OREANDA-NEWS. October 3, 2011. The Hon’ble Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr.Vayalar Ravi reviewed the working of Air India on 22nd September, 2011 at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, New Delhi. The review was attended by Dr.Nasim Zaidi, Secretary – Civil Aviation and other top Ministry officials. Air India’s side was represented by Mr. Rohit Nandan, CMD. Mr Rohit Nandan gave a broad view on the over-all improvement in the operational & financial performance of the company. The significant areas of improvement were highlighted in the presentation, which were as under:

The On-Time-Performance (OTP) of the carrier has improved significantly in the month of September, 2011 and was over 80% on the domestic & international network. The airline also achieved a 100% OTP on 20th & 21st September 2011 ex-Mumbai & Delhi. There has been an emphasis on OTP and is being continuously monitored at the highest level. The Executive Directors of the regions have been made responsible for monitoring, analyzing the causes of the delay and taking adequate to resolve the same.

The Operational Performance of August 2011 showed a significant improvement over the corresponding month last year (i.e, August 2010). Whereas passenger revenue went up by 12.3% (i.e. from Rs.889 crs to Rs.998 crs). the network Passenger Load Factor (PLF) increased from 67.7% to 70.3%. The PLF on the domestic sector showed a huge jump from 64.3% last year to 73.1% this year. Yields went up by 14% across the network.

An Integrated Operations & Control Centre (IOCC) has been launched at T3, Delhi, using Sabre Soultions wherein the Wide Body fleet has already been cut-over. The Narrow Body fleet would be cut-over by 15th October, 2011 and the full network cut-over is planned by December, 2011. A computerized crew rostering system would also be put in place by June 2012. The IOCC has resulted in real-time monitoring and reduction of delays and turn-around time. Simultaneously, a Hub Control Centre (HCC) for monitoring and control of all arrivals & departures has been established at T3, Delhi.

The Operational Losses during the F.Y.2011-12 have been steadily coming down from Rs.507 cr in April 2011 to Rs.266 cr in August 2011, showing an improvement in the operational performance. However, on account of the increase in fuel prices the airline incurred an additional expense on fuel of Rs.650 cr in the period Apr-Aug 2011 vis-à-vis last year.

The Minister of Civil Aviation has appreciated the management for its actions and steps taken towards the Turn Around Plan and suggested to focus on the following:
Improving the OTP at all stations across the network so that the targeted load factor of 93% in 2015 is achieved soon.
Co-ordinating the activities of the Cabin & Operating Crew so that delays as a result of crew are reduced to the minimum.
Have a re-look at the block times of arrival & departure to improve on the On-Time punctuality.
Proper advertisement and publicity to market the fares as well as the product offered on various sectors.
Re-look to promote the brand in the domestic & international markets.
Improve network connectivity across Tier II & Tier III cities
Improving connectivity from Amritsar to North America.
Implement a proper program by which the revenues could be enhanced across the network through Loyalty Programs while reviewing the Revenue Management Systems in Air India.
Safety requirements to be strictly complied with and the recommendations of the various committees set up for improving safety to be implemented in a time bound manner.
Rostering pattern to be studied in depth so that there is no under-utilization of crew at various lay-over points.
Appoint independent food tasters in order to frequently monitor & enhance the quality of the food being served on board.