AI faces fuel supply cut for 4 hrs, govt intervenes

Public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) — Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), Hindustan petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) — on Wednesday stopped fuel supplies to Air India for over an hour.

The supplies were stopped at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Thiruvananathapuram and Kochi airports from 4 pm after AI's cheque under a cash-and-carry programme bounced. Supply resumed after the government’s intervention.

An Air India spokesperson said the oil companies resumed supplies after the intervention of the civil aviation and the petroleum ministries.

“We had agreed to follow the cash-and-carry model for AI, but that was not being followed. The supplies were stopped after some cheques given by the carrier were not honoured by the banks,” an oil industry source said. He said cheques for Rs 3.4 crore to BPCL, Rs 2.7 crore to HPCL and Rs 10 crore to IOC had bounced.

AI has to pay Rs 2,800 crore — Rs 2,000 crore for oil and Rs 400 crore as interest — to the three companies. Apart from the dues to OMCs, the carrier owes Rs 800 crore to airport operators and Rs 400 crore to other vendors. The carrier has to pay Rs 16.5 crore to oil companies daily for 225 kilo litre of turbine fuel.

MAX FLIGHT CANCELLED
Air India had the highest number of flight cancellations this year, the government said on Wednesday. Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi, while responding to a written reply in Lok Sabha, however, attributed the cancellations to the pilot strike from April 27 to May 6.

He said the major cancellations, 2753, happened because “Air India had 740 and 1,848 cancellations in April and May, 2011 primarily due to the pilot strike from April 27 to May 6.”

The other airlines which had cancelled their flights were Kingfisher Airlines (682), Jet Airways (540), Jetlite (381), SpiceJet (351), IndiGo (89) and Go Air (84).

“Scheduled airlines generally operate their flights on approved schedules. However, at times the flights are cancelled due to watch-hour restrictions, weather, technical reasons beyond the control of the airlines,” Ravi said.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), (an application format) which provides for compensation and facilities to the passengers in case of denied boarding, cancellations and delays.

“The CAR is available on DGCA website www.dgca.nic.in . All the airlines are providing compensation and facilities to the affected passengers in accordance applicable provisions of the CAR,” he said. The carriage by air is a contractual matter between the passenger and the carrier. The complaints are filed with the airlines by the passenger. However, some passengers choose to take up the matter with DGCA, which are taken up with the airlines for redressal, he added.