By IANS
New Delhi : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has objected to the government’s move to hive off the management and control of air traffic from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and form a separate entity.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury has also sought “mini ratna” or mini-gem status for AAI and operational independence for it.
“Airspace management and provision of air traffic control (ATC) is a sovereign function of the government due to security of air-space and should, therefore, continue to be with a governmental organisation,” the letter said.
Yechury also asked the prime minister to set up a high-power group of ministers or an expert panel to re-examine the Naresh Chandra report, being used as the reference point for the country’s new civil aviation policy.
The letter said although AAI was formed 12 years ago by merger of two entities that were handling the domestic and international civil aviation operations in the country, the staff continued to operate in terms of career progression.
He warned that the problem would be further aggravated by the closure of existing airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore where new greenfield airports were coming up under a joint venture with the private sector.
“To make matters worse, the concept of public-private partnership has been misinterpreted to include the maintenance of the terminal buildings as well that has resulted in considerable resentment amongst the employees,” he said.
“Any new entity, therefore, at this stage will be totally counter-productive and is likely to affect the consistent growth, development and performance of the authority,” he said.
“Except a few small countries, the ATC functions are with government agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (in the US). Britain is already running through major hurdles including strikes.”
Given the plans to improve infrastructure at 36 non-metro airports at a projected investment of Rs.70-80 billion ($1.75-2 billion), moves to hive off AAI’s revenue generating wings will be totally counter-productive, Yechury added.