Letter to BS: Major airports are battling increasing passenger transit

Despite constant expansion, major airports are battling increasing passenger transit. Even tier-II airports are not untouched. While airport authorities keep trying to improve the infrastructure and systems to keep up with the passenger rush, crowding does affect the performance of aircraft as well. Today we enjoy a safety rating which is higher than the US according to the Federal Aviation Administration but the problems being faced by Air India and now Jet Airways are portents of a dangerous future.

The industry is ordering a large number of new aircraft in anticipation of more passengers taking to air travel and in the process, building up financial liabilities that would need to be serviced out of revenues. The global aviation industry is under duress due to fuel costs and we are no exception. 

Competitive pricing and increasing cost of operations are taking a toll. Given that aviation has to be predicated on 100 per cent plus levels of safety, the government, the industry and the passenger must share the onus of keeping the exponential growth of air travel safe and profitable. How we do that is the real question.

R Narayanan  Navi Mumbai

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