MoCA officials meet airlines on bringing cost efficiency in operations

Top officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday discussed measures to achieve cost efficiency in airline operations, including flight and duty time limitation, at a meeting with airlines and pilot representatives here.

"HMoSCA @jayantsinha and top officials of the ministry, DGCA and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) met with management of all airlines and pilot representatives to streamline rules to achieve cost efficiency while ensuring safety and security," the ministry said in a tweet.

Officials in the ministry said the 'flight and duty time limitation' rules and the security related aspects that need to keep pace with global standards were discussed in the meeting.

"There is an ongoing review of such rules which improve efficiency of such operation of the airline thereby reducing cost, but not impacting safety and security," they said, underlining the significance of the meeting.

Achieving cost efficiency has remained a critical challenge for domestic carriers, especially at a time when they are facing financial setbacks due to rising jet fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee against the dollar.

Major domestic carriers such as Jet Airways, SpiceJet and IndiGo have reported financial reverses in the last quarter of this financial year, even as air traffic growth continues to remain impressive.