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Saturday, August 1, 2009

Airlines threaten to ground flyers on Aug 18

Congress Govt called the Oil Sector Employees' Strike a Deshdrohi's Act. We wonder what they will call this now when the organisations themselves are calling for strike? Will they jail Mallya and Goyal etc?

Or will it now be confirmed now what we long suspected that Business class have long purchased the Bureaucrats and Ministers?

Media has been always supporting Privatisation, arguing the Public Sector should be made History and everything should be privatised. They said this about the Oil Sector Strike when employees fought for legitimate demands. These employees were called DESHDROHIS by uninformed Media people who suck. And then the same people said Air India should be closed down because it is making losses. I am now waiting to see them say the same thing about these Private Airlines Bosses. Will media say 'Close these Airlines down because they are NOW holding India to Ransom and that they are making losses"? Or has the media people been purchased by Business houses in India?

Really you media people do suck!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Airlines-threaten-to-ground-flyers-on-Aug-18-/articleshow/4843809.cms

MUMBAI: Taking a leaf out of employees' labour union books, private airlines on Friday threatened to suspend domestic operations on August 18 if the

government did not give in to their demand for a bailout package in the form of lower sales tax on fuel and airport taxes. Never before has an entire industry threatened to pull out from the market to arm-twist the government into buying its line. ( Watch ) "The airline industry realizes its role in the life of the nation. But in view of the indifference shown by the government, it may not be able to continue its operations... and so we have decided not to operate nationwide services on August 18," Anil Baijal, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Airlines, the lobby group of airlines in India, announced at the Jet Airways office in Mumbai. "The idea is to highlight the urgency for the government to intervene urgently. If, however, an adequate response is not received, member airlines will be compelled to suspend their services for an indefinite period." Baijal did not spell out the nature of the response or the level of commitment the airlines are expecting from the government in the next 18 days. For now, the government has little sympathy. "We understand the problems being faced by the aviation sector, but do not support any move that will inconvenience the people. My advice to the airlines is to engage in a dialogue with the government," said civil aviation minister Praful Patel. Although the relationship between governments and airline operators worldwide has never been an easy one, the threat by Indian private airlines is a first in the century-old history of the global airline industry. If it is indeed carried out, it will mean cancellation of about 12,000 domestic flights by airlines such as Kingfisher, Kingfisher Red, Jet Airways, Jetlite, IndiGo, Go Air and Spice Jet on August 18. The only option for the domestic air traveller will be the 300 scheduled flights operated by Air India and the additional ones it may mount to meet the demand. The no-fly decision was taken following an afternoon meeting attended by Jet Airways' Naresh Goyal, Kingfisher Airlines' Vijay Mallya and other members of FIA except those from Air India and Paramount Airways. Following the meeting, Baijal read out a statement to the media which began with the financial difficulties faced by the industry. The total losses incurred by the Indian airline industry in 2008-09 are estimated to be Rs 10,000 crore, he said, listing ATF sales tax, airport charges, depreciation in the value of India rupee, the economic meltdown and terrorists attacks as contributory factors. Patel stressed on Friday that tax on ATF was a state issue, and the aviation ministry had been requesting the states for the last few years to see reason. The minister declared that Air India
would not participate in the decision of "select private airlines" and would, instead, mount additional services on August 18 to reduce inconvenience to the public. The airline bosses refused to put a figure on the losses they would suffer if the threat was put to force. When asked whether suspending operations entirely did not amount to violating the provisions of the Scheduled Operators Permit that allows airlines to operate flight services, Mallya said that passengers who had booked on that day would be given a complete refund. Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India, a consumer rights organization, was scathing. "The losses are of their own making," he said. "The two big airlines, Jet and Kingfisher, bought loss-making airlines like Air Deccan and Air Sahara. The government, on the other hand, gave airlines benefits like a credit period for payment to oil companies and airports. Then again, IndiGo and Spice Jet made a profit in the last quarter, which means there is a turnaround in the industry. When they make a profit, do they share it with the government or public?"

Friday, July 31, 2009

No private airlines to fly on Aug 18 - PSU vs Pvt once again

Trust the media to always blindly attack PSUs.. We kept reading so many articles on how AIR INDIA should get closed down because it is making losses.. but the same media experts forgot about JET and Kingfisher who too were making losses..we wonder... are these media people in the employ of these Private Business people?

Here is a letter to PM

Dr Manmohan Singh,
Prime Minister,
New Delhi
Dear Sir,
Regarding media news "No private airlines to fly on Aug 18", I wish to advise as under:
They have flourished and become fat by getting financial incentives out of public money, getting administrative and infrastructure support from the Govt agencies like Aviation Ministry / Finance Ministry / Petroleum Ministry / Oil Companies / Airport Authority etc.
Govt has invested huge money in constructing / renovating air ports at major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata etc to help primarily these private airlines.
This lopsided priority has deprived the suffering masses of primary education, primary health facility and the affordable housing.
Mr Praful Patel Union Aviation Minister and Mr Murli Deora Union Petroleum Minister have gone out of the way, have abused their position to get price reduction in the price of ATF (while for MS, HSD, SKO, LPG etc used by common man, it was not done), discount on ATF, authorised and even unauthorised / illegal credit on supply of ATF to private sector airlines.
The situation in India of undue political interference has been like Italy in Alitalia case particularly with reference to the Air India / Indian Airlines. Their merger has not achieved the stated objective of synergy and the claims of UPA Govt for PSU mergers are simply bogus.
Further, these money hungry private sector Airlines operators have not passed on the financial benefits to the air line passengers, gone back on their promises and the Directors of these private lines have pocketed the money.
In their greed to increase their own business exponentiallly, with full support by Mr Praful Patel, kept non-viable low air fares and unnecessarily indulged into price war to initially lose money.
The beneficiaries of aviation sector are less than ninety five percent citizens of India and, if they close down, heaven is not going to fall. Railways and Private bus operators shall gain while the millionaires and billionaires have their own jets and helicopters to fly. Govt officers entitled to air journey can very well travel by train or by Air India.
Considering the above, UPA II Govt must convey in no uncertain terms forthwith to the Greatest Traitors, the unethical opportunist limpets who have thrieved on public money that they have no business threatening, they can go to hell if they do not want operate in India.
Let them close down their shops in India & go to other countries for business as, in this global village era, there will be no dearth of other country Airlines to utilise the infrastructure already available / further augmented in India for operating the flights.
While concluding,
I would request to sack Mr Praful Patel and Mr Murli Deora forthwith for creating this situation by undue favouritism and pampering.
I would also request stopping wastage of public money that does not help in any positive manner to the suffering masses of India.
With kind regards,
(Babubhai Vaghela).
C 202, Shrinandnagar V, Makarba Road Vejalpur, Ahmedabad - 380051 M - 94276 08632 http://twitter.com/vaghelabd http://www.esnips.com/user/vaghelabd http://www.youtube.com/user/vaghelabd (Administrator - Google Group - Right to Information Act 2005) http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/about?hl=en
References :
Further to assistance from CAG requsted - Regarding (1) Recovery from Third Parties RTI Ref : SMPPESCOQ5 (2) Unauthorised huge credit to Airlines by Oil PSUs (3) Rs 50 crore unauthorised credit to GSRTC by IOC...
http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/browse_thread/thread/b2a40c4d12bfd5c8/afc5eb42d9f2d5fd?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=deora#afc5eb42d9f2d5fd
PUBLIC LOOT : ATF Prices Cut by IOC BPC HPC but Not THE Airfares.
http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/browse_thread/thread/4bd02d574b6b1d38/6902ffad0f6724f0?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=atf#6902ffad0f6724f0
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http://m.economictimes.com/PDAET/articleshow/4842352.cms
AIRLINES / AVIATION
Private airlines seek bailout from government31 Jul, 2009, 1723 hrs IST, Economictimes.com and Agencies

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Sukhoi Superjet 100 Air Force One India's Air Force One Top 15 global airlines
NEW DELHI: Private airlines on Friday sought bailout from the government and have threatened to suspend operations on August 18. The airlines have further threatened to call off domestic operations completely if the government does not give them a hearing. ( Watch ) According to FIA the total loss for aviation was at Rs 10,000 crore for 08-09. The ATF taxes are unviable and the estimated airline levies stand at $250 million. According to Vijay Mallya, airlines will refund the money for the passengers who have bookings for August 18. The international operations however, will not be impacted. According to Jet Airways' Naresh Goel, this is not an ultimatum to the government but only a way of drawing government's attention to the poor plight of the airline industry. "The operations are not sustainable any more and we have been asking for government's help for a long time now," added Goel. Earlier in the day, Indian flagship carrier Air India, struggling with massive losses, has cancelled orders for five Boeing 777 planes.
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Earlier Kingfisher Airlines had warned its 6,000 employees of a delay in salary payment. In an email, its executive vice-president Hitesh Patel had asked its employees to be prepared for delayed salaries and embarrassing dealings with unpaid vendors in the coming days. Mr Patel said the company was in a tight situation regarding finances and it had trimmed its fleet to 69 from 89 to cut costs. The government on Thursday said leading airlines in the country had suffered losses over Rs 2,44,483.7 lakh during the 2007-08 fiscal.