After two years of embarking on a merger plan, the back-end operations of Air India and Indian Airlines continue to be hit by delays and controversies, much like their integration. This has seriously hampered the airlines’ attempts to provide seamless travel to customers, which, in turn, has affected their revenue.
The integration of call centres of the two airlines, the contract for which was awarded in January this year, is also embroiled in court cases. Both entities are still being serviced by different players.
Aviation sector experts say Air India’s membership of the 21-airline Star Alliance, which includes Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Thai, United Airlines and Air Canada as its members, could significantly boost its traffic, both internationally and domestically, and open new routes for the airlines, besides significantly upping its brand image and passenger experience. ?Inter-line traffic through alliances is one of the ways in which most international airlines boost their capacity,? said an industry insider, adding that by delaying its entry into the alliance, Air India is losing out a significant opportunity to get ahead of its Indian competitors, as none of the Indian players are part of any global alliance so far.
Moreover, Air India operates on the 098 code, while Indian Airlines operates on the 058 code. Both the airlines were supposed to move to the 098 code post the merger.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel recently said at an idea exchange programme at The Indian Express, ?90% of the world business in aviation is done through alliances, whether it is Star Alliance, SkyTeam or Oneworld. The Indian carriers, by virtue of not being part of any of these three, have a problem, as most global travellers like seamless travel. This is the reason I have been pushing so hard to get Air India into the Star Alliance.
Unfortunately, they haven’t even integrated their IT platform in two years.?
Around a year back, National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) had awarded the contract for integration of PSS (passenger services system) to global IT giant EDS. However, due to some differences over the contract terms, it recently scrapped the contract and has come out with a fresh tender. An Air India spokesperson told FE that one of the bidders had filed a complaint with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), on whose advice the project has been re-tendered. However, there is no timeline which has been set for the contract to be awarded.
Sources privy to the development said global travel distribution company Amadeus and home-grown travel giant Sita have bid for the project. Amedeus had bid last time as well, though EDS has decided to keep away this time.
When contacted, Amadeus India managing director Ankur Bhatia confirmed bidding for the tender, but refused to divulge any details.
Meanwhile, InterGlobe Technologies, which was awarded the tender for the common call centre of both the airlines, has started servicing Air India, but not Indian Airlines. FE has learnt that Omnia BPO, part of the BK Modi-owned Spice Group, which has been servicing Indian Airlines, has filed a suit in a Noida court against the taking away of the contract.
As per the Air India spokesperson, the call centres cannot be integrated till the court case is settled. Having a common call centre for both the airlines is pertinent, as once the airlines have merged their IT platforms, the call centres also need to be serviced by a common agency.
