This way, the government thought it had introduced enough competition to avoid a monopolistic situation as well as made it manageable from the security point of view.

Clearly, that wasn’t the case. The airlines objected, saying close to 30,000 jobs would be lost if they were to shut down their ground handling units, substantial investments on improving passenger service in the terminal would go waste and that common ground handling agencies were offering services at higher costs. NACIL had its own typical share of problems with unions objecting to the J-V being formed with Singapore Airport Terminal Services. Hyderabad and Bangalore airport operators felt that they did not need more than two ground handling operators while one of the two bidders bidding for Delhi and Mumbai pulled out due to internal problems, forcing a rebid. And in AAI controlled Kolkata and Chennai, the Authority has just initiated the bidding process.

There are ideas on the table to bridge this gap between policy and implementation, one of which is to allow airlines to continue to “self handle” in the terminal — this could save several jobs — while the ground handling agencies take over the air side or say the area after the security check. But here, the Home Ministry is said to be acting tough. Neither side is, therefore, willing to concede and the government has failed to force a meeting ground.

As a result, both the commercial and security aspects of ground handling continue to suffer. Not to mention the absence of equipment standardisation and lack of general uplift in ground handling quality like timely baggage and cargo delivery. Slackness on this front means inviting trouble because all big and small committees on aviation security have called for such a policy. While there is no fixed template across the world, ground handling is generally a specialised activity with high quality security equipment for baggage and cargo handling. Airports like Paris allow self- handling but the cost is so high that airlines prefer to hire certified ground handling operators.

... contd.