Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Friday said the Government will look into issue raised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on fixing of upper limit of airfare and misbehaviour by airlines staff. The committee on Thursday presented its report in Parliament and expressed resentment over the arbitrage of airline companies regarding the price of tickets in its report. The committee has also criticised the Civil Aviation Ministry in this case and said that even though knowing everything, the Ministry did not take any active step in this regard.
“We will have a look at whatever is being said in the report. Dynamic pricing is there all over the world. So, the prices keep varying from time to time. Now, we will not go into the old regime that we were following. Different strategies are required,” Raju said while reacting on the Parliamentary Committee report. .
Echoing similar sentiments, Union Minister for State (Civil Aviation) Jayant Sinha on Friday said that the Ministry is looking into the matter. “ The Ministry is also investigating as to how the airline pricing taking place. And we have observed that the airlines are doing nothing new and are running as per the global practices. They are doing it according to the global standards. If anyone thinks that the price is being run high and on a predatory manner then he can lodge a complaints in DCG and it will be looked into,” Sinha said while reacting on the report.
Sinha further said that the airline pricing in India is very low and nowhere in the world people get such cheap air tickets. Jayant Sinha said that the airlines are running as per the ‘global practices’.
Speaking on the behaviors of the airline staff, Sinha added, “We are working on the behaviors of the staff members. All the matter has been taken seriously. As far as cancellation price is concerned we are very clear that it should not be more than the base fare and surcharge fare.”
However, Aviation expert Harshvardhan said the panel’s observation to some extent is ‘valid’ and added that airlines do behave in a cartelised manner during peak season.
In the past, there have been instances of employees of airline companies behaving in a rude manner and beating passengers. The committee has also shown its concern and resentment on this. By taking the name of Indigo, the leading airline company of the aviation sector, the committee has made a strong comment in its report and has instructed its ground staff and cabin crew to change their behavior. During the meetings of the committee, many members, while expressing their hopes, claimed that airline staffs think travelers to be uneducated and even like animals. The committee has warned that such behavior of employees should end.