AI flight operations normal,woos passengers

In New Delhi,18 of its morning flights,both domestic and international,took off from the IGI airport.

“Flight operations have returned to normal and 18 of our morning flights have taken off for various destination as per schedule,” an airlines official in New Delhi said.

Air India has now plans to increase the number of seats offered on special fares to woo more passengers and restore their confidence in the airline,the official said.

A section of Air India’s executive pilots had been on a five-day agitation forcing the airline to cancel several flights. The pilots had withdrawn their agitation on Wednesday following assurances from the management that their demands would be looked into.

Bhargava said the airline’s long-haul flight Mumbai-New York,which was cancelled yesterday would also operate on Thursday.

“Some of the senior officials are at the airport to look after the passengers and restore confidence in them,” he said in Mumbai.

The pilots,who had gone on sick leave,are now back at work and reporting for medical check-ups as per regulations of the DGCA,he said.

Bhargava said Air India expects the number of passengers it carries to return to the pre-agitation level in the next four to five days.

On an average,Air India carries around 30,000 passengers daily.

Though its passengers were inconvenienced due to the pilots’ agitation,the air-carrier is confident it would capture its passenger-base again and has crafted attractive packages to woo them back.

“Bookings were opened yesterday and we are offering attractive fares and ensuring that various categories of passengers are duly rewarded,” Bhargava said.

Under the super-saving scheme,the airline offers a reduction of around Rs 2,000 on coupon ticket of four and eight on economy-class travel.

Similarly,for executive-class travel,the discount would be around Rs 3,000 per coupon ticket,Bhargava said.

In the super-saving scheme,a customer can buy coupon ticket leaflets having four and eight tickets which is mainly targeted at corporate clients.

At the same time,Air India has also reduced the redemption points significantly for its frequent flyers,both domestic and international,Bhargava said.