PAC to adopt report on Air India's seat upgrade facility for

A parliamentary committee is learnt to have expressed surprise over a 2010 order by the Civil Aviation Ministry to the ailing Air India to upgrade all former secretaries and their family members for travel in its highest class.
The Public Accounts Committee, which has been discussing the performance of the civil aviation sector in the country with specific reference to Air India, is likely to meet soon to adopt a report on the issue.
The panel reportedly said that it was "startled" to find that the March, 2010, order was issued when the airline was going through a major financial crisis.

As per the order, Air India was to extend the upgrade facility to all former secretaries of the Ministry and their immediate family for travel by the highest class in a flight, subject to seat availability.
The Committee, headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, is believed to have been informed by the Ministry that since the facility was subject to availability of seats in higher classes, there was no loss of revenue.
The Ministry said that a seat on a flight was a "perishable commodity" which was wasted and no revenue generated once the aircraft took off.

The panel is learnt to have asked the Ministry to apprise it about the recommendations of the Dharmadhikari panel on the issue and similar practices elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Air India has written to the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) to allow senior government officials, on deputation to the national carrier, to get free passage, like its employees.
This has been done in the wake of Finance Ministry's move to remove such passage from the 'perks' category for the officials who need to travel regularly on work, airline sources said.