The Hindu : Front Page : Contingency plan to ensure air services on Thursday

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 28, 2005

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Contingency plan to ensure air services on Thursday

Special Correspondent

Staff propose strike against joint ventures for upgrading airports

NEW DELHI: The Government has prepared a contingency plan to ensure that air services were not disrupted on September 29 by the proposed strike by Airports Authority of India (AAI) employees, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said here on Tuesday.

The AAI employees, under the banner of AAI Employees Joint Forum, are protesting against the Government's decision to modernise Delhi and Mumbai airports through the joint venture route. They have even submitted an alternative plan for the modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports that would hold good for another 15 years considering the prospects of expansion.

Addressing an interactive session on "Aviation in India'', organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), Mr. Patel said the progress of upgrading Delhi and Mumbai airports was apace and the quest for joint venture partners would be over "not later than November'' when the bids received from different consortia would be finalised.

He said the upgrading of metro airports along with 30 identified airports in smaller cities would change the face of aviation in the country and the expectation was that it would create one million new jobs in the next decade.

The AAI said it had drawn up a comprehensive contingency plan to ensure smooth operation of flights, domestic as well as international, on September 29. The Air Traffic Controllers Guild, responsible for air traffic management and a unit of officers, affiliated to the AAI Officers' Association, responsible for communication, navigation and surveillance had decided not to take part in the strike.

All trained operational personnel engaged in non-operational duties were being deployed on operational duties. Also, assistance has been sought from Indian Air Force, Navy, Hindustan Aeronautic Limited and other agencies to deal with any exigency.

A central control room has been set up at the corporate headquarters at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan.

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