team ensures that turnaround happens in 30 minutes flat but common ground handlers may take much more.8221;

A civil aviation senior ministry official said, 8220;We have taken note and are seeing what we can do about it.8221;