Pauper Air-India sponsors MPs’ pleasure trip

The entire top brass of the airline and bureaucrats of the civil aviation ministry have joined the two-day party at Goa. “While the entire corporate sector is busy in calculating the year-end profits and losses, Air-India officials are chasing the Consultative Committee members to save their jobs,” said a former Air-India director. The entire delegation was of over 40-odd people including the Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Airlines, Anil Baijal, the Director General of Civil Avaition (DGCA) H S Khola, and Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) Chairman.

When contacted in Fort Aguada in Goa, a top Air-India official confirmed that the cost of the trip would be borne by Air-India and all the public sector units in the aviation ministry like Indian Airlines and Pawan Hans. “It is a routine meeting which takes place at regular interval. As always, Air-India would be chipping in its share with the other public sector units,” he said.

Sources say the lobbying is also on for persuading the MPs to spike Air-India’s privatisation which would result in private sector taking over the Rs 4,000 crore turnover airline from public sector clutches.

“The entire tamasha of taking consultative committee members, consisting of Members of Parliament, to some exotic destination results in losses not only to Air-India but to all the public sector undertakings (PSUs)… this is a national waste,” he added.

Though the matter was to be taken up by the Cabinet, Members of Parliament opposed the privatisation move and sought to vet the entire disinvestment proposal themselves at leisure. After the consultative committee clears the disinvestment proposal, the Cabinet will look into the matter and global advisors would be appointed for the sale.

Some of the world’s top airlines, including Richard Branson’s Virgin and Singapore Airlines, Swiss Air among others have evinced their keen interest to pick up the 40 per cent stake in the airline. Due to high number of bilaterals being unutilised, Air-India is getting a better valuation as the bidder can use the Air-India’s bilaterals with its own aircraft.