The airlines, which was forced to defer payment of June salary to majority of its staff, has piled up a loss of Rs 7,200 crore as on March 31. For the fiscal 2008-09, it is estimated to have incurred a loss of about Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in a difficult global aviation market.
Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a Rs 50-crore (Rs 500-million) aviation turbine fuel pipeline of Indian Oil Corporation from Manali to Chennai, the minister said: "Air India will not sack employees but financial and organisational restructuring is on the cards."
"There is every reason for Air India to respond quickly. The management, the employees, all will have to come out with a proper restructuring plan," he told reporters outside Parliament House. Patel said government support cannot be taken for granted. "It cannot be open-ended. However, the government is committed...We want a strong national carrier," he said.
Private airport developers in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, say landing and parking fees account for a significant proportion of revenues, so offering these services free would be unviable.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said, "full service airlines earlier used to offer five per cent commission to travel agents on basic fare." "From November 1, 2008, Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher abolished the agency commission and introduced transaction fee model... (however) Jet and Kingfisher have started paying commission on basic fare and fuel surcharge.
The government would infuse additional equity of Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) into Air India over the next few months and review its performance to decide on the future course, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said.
The runway length of Mangalore airport, which saw a major air crash a week ago that claimed 158 lives, will be increased from the present 8,000 feet to 9,000 ft to include a larger spillover area, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said.
"If the charges are proved, then the NCP will completely dissociate itself from Patil," senior NCP leader and Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told media-persons in New Delhi.
The government is likely to allow state-owned Airports Authority of India to raise Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) through infrastructure bonds to enable it to finance its ongoing programme to modernise and expand a large number of airports across the country.
Families of each of those killed in the Mangalore plane crash will get up to Rs 76 lakh as compensation.
The proceeds of the IPO are expected to be ploughed into activities like expanding the fleet of the airline, which was earlier merged with its sister carrier Indian.
Dr Manmohan Singh's government has 47 crorepati ministers in it. Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel is the richest of the lot with assets worth Rs 89.9 crore.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has directed promoters of the Mumbai International Airport Limited to keep in mind local sensibilities while undertaking the upgrade and modernisation of Mumbai airport. The ministry denied allegations that the government had given permission for the change of the name of the airport and location of the Shivaji statue.
A group of Air India unions on Friday asked Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to fix the accountability on those who are "sabotaging" the airlines merger process
According to the package, the dues will be cleared in six monthly instalments by March 2009. Current ATF purchases will get 90 days' credit, supported by bank guarantees. Also, jet fuel price revisions will henceforth happen every fortnight. Praful Patel on Thursday admitted in the Lok Sabha that it may take another two months to make the recently-opened third runway at the Delhi airport fully operational.
The government will blacklist contractors who are responsible for delay in ongoing projects of airport modernisation."Tenders for capital work are not being issued to the contract agencies responsible for delay in projects," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told the Lok Sabha. Patel said the terminal building projects at Jaipur, Udaipur, Srinagar, Vizag and Agatti have been delayed.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and former Minister of State Shashi Tharoor were seen having a long chat in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, after a newspaper reported their alleged link in the Indian Premier League bids for the Kochi team.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Monday named Chhagan Bhujbal as the next deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.Earlier, a meeting of the NCP legislature party had authorised party president Sharad Pawar to name the new leader.Pawar's nephew and state Water Resources Minister Ajit Pawar and former deputy CM R R Patil were the other aspirants for the post.
Bengal Aerotropolis Projects, a special purpose vehicle, which is developing India's first airport city, or aerotropolis, in the Asansol-Durgapur region, today entered into a technical services arrangement with Singapore-based Changi Airports International.
A draft note on equity infusion in Air India, prepared by the civil aviation ministry, is being sent to Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
The high tax regime makes aircraft service above 50 per cent more expensive than international rates and might spell trouble for over a dozen MRO projects -- several of them involving foreign direct investment that have been announced so far.
India will be among the top five aviation markets in the world - both in terms of size and scale in the next five years, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
The only Indian inductee in the Asian Football Federation's Hall of Fame, former captain Bhaichung Bhutia dedicated the rare honour to the country's footballers who continue to 'struggle against all odds to prove themselves every single day'.
Real Kashmir FC, on Tuesday, became the first football club from Jammu and Kashmir to qualify for the country's top tier I-League
Construction activities for modernising and expanding the Kolkata and Chennai airports by the Airports Authority of India will begin by the end of next month, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday. Replying a question on the government's recent decision to allow charging of user development fees by the private operator of the new Hyderabad airport, Patel said "We are considering the same for the new airport at Bangalore."
Mamata should travel to China to see how the Chinese railway system is expanding, says T N Ninan.
Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal on Wednesday said that he would have no option but to follow 'the law of the land' if an action had to be taken against the agitating pilots, while appealing to them to resolve the matter amicably and return to work. Meanwhile, Goyal met Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in the wake of the agitation by the airline pilots.
The minister said as the aviation industry has been growing at 18 per cent CAGR, the country needs up to 3,000 aircraft in 10 years.
The party, however, did not say exactly when the Congress general secretary received the message.
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday sought to downplay the controversy that kicked up after "mischievous" remarks were made about Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the NCP-supported magazine Rashtravadi.
Halving the productivity-linked incentive will make its salary levels unattractive and put a heavier burden on junior staffers.
The move came after civil aviation minister Praful Patel warned it was time to act against any move towards cartelisation. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation shot off letters to all scheduled domestic carriers asking for information regarding the recent hike and transparency in airfare advertising, saying it should be furnished by Saturday.
There is growing talk of a realignment of forces in Maharashtra after May 2 when the results of West Bengal and other four states would be in, notes Virendra Kapoor.
Praful Patel, India's reformist civil aviation minister, has helped drive the privatisation of Mumbai and 's moribund airports, overcoming initial protests by employees.
Air India expects to get an allocation of Rs 1,200 crore in the forthcoming Budget, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday. "We expect a Rs 1,200-crore (Rs 12 billion) provision for Air India in the budget," Patel said.
"There was a drop of 30 per cent in passenger load factor leading to losses in many top airlines in the world including British Airways. But last quarter of 2009 has again raised some hopes of revival in the country," Patel told reporters in Nagpur on Monday.
"Aircraft movements, passenger and freight traffic registered negative growth rate of -00.10, -06.80 and -01.00 per cent during 2008-09," civil aviation minister Praful Patel said in a written reply to a query in Lok Sabha. The minister also said that the foreign airlines had increased their operations by 85 per cent in the last five years in the country.
The government is considering allowing the GMR-led Delhi International Airport Ltd to charge airport development fee from passengers to meet the shortfall in financing the cost of expanding and modernising the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The minister, while speaking at the event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi on Wednesday, said the problems at AI did not come up overnight. The airline's high-cost structure and the compulsions of being a public sector unit had been the reasons and it had been making a loss, he said. AI is to incur a loss of over Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) this fiscal year.
The Asian Football Confederation recommended the AIFF to "open a pathway" for two I-League clubs' entry into ISL by the end of 2020-21 season.
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