Neha Jain: http://indianairlinesnews.blogspot.com/m5

1. Air India plans to rejig top management structure
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Air India plans to rebuild its top management team as three high-profile executives, including its expat chief operating officer Gustav Baldauf, called it a day following differences with the civil aviation ministry.

The airline's chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav, who faces the flak for bringing executives from outside on exorbitant salaries, will make a presentation on the new management structure at the forthcoming board meeting. The airline's board is slated to meet on March 15.

"The CMD is expected to present his plan on what the new management structure should be in the forthcoming board meeting. However, changing management structure at the top won't make any difference unless the employees cooperate," said a top civil aviation ministry official.

Though recent resignations have raised questions about Jadav's ability to achieve a turnaround, he has the support of the new civil aviation minister Vyalar Ravi

"I'm happy and satisfied with Arvind Jadhav's performance and have no problems with him," said Mr Ravi. Jadva's term saw Air India slipping to the fourth position in terms of domestic market share.

Jadav, however, will have to convince the board if he wants to retain the post of COO for Air India and its low-cost arm Air India Express. The airline's CMD will take a conservative approach this time, according to aviation industry officials.

"There was no framework of job requirement or no definite role and accountability for the selections that were made for people who were got from outside and made as Air India honchos," said a senior Air India official who had opposed the selection process.

The chief operating officer of Air India Express, Pawan Arora, was sacked last month and Air India's chief training officer, Stephan Sukumar, resigned last week.

Civil aviation minister feels it is tough to induct people at the top. "The question of inducting new people at the top is not easy and I can't talk about these plans in public like this. I have to consult my ministry and experts before deciding on that," Ravi added.

The board meeting is also likely to approve the turnaround plan, which is being finalized by consultancy firms Deloitte and SBI Caps. Air India will get an equity support of 1200 crore from the government. It will also restructure its debt ( 40,000 crore) and is likely to go aggressive to regain market share.

2. Airline bosses meet Ravi over service tax hike
Top brass of India’s airlines on Friday expressed concern over the Budget proposal to hike service tax on air travel, saying it will lower their yields and adversely affect the already-troubled aviation industry.
Opposing the imposition of 10% service tax in business class on domestic flights as also in business and first classes on international flights, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) maintained that this would cut into the “already thin margin of the airline business”.The FIA raised the issue at a meeting with civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi to apprise him of the problems of the sector. The growing fuel prices and high airport charges were other areas of concern raised by the umbrella body of airlines in India.

The delegation included FIA chairman and Kingfisher chief Vijay Mallya, Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal, IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh and Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav. FIA secretary general .

3. Cash-strapped Air India defers Feb pay
NEW DELHI: Air India has deferred the payment of February salary to its over 32,000 employees. The airline on Thursday told the chief labour commissioner (CLC) that due to a "severe cash crunch" and committed payments to oil companies and interest repayment, "the company is not in a position to pay salary on time". It added that AI is trying to "organize funds from different sources" and will accordingly inform employees about the date of salary payment.

While salary delays are becoming an almost regular feature in cash-strapped AI, a letter sent from the management to employees on Thursday has added to their heartburn. The letter, among other things, says that the airline has been making operational profits since last November. "If the management's claim of making profit is correct, then why is it not able to pay us on time?" asked an employee.

Despite the management's claims of improved performance, the airline has been slipping deeper into the red since the merger of AI and IA in 2007. The Maharaja has lost Rs 3,450.6 crore during the first half of FY11, according to aviation minister Vayalar Ravi. The losses in FY08, FY09 and FY2010 have been Rs 2,226.2 crore, Rs 5,548.3 crore and Rs 5,552.4 crore, respectively.

The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA), the union of pilots of the erstwhile Indian Airlines that has threatened to go on strike from Wednesday over issues like lack of pay parity with their AI counterparts, has been told that its issues can't be resolved in isolation.

Hardening the management's stance on ICPA threat, the letter says: "You all will appreciate that our issues are complex and can only be resolved through dialogue. Any ad hoc decision will only further complicate the issue. And also at this juncture, demand of only one category of employees can't be addressed in isolation.

4. DGCA's thumbs-up for Metro line near airport
CHENNAI: Airlines may continue to complain about the Metro Rail's 'incursion' into the airport premises, but the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is fine with the alignment.

The proposed Metro Rail corridor from Officers' Training Academy to the airport will pass close to the runways. While aviation experts are against allowing a partially elevated structure to cut across the approach path of runways, airlines and pilots are wary that they will have to cut down the load of aircraft to fly from the secondary runway.

"There is no problem with the Metro Rail coming near the airport," said director general of civil aviation Bharat Bhushan.

The proposed Metro line starts as an elevated one from the Officers Training Academy (OTA), and goes partially underground as it cuts across the flight approach path, nine metres inside the airport campus, parallel to the boundary wall along GST Road. As per the AAI certificate, the line can be 6.5 metres above ground, so that its height will be lesser than the existing obstacles.

Necessary adjustments would be made to ensure air safety and also to prevent the line from impacting aircraft operations on the secondary runway, said Bharat Bhushan. However, he did not elaborate on the changes that would be brought in to accomodate the project.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already given the green signal for the project following which Chennai Metro Rail floated a tender to construct the line.

"Our studies have found that the height will not affect the safety of flight operations. So the issue has been resolved," AAI chairman VP Agrawal had said when he visited the airport in July to review expansion works.
Aviation experts say that the Metro line would be disastrous if an aircraft overshoots the runway during take-off or has to land much before the touchdown point on the runway due to windshear.

The issue was raised by safety experts at a recent Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council. The director general inspected airport expansion works including construction of terminal buildings, extension of secondary runway and bridge works last Friday.