Turbulence hits AI’s winter schedule for increased flights

Air India’s (AI’s) winter schedule, which would have seen it offering several new non-stop international connections, besides making New Delhi its national and international hub, appears to be facing “network” issues.

A meeting of the airline’s board of directors in New Delhi on Saturday decided to refer the issues to a sub-committee headed by E Bharat Bhushan, board member and additional secretary in the ministry of civil aviation.

The board meeting also saw the formation of a three-level consumer advisory forum for structured interaction with customers. The forum “will proactively seek customer involvement and also act as a think tank to improve Air India services, besides the volume of business,” the airline said in a statement.

The forum will have two representatives each of the airline’s frequent fliers for the past two years, corporates that have contributed maximum business in the period, industry associations, travel agents, media, eminent persons and retired Air India, Indian Airlines and ministry of civil aviation employees.
As per an earlier plan, AI wanted to offer non-stop connections to Melbourne, Toronto, Chicago and New York from Delhi this winter. Flights out of Delhi were to be up by 25% and Mumbaikars could fly to New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Seoul, Osaka and Shanghai via Delhi.

From this winter, AI was to offer about 1,04,000 seats per week in each direction from New Delhi as against the current 82,000.
Chairman and MD Arvind Jadhav had earlier said the expansion out of Delhi would provide Air India an 8-9% increase in passenger traffic immediately and up to 15% in the long run. He had said the hub-and-spoke model being created in Delhi would grow to its full potential over the next two seasons.