Indian Airlines Ready To Face Tata-Sia Challenge: Sen

Indian Airlines will be able to successfully counter the Tata-SIA challenge provided they operate under the same conditions as the national carrier, said Indian Airlines managing director P C Sen.

Sen, who opened the Indian Airlines annual commercial conference here yesterday, said the conditions would imply Tata-SIA operate 17 per cent of its flights in the Northeast, Ladakh and the Andamans, the sectors in which Indian Airlines have been making losses.

He said the Tata-SIA threat is not any different from that of the private lobby Indian Airlines countered when the open-skies policy was introduced. Then private airline companies had recruited excess pilots on the belief the national carrier would collapse under the onslaught of private operators.

 

Indian Airlines however, overcame the crisis by providing improved services, even though it had to concede nearly 40 per cent of the market share to private airlines. The airline has by now regained 61 per cent of its market share.

Indian Airlines has proved to be the only public sector undertaking which has been able to change with the times, Sen said.

He, however, said the airline have to introduce delegation of responsibility, personnel training and improve inter-departmental communication in order to compete with private companies.

Referring to the recent flash strike by Indian Airlines pilots, he said industrial peace was essential to on-time performance by the company.

Sen said the management would not entertain any unreasonable demands by the employees.

Sen said the national carrier now have a chance to widen its base following the collapse of six private airline companies due to liquidity problems.

He praised the Indian Airlines commercial department

He also stressed the need for fleet replacement without which IA would see a drastic drop in market share.

Sen said the performance of Alliance Air, an Indian Airlines subsidiary, has improved considerably. The average Boeing utilisation since Alliance Air started operations have gone up to 3,300-3,400 hours a year.