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The Supreme Court on Monday sought the government’s stand on a plea challenging its ground handling policy at metro and some other airports. The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday sought the
government’s stand on a plea challenging its ground handling policy at metro and some other airports. Issuing notices to the civil aviation ministry, Directorate General of Civil Aviation
and others on a petition by a private airlines federation, justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik sought a response within two weeks and adjourned the matter till April 25. The court also
asked the government if outsourcing ground handling duties by private airlines would not affect their efficiency and time-bound services. The Centre had forbid private airlines from doing
the job citing security concerns. The private airlines federation had moved court challenging the Delhi High Court order last month upholding the government plea of restraining private
airline operators from continuing ground handling operations. The private airlines, in its petition, pointed out that while the government has asked them to outsource their ground handling
services at six metro and some other airports, the new policy is not applicable to Jammu, Amritsar and Kochi airports. The court has declined to stay the Delhi High Court order and asked
various private airlines to enter into an agreement with the respective firms (government-approved agencies) for outsourcing their ground handling duties. The government’s policy allows only
national carrier Air India and the airport operator (such as Airports Authority of India, GMR and GVK) to render ground handling services. Ground handling includes general administration,
baggage, freight and mail handling, loading and unloading of aircraft and transport of crew, passengers and baggage, fuel handling and catering services. The petition claims the new policy
violates the airlines’ right of self-handling and would lead to 3,000 job losses. The government first proposed the consolidation of ground-handling functions in a 2007 policy that has been
extended on multiple occasions.