The management consulting firm, AT Kearney, has asked Air-India) to curtail its Europe expansion plans and instead concentrate on its core markets of Persian Gulf, the US and southeast Asia.

The civil aviation ministry had earlier decided to add more passenger destinations in Europe.

AT Kearney had been appointed by the ministry to prepare a 15-year roadmap for Indian Airlines and Air-India.

Air-India had begun flights on the Mumbai-Frankfurt sector in December, 2002. It also has plans to commence flights to Rome and other passenger destinations in Europe.

AT Kearney has also taken a critical view of the customer support services offered by the two national carriers. Both Indian Airlines and Air-India lag behind their international competitors, it has said.

In its preliminary presentation the consultant said both the airlines would have to revamp their front-desk activities at the airports.

Also, the in-flight and the facilitation services provided to passengers would have to be upgraded, it added.

AT Kearney has been conducting market surveys and collating data from the two airlines for the past four months.

It will present its first report to the civil aviation ministry, which will be a benchmarking analysis of Indian Airlines and Air-India in comparison with Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Quantas.

The infotech infrastructure of the airlines has also been found lacking by the consulting firm.

AT Kearney proposed that infotech facilities should be upgraded and an effective yield management system should be put in place to track market situations and respond effectively.

The consultant also suggested that the ground-handling departments of the two airlines should be hived off as separate subsidiaries.

It said the subsidiaries should be privatised in due course with private players paying an upfront premium for picking up stake in the joint venture.

AT Kearney has been asked to submit the reports on manpower rationalisation and employee issues, besides preparing a detailed plan for the operational integration of the two airlines.

Helpful suggestions

• A-I and IA criticised for poor customer care;
• Both the airlines need to upgrade IT infrastructure;
• Ground-handling departments may be hived off as subsidiaries.