A-I urged to expedite e-ticketing, cut commissions to increase revenues

Our Corporate Bureau

Mumbai, Oct 17: The Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, has urged Air-India’s management to expedite the introduction of e-ticketing and set the target for its launch as January 1, 2002.

Mr Hussain, during his maiden visit to Air-India’s headquarters here, evinced keen interest in the decision of airlines operating in India to curtail the travel agents commission from nine per cent to seven per cent which would help Air-India save Rs 15 crore.

Mr Hussain said that the management should be proactive in identifying areas where expenditure could be curtailed rather than await directives from him or the ministry.

It may be recalled that out of the 34 offline stations abroad, Air-India has decided to shut down 20 and downsize 10 offline stations which will save approximately Rs 7 crore per year.

The national carrier had also decided to downsize 33 online stations where it owns flights or code share flights with foreign carriers operate, leading to a further saving of approximately Rs 14 crore per year.

Nearly 90 employees, both based in India and locally recruited foreign nationals will be retrenched into two phases to achieve this saving.

Meanwhile, Air-India’s security department achieved ISO:9002-2000 after it enhanced its service levels as per the revised standards barely nine months after it was certified ISO:9002-1994.