The government may have decided not to privatise Air India but procedural delays and lack of clear direction on the turnaround plan continue as impediments, according to Arvind Jadhav, chairman and managing director of Air India (AI).
?The political decision is AI will continue as the national carrier. Therefore, anybody put on this job has only a single agenda on hand ? revive it. Now whether he does a good job or bad job is a different issue,? Jadhav said.
In an exclusive interview to FE, he said the government is yet to take a decision on key issues like reworking of wage agreements to cut the high salary bill. ?The government has to give a clear direction regarding the basis of the turnaround plan. Whether it would be based on reduced fleet size, which means we should defer or cancel aircraft orders, or whether it should look for the overall restructuring of the airline,? he said.
Also, the combination of fleet is one of the biggest drawbacks for AI operations. ?Ideally an airline should have a higher proportion of aircraft on lease. In AI it is the reverse ? 80 aircraft are owned by it while only 50 are on lease,? he said.
According to the CMD, the absence of a clear leasing out policy has cost the carrier dear. The airline’s plan to hive off its ground-handling and engineering activities is also taking a long time and Jadhav blames the delay, once again, in obtaining the necessary approvals.
Regarding the financial mess in which the airline finds itself in today, Jadhav blames the previous management besides the procedural delays.
