New Delhi, Apr 27: Days after Indian Airlines and Air India were taken off the disinvestment roster paving the way for them to acquire aircraft, a parliamentary panel has suggested that the two carriers should be granted all required clearances expeditiously for expanding their fleet. In its 69th report tabled in parliament last week, the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture recommended that "all necessary clearances should be granted at the earliest" to IA and AI to expand their fleet in order to increase their market share, efficiency and profitability. Stating that IA's fleet expansion programme had been held up for over a year since it was rostered for disinvestment, the panel said in a similar case, the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), which was to be privatised, was allowed to acquire nine vessels in October last year.
"The committee fails to understand as to why there are two sets of rules for the public sector undertakings of the government. On the one hand, IA is not being allowed to go in for fleet expansion since it is rostered for disinvestment, on the other another PSU (SCI) is under no such constraints."
It said the government's decision not to allow the two carriers to expand their fleet "has adversely affected the two companies financially as well as commercially" and agreed with the civil aviation ministry statement that "we should not allow the airlines to die."
It also criticised the government for its "indecisiveness" on the matter which, it said, was affecting the efficiency of IA which has to compete with private airlines which have new and better aircraft and therefore are able to "encroach upon the market share of Indian Airlines." Bureau Report