Two months after Parl panel rap, aviation charges continue to fly high

A Parliamentary committee strongly favoured a cap on airfare and luggage rates in various sectors and pulled up airlines for misleading passengers by not passing the cut in excise duty on aviation turbine fuels besides criticising the poor food quality and inconvenient airlines seating arrangements.

The Parliamentary standing committee report on civil aviation tabled in Rajya Sabha recently also castigated the airlines for unruly behavior of their staff towards passengers.

Strongly recommending an upper cap of airfare in each sector to discourage the airlines from predatory pricing of air tickets, the committee felt that high luggage charges were due to global practices blindly followed by the local carriers. This is a faulting premise as Indian conditions are different. The need of the local people should be given due consideration while regulating airfares and luggage charges.

Civil aviation ministry and DGCA should come forward to regulate baggage charges and airfares in such a way to facilitate and benefit the air passengers, it said.

"Almost all airlines have introduced a 'no-fly'list for the unruly passengers, but when it comes to the turn of airlines to contain their unruly staff, they escape from their responsibility by saying that necessary training being imparted upon. It is very essential that the airlines adopt a friendly approach," it said.

In fact, 'cooperative, courteous and polite behaviour' should be a pre-requisite for a person to join the airline sector, it said adding one should continue to exhibit the same qualities till they are in the service of the airlines.

The 268th report of the standing committee was on action taken by the government on the recommendations and observations of the committee on issues related to improving consumers' satisfaction of airlines.

The committee desired that the civil aviation ministry ensured that strictest possible action is taken against unruly staff and heavy penalties imposed on them. Despite stringent guidelines for airlines, the behavior of the employees is not improving, which shows that the measures in existence are inadequate or poorly implemented. There should be a proper monitoring system in place to check the behavior of airlines employees.

The committee headed by Derek O'brien of Trinamool Congress, urged that there should be design standards and guidelines for aircraft seating, especially in long haul flights, so as to improve maneauverability and convenience of passengers.

Critical of airlines for not refunding to passengers the reduction in tax and fuel surcharges collected, the committee also wanted passengers to be refunded for cancellation of tickets. The airlines must be restricted to charging no more than 50% of the base fare as cancellation charges.

It regretted that even after excise duty cut on ATF, airlines never reduced its fares. This issue needed to be given 'serious thought' and civil aviation ministry should make concerted efforts to prevail upon the airline operators to pass on the full benefits to the consumers.

On poor quality food served in airlines, the committee urged the civil aviation ministry to take up the matter with all airlines to ensure that hygienic food items are made available to the passengers at affordable rates as and when needed.

Specifically pointing out the malpractices adopted by low-cost airlines like Indigo, the committee regretted that the civil aviation ministry was following a 'hands-off' approach so far as check-in process and check-in counters were concerned.

It recommended that the number of check-in counters and personnel deployed at the counters should be directly proportional to the number of flights being operated by the airlines from a particular airport. The civil aviation ministry too should take pro-active steps to contain malpractices of private airlines in deliberately delaying check-ins and artificial overbooking of flights not only by taking strict action against them, but also imposing heavy penalties.

The committee wanted that baggage limit needed to be enhanced by airlines except for Air India, which already gave higher baggage limit. "The maximum limit prescribed by the airlines except Air India, for charging excess baggage charges should be enhanced. Also, the excess baggage charges of airlines are on the higher side."

"The airlines should not consider excess baggage charges as an opportunity to increase their revenue apart from the ticket sales," the committee felt asking civil aviation ministry to prevail upon the airlines to ensure that the excess baggage charges are lowered to a reasonable level.

There was also a need to curb the surge in airfares and resultant profiteering by different airlines. The committee desires that concerted efforts are required by the government to ensure that different airlines not only make more and more low-fare bucket seats available but also keep the airfares at the minimum affordable level for the benefit of a common man.

E-boarding facility needed to be made available to passengers at all airports to reduce waiting time for all passengers, particularly those with hand baggage or no baggage, the committee said, adding the tussle between passengers and security could be best avoided by apprising adequately and periodically the new technological steps taken by government to all security personnel.

UPPING THE ANTE

• The committee felt that high luggage charges were due to global practices blindly followed by the local carriers 
   
• Airlines must be restricted to charging no more than 50% of the base fare as cancellation charges. 
   
• The committee also wanted passengers to be refunded for cancellation of tickets