Parliamentary Panel Castigates Airlines

In a scathing report released in the beginning of this year, the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture of the Indian Parliament has castigated the domestic carriers for overpricing of tickets as well as for uncivilised conduct of its staff towards passengers. The Committee was rather critical in its observation when it described the this segment of the industry as being fraught with unprofessional behaviour at all levels of customer interaction and management even though the industry had ushered in a new era of expansion through higher connectivity and technological innovation. The Committee concluded that the airlines cannot have “unlimited freedom for exploitation”.

It said that even after a 50 per cent reduction in fuel prices, airlines have not passed on the benefit to fliers while some airlines are charging more than ten times of advance booking fare during festivals. This is arbitrary and a deregulatory environment does not mean unlimited freedom of exploitation. While asking the Ministry to fix an upper limit of airfare, the panel also castigated airlines for taking windfall profits from hapless passengers.