Ajit Singh, Minister for Civil Aviation, Govt of India recently constituted a four-member panel to examine Air India's route profitability, even as the strike by pilots of the national carrier continued for the 21th day, taking its losses to more than Rs 300 crore (about USD 55 million).
The decision came after the Minister reviewed the status of flights on domestic and international routes which are non-profitable, as per an IANS report. According to a Ministry of Civil Aviation official, non-profitable routes are those in which operational costs are not recovered or operational costs are recovered but total costs are not. The official said that the committee will analysis criteria for withdrawal of routes, and economics of scale of the sectors being operated. Meanwhile, there was no headway in the strike, leading to continuing losses. "Current losses are more than Rs.300 crore. The losses are on accounts of ticket cancellations, unused labour and bulk of Boeing-777 fleet being grounded," a senior Air India official said. "Bookings on our international flight have stabilised and we have placed maximum number of seats in the lowest price bracket... that has also helped bookings in the domestic sector as well in the current contingency plan," he said.
Click here to see the original article>The decision came after the Minister reviewed the status of flights on domestic and international routes which are non-profitable, as per an IANS report. According to a Ministry of Civil Aviation official, non-profitable routes are those in which operational costs are not recovered or operational costs are recovered but total costs are not. The official said that the committee will analysis criteria for withdrawal of routes, and economics of scale of the sectors being operated. Meanwhile, there was no headway in the strike, leading to continuing losses. "Current losses are more than Rs.300 crore. The losses are on accounts of ticket cancellations, unused labour and bulk of Boeing-777 fleet being grounded," a senior Air India official said. "Bookings on our international flight have stabilised and we have placed maximum number of seats in the lowest price bracket... that has also helped bookings in the domestic sector as well in the current contingency plan," he said.