Is DGCA being unusually harsh on AirAsia India?

Are Indian aviation authorities being unusually harsh on AirAsia India, which awaits a flying permit to begin operations as an ultra low cost airline? AirAsia is the first ever airline against which anyone from the public can raise objections; it has also faced multiple delays earlier because of the cumbersome process for getting this permit. AirAsia India is a three way partnership between AirAsia BhD (49 percent), Tata Sons (30 percent) and Telestra Tradeplace (21 percent). It was the first airline which sought permission to be set up from scratch in India after we removed the bar on foreign airlines acquiring stakes in Indian carriers last year. [caption id=“attachment_1316205” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AFP[/caption] Some fingers point towards the new DGCA, Prabhat Kumar, who has invoked a rusty provision in the Aircraft Act of 1937 to issue the public notice inviting objections, if any, suddenly earlier this month. Sources tell us that though this provision exists, it is entirely “discretionary” and has never been invoked for an airline seeking a flying permit. This will likely delay the grant of a flying permit to AirAsia India by about a month. It will take about two months after the permit is through for the airline to start operations. These sources pointed out that the predecessor to Kumar, Arun Mishra, did not plan to invoke this provision before awarding a flying permit. Mishra handed over charge to Kumar on December 31 and till then, AirAsia seemed confident of getting all permissions by end of January. Kumar could not be reached for comments for this story. Sources said the airline still plans to be airborne by the summer schedule this year. But this looks tough, since permit is delayed already. Contrast the slow progress of the AirAsia’s regulatory approvals with the speed with which the second airline (where Tata Sons has invested) is being accorded the same permissions. Tata Sons is the majority 51 percent shareholder in Tata-SIA where Singapore Airlines holds the remaining 49 percent stake. Late last month, the airline applied to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for a no-objection certificate, giving mandatory details such as number of directors on its board and seeking a security clearance for them from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Some sources said the NoC could come in a couple of weeks. Thereafter, Tata-SIA will need to apply for a flying permit to DGCA. The Government took close to three months to award an NoC to the AirAsia venture. There has been much speculation about the apparently fast-track treatment that the Tata-SIA venture has received from various Government departments against the rather slow pace of clearances being accorded to AirAsia India. The two venture are expected to address widely different segments of the domestic aviation business - AirAsia India would be an ultra low cost carrier, based out of Chennai whereas Tata-SIA would be a full service carrier, based in New Delhi. Meanwhile, not just flying permit delays, AirAsia India has been facing other glitches too. It lost 6 pilots recently to competing low cost airlines in India and is left with just 34 pilots now. Sources tell us the six pilots who jumped ship were earlier flying with Kingfisher Airlines, which closed down in 2012, rendering them jobless. “It is AirAsia which gave them an opportunity to train and fly again, giving them back their ratings etc…they were given offers by airlines where there is certainty of flying (AirAsia is still to get its flying permit) and salary jumps. But now, AirAsia’s salaries are on par with competiton,” said sources. They declined to be named but asserted that loss of just six pilots is no setback for the airline. AirAsia India has already decided on a fleet of Airbus 320 aircraft but has been hiring ATR pilots also. These sources said the ATR pilots would be trained on the 320s and will be First Officers under the airline’s cadet training programme.