The Hindu Business Line : Air passengers' body calls for safety measures

Chennai April 10 The Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) is worried about the "complacent attitude of all concerned" with regard to air safety and wishes to emphasise the need for immediate action before disaster strikes.

"Pilots are not taking the required rest and are logging less than the actual time of flying in the records, because of which the fatigue factor is very high," Mr D. Sudhakara Reddy, Founder & National President, APAI, said at a press conference here. Before giving clearance to expat pilots, it must be ascertained whether they have had experience in flying in heavy monsoon conditions.

The recent fate of accidents in Indonesia under similar circumstances, prove that pilots who are not fully trained to fly in such situations should not be allowed to fly in India. It is unfortunate that a lot of pilots from Indonesia and Africa are coming into India and are managing to get licence through the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), as the airlines are using their clout and getting clearance. This is dangerous for the country as a whole and for air passengers in particular.

The DGCA has not been insisting on expat pilots undergoing strict medical test, because they were given a temporary licence to fly for six months. However, most of them have been flying for longer than this. Indian pilots go through a stringent medical test and the same should be applicable for expat pilots also.

The DGCA is permitting pilots with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) licence beyond the age of 60 to fly airlines in India. Legally, it is validating an invalid licence as the FAA licence holders are not permitted to do so. Apart from this, the DGCA is also permitting invalid licence holders to function as instructors and examiners. This is dangerous as the new co-pilots are not yet fit enough to fly with normal pilots and the practice of letting them fly with invalid licence holders is violating safety.

Fuel surcharge

The association is deeply concerned about the levying of fuel surcharge by the airlines.

What defies logic is the fact that the fuel surcharge being charged by individual airlines is a uniform amount immaterial of the distance covered. For example, a passenger travelling from Chennai to Madurai or from Mumbai to Pune will be paying the same amount towards fuel surcharge as a passenger who is travelling from Chennai to Delhi or Mumbai to Kolkata.

This fuel surcharge pattern clearly indicates that the airlines' are only keen on increasing their profits rather than compensate the increase in the cost of air turbine fuel.

Further, with low cost airlines, the fuel surcharge could equal, if not also exceed the actual fare amount.

Congestion fee

The APAI has taken "strong exception" to the levying of congestion fee of Rs 150 by airlines. "APAI considers this levy highly improper and unjustified as the passenger is in no way responsible for the congestion. It is to be noted that it is a well-known fact that there is congestion only in three airports namely Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Why are they charging this congestion fee to all destinations where there is no congestion also?" the association asked.