Minister defends AI as a good airline making profit

Rejecting negative perception about Air India, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajpathi Raju on Tuesday said the state carrier is a “good airline” and is making “operative profits”. Some Rajya Sabha members, including the SP’s Jaya Bachchan, said there is a perception that every emergency landing of Air India is due to technical reasons and raised concerns over maintenance.

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Upper House on emergency landings, Mr Raju asserted that there have been “zero accidents” due to any poor maintenance. He asserted every safety procedure is followed in Air India as “no deficiency” would be allowed in flying Indian aircraft. The minister also informed that the performance of Air India has improved and it is making a profit for the first time in 10 years.

“It is unfair to say that Air India is the leader in emergency landings... I do not go into Air India bashing at all. It is unfair to say this,” the minister said after some members voiced concern over emergency landings by planes of the state carrier.

“During the last two years and the current year, a total of 120 incidents of emergency landing due to medical emergency and technical reasons have been reported to the DGCA. Out of the 120 incidents, 102 were due to medical emergency and 18 due to technical reasons,” the minister said.